Award-winning children'e(tm)s author and acclaimed educator, Lester L. Laminack, provides guidelines, lessons, and resources for making every read-aloud experience intentional and instructional. Central to Laminack'e(tm)s message is his breakthrough thinking about the value and importance of 'eoeBest Friend Books'e 'e"a small, carefully curated collection that you turn to repeatedly for specific teaching purposes.In this book, award-winning children's author and acclaimed educator Lester L. Laminack provides guidelines, lessons, and resources for making every read-aloud experience intentional and instructional. Central to Laminack's message is his breakthrough thinking about the value and importance of "Best Friend Books" - a small, carefully curated collection that you turn to repeatedly for specific teaching purposes. You'll also find:- Step by step lessons for "first visits" and "return visits" with recommended Best Friend Books-clear guidelines for digging deeply into the books and enriching students' understanding of content and craft.- Links to an online resource bank that contains "Spotlight on Lester" videos and graphic organizers for you and downloadables for your students.
- "What the Research Says" boxes that point to studies supporting Laminack's professional advice.- A list of Laminack's favorite Best Friend Books to date, annotated and alphabetically organized.- "Home Visit" boxes that contain tips and tools for welcoming families into the work;Award-winning children's author and acclaimed educator, Lester L. Laminack, provides guidelines, lessons, and resources for making every read-aloud experience intentional and instructional. Central to Laminack's message is his breakthrough thinking about the value and importance of "Best Friend Books" -a small, carefully curated collection that you turn to repeatedly for specific teaching purposes.;Lester L. Laminack is Professor Emeritus from department of Birth-Kindergarten, Elementary and Middle Grades Education, at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina where he received two awards for excellence in teaching. He is now a full-time writer and consultant working with schools throughout the United States.
Lester is an active member of the National Council of Teachers of English and served as co-editor of Primary Voices and the children's book review column of Language Arts. He also served as a teaching editor for the magazine Teaching K-8 and wrote the Parent Connection column. He is a former member of the Whole Language Umbrella Governing Board, the Governing Board and Secretary of the North Carolina Association for the Education of Young Children, and the Board of Directors for the Center for the Expansion of Language and Thinking. Lester served as the Basic Reading Consultant to Literacy Volunteers of America from 1987 through 2001 and as a member of the Board of Directors of Our Children's Place [www.ourchildrensplace. com]. He is the current column editor for The Writing Department of the ILA journal, The Reading Teacher.