Last week, I wrote about writing about reading.  Today, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop by Heinemann today and author, Lester Laminack.  He writes children's books, as well as teacher professional books on reading aloud. Saturdays and Teacakes, one of is books, is a great memoir book to share with students. He is a very passionate person about using books to not only teach students about reading but to use these books to teach writing.   A few of his ideas from today are below.

Consider the following........

• Rather than asking students questions at the end of their reading, they will demonstrate their comprehension more by asking questions. Not questions to ask each other that they know the answers to but what has the text left them wondering about? What are you still confused about? 
• When reading to students, read the text one time through without comment or talking.  After you finish the story, give the students a minute or two of quiet to process what has been read before discussing.
• Go back to the text several times for different purposes. Consider reading only the page or section that will be part of that lesson. Lester Laminack goes so far as to suggest a teacher could have 5-10 books that are used all year for specific lessons. 
• When we want students to write, we have to be sure that the students can effectively use the skill or strategy in reading. When a reader is working through a text that is has a specific craft used by the author, the students need to be able to notice the craft, identify the craft, understand why the author used it, and then try it in writing. 

Reading and writing are connected and support each other.  We need to take time everyday to read to students of all ages to allow students an opportunity to use some of the best examples of writing to support both reading and writing.