Sunday, April 01, 2018

My Reading For Research Month

Okay, folks, Reading for Research Month is over. This is the last time you'll see me writing about it. Probably. Maybe.

According to the ReFoReMo Facebook Page, I am not the only participant who had trouble keeping up with the reading. I'm just the only one who whined about it incessantly.

This project brought up a lot of interesting points about picture books and picture book writing. Because it was done in a blog format, there was a limit to how deeply each point could be discussed. Before starting another picture book, I'll try to go through my ReFoReMo "notebook" and perhaps go try to pursue a few of the subjects addressed. I also wonder if go over this material again might be useful before trying to write a submission letter.

Sitting down to read Easter present
The best part of this project was acquiring a much broader knowledge of picture books and their creators through the reading of the daily suggested mentor texts. I read some marvelous books and actually bought two I'd never even heard of to give for Easter presents. I took a couple of library copies with me while visiting young family members. I plan to discuss a couple of the books here next month in relation to Earth Day.

The Notebook


What follows are my 21 ReFoReMo notebook entries, which include links to the original ReFoReMo posts and lists of the books I read for this project.

Day 1. Using Repetition

Day 2. Fresh Concepts 

Day 3. Back Matter

Day 4. Theme

Day 5. "How To" Books

Day 6. Tough Subjects

Day 7. Second-person Point-of-View

Day 8. Strong Beginnings and Endings

Day 9. Using Dialogue to Create Voice

Day 10. Picture Book Biographies

Day 11. Universal Themes

Day 12. Seeing Things Through a Different Perspective

Day 13. Concept Books

Day 14. Writing Out Picture Book Texts

Day 15. Common Picture Book Themes and Formats

Day 16. Interactive Books

Day 17. Inspiring Creativity

Day 18. Board Books

Day 19. Longer Picture Books

Day 20. Writing With Economy

Day 21. Character Transformations

4 comments:

DMS said...

I can see how doing all the research would be helpful- but definitely exhausting. Congratulations on making it through. :)
~Jess

Gail Gauthier said...

And there were many more books I couldn't get in time to read. Many people must have read much than I did.

Carrie Charley Brown said...

I hope ReFoReMo was valuable for you, Gail. The way we designed it, the blog posts keep the education free & public for anyone to access at any time. Those desiring more in-depth discussion are encouraged to join the Facebook Group. Participants are welcome to start a discussion about the discoveries or questions they have along the way. After viewing some of your notebook notes, it sounds as if you may have some of your questions answered by discussing them with the community we set up, rather than the public. So, please come on over. :) For example, after viewing your comments on Day 10, the poetry in language may not mean the words rhyme or are classified as poetry, but instead that the economy of words and precise word choices made the words sing. I know others would love to chime in with you as you search for more meaning... all in the spirit of being positive and respectful of the time our contributors gave, of course. And this business if very subjective, of course. Deep learning happens when we are able to look at education from the professional perspectives of those that are knee-deep or up to their necks in it. Great job doing your best to establish a consistent mentor text habit and research the meaning behind the craft elements. We hope it is something that will stick with you forever and you will trust yourself to veer off of our list and into other examples that might branch into each category. Happy continued reading and research!

Gail Gauthier said...

Good to hear from you, Carrie. Great point about poetry in language. That was something I took way too literally.

Thanks for running ReFoReMo. I'll look forward to next year's project.