Who Is That? Oh! It's Anne Frank!

I must admit, I got a little lightheaded and panic-stricken when I ventured into the 3rd grade classroom last year during open house (when Mikayla was in 2nd) and saw all of the kid's pictures in various "historical costume." Obviously, this was yet another project of parental proportions that would have to be completed in a short amount of time (if your child was a procrastinator like mine) and one that would take the utmost creativity to complete.

So, when February rolled around and we got the "book report" that wasn't a book report, but a "people report," I relived the lightheadedness just a little. First of all, it took 2 weeks for Mikayla to choose a famous person. We went through several before she chose one. First suggestion was Pocahontas: there wasn't much on her life...then Sacajawea: my child wasn't quite sure she wanted to die of a disease (part of the assignment was that they had to become that person and speak from first person). Amelia Earhart had already been chosen, sports greats like Michelle Kwan weren't an option...but we finally found one, Anne Frank. I know, you're confused. I was too. I mean, at least Sacajawea had died of a disease, they think. They're not even sure HOW she died or WHEN she died. But Anne Frank? Everyone knows how she died and it was much worse than any other person she could have chosen...but choose her she did. I've got to think that she somehow connected with her since she was so young.

























So, I checked out the books, she read them in a matter of days, and I thought we had a great start to our "reporting." Unfortunately, time got away from us and the next few weeks came and went with family visits, more family visits, and just life in general. Suddenly, this past Monday was upon us and it was due Wednesday. Oh, and did I mention the whole 3-5 minute presentation had to be memorized? So, imagine my Monday afternoon. The kids got out early that day so we had the whole night to write up a few notecards. Easy, right? 6 HOURS later, Mikayla had finally written what she wanted to say (using my suggestions the whole way) and I had them typed out on notecards for her to memorize. As a side note; any question you have ever had about Anne Frank, I know now. Come on, test me! I'll bet you don't know who her favorite movie star was! I do!!

Back to the report. The good thing was that I know she has an amazing ability to memorize things. I won't even tell you how I know that but I just do. =) I knew once she had those notecards, she'd be fine. We had already found her an outfit at our local Goodwill and I hand-crafted the Jewish star out of construction paper to make it complete. By Wednesday, she was ready to go (and I just about died in anticipation of what her grade would be). A day later, she had gotten her grade. An A!! How long did she talk for? 3:01 minutes. She made it by ONE minute! I was so proud of her, even though I'm sure she added a dozen or more grey hairs to my collection.

I just can't wait until Open House this year...what are we in for in 4th grade?

Now, I couldn't end this post without at least putting in a picture of my boy in his element. If you knew Tyler, you'd know that he LOVES snakes, insects, anything with more legs than humans have. Recently, we attended a birthday party that included a visit from a woman with reptiles. You can just see the exhilaration on his face as he holds the "butt" of the snake. I'm sure he would have loved to have taken it home with us too.