Subtitled: Jane's 2nd Grade Famous American Biography Project
{How cute is this invitation to her presentation??}
Project Time continues! Last Friday it was Jane's turn to showcase the culmination of a couple weeks' worth of research on her Famous American. As with
Sophie's research project a couple of years ago, we started with the "Who Was ___ ?" series of books and were excited to find one on Sacagawea. Over the course of about a week or so, Jane worked through reading it at bedtime, and once the time came to start filling out her packets of information, she was ready to go.
A couple things that were different this time around compared to Sophie's were that 1.) Every 2nd grade teacher does the Biography Project a little bit differently, so Jane's person was assigned to her while Sophie came up with her own, and 2.) Because of these class differences (or maybe I just interpreted Sophie's project instructions incorrectly two years ago -- which is highly possible), Jane also had to create a project to display during her presentation to the class. The parameters for the project were pretty open for creativity, and I think because Grace had just finished her own research project using a tri-fold poster board, Jane opted to do the same for her display. She was also super itching to type up her finished report (which ended up seeming a LOT longer than I remember Sophie's being), and once it was typed she had a very specific plan in mind for how she wanted to put it on her board. So, we printed out each category's paragraph and then I helped her use a paper cutter to get them nice and neat to glue to her board.
(Jane's rough draft of how she wanted to arrange things on her board.)
In typical Jane fashion, she worked on this project in fits and starts of hyperfocus, so that even though she started everything WEEKS ago, she was still madcap-ly finishing things up the night before her presentation. {
And even the morning of.} A couple of her last minute finishers were a "cradleboard" for her "baby" and the speech that she would be giving when she presented to the group. We lucked out with finding a costume from a friend in the ward, so the cradleboard was the only contribution WE made to her outfit. That and a pair of too big mocassins that no longer fit Grace, but were still too big for Jane. :)
I fashioned the cradleboard out of an empty Frosted Mini Wheats box and some leftover batting I had in my sewing hutch. We wrapped a baby doll up inside and then laced it up with some yarn and finished up with some embellishments by sewing on some beads. Sophie pitched in to help with the beading while Jane worked on getting everything finished on her board, and after tracing the route that Lewis and Clark took to get to the Pacific Ocean, Jane added a map key to show where they started, where Sacagawea joined them, and where they finished.
{I love that she couldn't let the board design get away without some kind of rainbow addition. Hahaha.}
The morning of the presentation found Jane frantically scribbling {
and scrambling} to copy her speech out onto makeshift "notecards," before I solved the time crunch problem by cutting her report into sections and blacking out enough sentences to cut her speech down to the 3-4 minutes that were allotted to her. After rushing to get her dressed and ready to go, I snapped some pictures and had her practice her speech a few times before loading up to take her to school.
"Sacagawea"
And baby "Pomp" on her back.
I was so grateful that Scott was willing and able to stay home that morning to keep an eye on Alex and Isaac {
aka Frick and Frack}, and I was super excited to head over to the school later that morning for the presentations. When Sophie was in 2nd grade, her class presented their projects in "Wax Museum" style, with Sophie giving her speech in the first person. Jane's class was like the invitation stated -- A Look Into the Past -- with each kid presenting their research and displaying their projects for the rest of us to enjoy. It was so cute to walk into the classroom and see them all "frozen" in time before they came to life and started to give their presentations.
With 20 kids or so, times 3-4 minutes each, you can imagine that it took some time to get through everyone! I was super impressed, though, that Jane was able to sit {
mostly} still while waiting for her turn -- which was closer to the end than the beginning. :) By the time she got up there, she was ready to do her thang! In contrast to Sophie -- who was so nervous she felt like she was going to throw up -- Jane wasn't fazed at all! She certainly knew everything there was to know about Sacagawea by the end of this project, and she did a great job reading through her speech and then answering questions afterwards.
Her favorite thing she learned while doing her research is that Clark's nickname for Sacagawea was "Janey." Hahaha. How funny is that?? Her randomly assigned famous hero had a nickname that was almost that same as her own name! She certainly enjoyed working on the project, and I can tell she was immensely proud of how her board turned out. :) And it didn't hurt that everyone LOVED her costume with her baby on her back. It will be fun to see who Alex will be when HIS second grade research project rolls around.
To close, I'll include Jane's groundbreaking report on Sacagawea... ;)
Sacagawea
FAME
Sacagawea was an American Indian woman. This is why Sacagawea is famous. First, the Louisiana Purchase happened when France sold America a bunch of land and made the country much bigger. Next, in 1803, president Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark out on an expedition to explore the new addition to the United States. Then, Sacagawea entered the picture and helped Lewis and Clark on their journey. Finally, Sacagawea helped guide them through the country into the American Northwest. That is why Sacagawea is famous.
CHILDHOOD
Sacagawea was born in 1789 or 1790. She was born in Idaho and was a Shoshone Indian. In 1800 (when Sacagawea was 10 or 11), her tribe was attacked by the Minnetaree Indians. Sacagawea was captured by a warrior and was taken from her people. She was given to a Minnetaree family, and a few years later, the Minnetaree traded Sacagawea to a fur trader named Charbonneau to be his wife. Her childhood was over.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Sacagawea traveled with Lewis and Clark. She was valuable to Lewis and Clark. Sacagawea made their expedition a success. She made American history. Sacagawea found food for the group, she communicated with other Indians, she helped them get horses, and she saved their supplies. She also showed them the way to go to get to the Pacific Ocean. These were Sacagawea’s contributions.
FUN FACTS
These are some fun facts about Sacagawea and her journey. First, her name means “Bird Woman” because “sacaga” means bird and “wea” means woman. Next, the Shoshone lived in tipis with their families. The Shoshone needed lots of warm clothing because it was often cold in Idaho where their tribes lived. Sacagawea’s clothes were decorated with porcupine quills and beads. The Shoshone did not have schools, but they learned from their tribes. Then, when Sacagawea was 15, she had her first child. Clark called her baby “Pomp” and he called Sacagawea, “Janey.” Pomp traveled on a cradleboard on Sacagawea’s back. Last, the Lewis and Clark expedition lasted for about 2 years from 1804-1806. Sacagawea traveled 4,500 miles with her baby (Pomp) on her back and did not get paid even a single penny, but her husband (Charbonneau) got paid $500 for his help. Finally, there are mountains named after Sacagawea in three states and her face is on the U.S. golden dollar coin.
OBSTACLES
These are some obstacles Sacagawea had to overcome. First, Sacagawea got taken from her people. She was very sad. Next, she carried her baby on her back for the whole journey for 4,500 miles. Then, on the expedition, she was almost bitten by a rattlesnake and almost died from a fever. Last, after giving birth to a baby girl named Lisette, she died in 1812. She died from a putrid fever.
