I Am Eleanor Roosevelt

Aubrey's 3rd grade Biography assignment* was so much fun. She was supposed to read the biography of an important person in history, write a report on their life, and present that person to the class along with a homemade puppet.

Here's paper mache Eleanor and her handler, Aubrey!

Aubs did all the mache work, the painting, the sewing, the designing, the hot gluing, the wig-work, the Good Will glasses purchase, the dental work... 

I've grown quite fond of Eleanor, too!

Aubrey's pal Jasmine came over a few times and made paper mache Amelia Earhart.

Here's Aubrey presenting Eleanor to the class -- well, actually, this is Eleanor presenting herself to the class and mentioning Aubrey briefly.

Eleanor spoke in a squeaky, quavering voice, explaining that she was known for having a weak voice when speaking in public, but that she worked very hard on it to ultimately become a notable, effective public speaker.

Eleanor also pointed out that she was well aware that most people thought she was unattractive -- even her own mother -- but she learned early on that "to receive love, she must give love."

Some of the most impressive information was that Eleanor was First Lady of the United States for the 12 years her husband was in office, but after he died she stayed in the public eye and became even more influential as the US representative to the United Nations, where she headed the drafting of the world's first Human Rights Declaration.

What an amazing woman. I'm so glad Aubrey got to "meet" her!

*Dane got to "meet" George Washington last year if you want to check that out.

The Historical Figure / Puppet Project

Check out what these amazing kids did. Students from the two classes of 3rd graders chose a famous person to write and present a report on. Students were instructed to also make a puppet -- but they were given free rein as to how to design or create their puppet.

Look at the stuff they came up with! Click on the different photos to see the puppets, and possibly the reports, better.

We've got the likes of George Washington, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rosa Parks (made by my niece Indi!), Neil Armstrong, John Muir, Pocahontas, Amelia Erhart, The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, MLK Jr...

Recognize George Washington there, created by Super Dane? For his presentation, he gave a basic timeline of the General's life, then he specifically spoke about Washington's risky plan to cross the Delaware with 2000 downtrodden soldiers on Christmas night, in order to surprise the Hessian soldiers -- making the first American attack yet in the war, the first American win, and the additional amazing outcome of no American injuries or deaths. It was a major turning point in the fight for independence.

Dane, of course, said it in his own brilliant words.

I was preparing for Aubrey's after-school get-together for Part 1 of her birthday partying, so I missed the event (after staying home all day with her and her 24-hour flu bug the day before). He said it went well, though -- he said he took time to read his notes before he spoke, and thinks he could have done better with eye contact, but did a solid job.

THE GENERAL HAS ARRIVED!

After a week of pasting, drying, sculpting, more pasting, painting, designing, cutting, sewing, and hot gluing, Dane has finished his George Washington puppet.

His presentation is on Friday, and last night he said he plans to hold his puppet in his hand and say something like this:

Hi, I'm George Washington. I was the General during the Revolutionary War. I was also the first President of the United States.

Then Dane plans to tell the story of the Crossing of the Delaware, when the soldiers crossed the cold and icy Delaware in the middle of the night on Christmas to surprise the Hessians and win an important victory for the revolutionaries.

But Dane has to iron out the details of that one and get them in good order so he can tell a great story.

We'll work on that tonight. After the General's nose has been properly cleaned.