Allana has been studying and exploring habitats at school. As a culminating project, my little first grader was expected to complete a diorama of any habitat of her choice. The diorama was to include three plants and three animals. To accompany the diorama, she also had to write 3 paragraphs about her habitat. That’s right: THREE PARAGRAPHS! Did I mention she is in first grade?
When Allana came home with the paper about this fabulous habitat project, I skimmed though the information and read the important print: Sign and return this paper with a date chosen for your child to present his/her project. (Did I mention she also had to present to the class. I remind you again that she is only in first grade.) So, I chose Thursday, November 6. It was after Halloween and her birthday, which would give us a few extra days to work on it.
Then, on the morning of November 3, I decided to read through the information again to review the criteria and expectations. That’s when I read the bold print: All projects must be turned in by Monday, November 3. Projects turned in late would lose 5 points.
Oh no. I began flipping out and running through the house searching for rainforest books, which I know we have somewhere. I feverishly searched the Internet for rainforest facts and printed out everything to be ready to work with Allana when she returned home from school. I gathered all the necessary materials to create a rainforest. Hoping to redeem myself, I painted toilet paper rolls brown so they would be dry by the time Allana got home to create her Kapok trees and replicate the layers of the rainforest.
After school, we worked for 2 hours on her Topical Rainforest diorama. Since the project would already be a day late, Allana’s project had to be perfect. I knew my little over achiever would not be happy if she got anything less than an E. Using the rubric provided by her teacher, we made sure to include all the important pieces and labeled every plant and animal. We crossed every tree and dotted every eye.
I really hate waiting to the last minute to finish tasks, but I guess we did all right for working under pressure.
Then, we planned her writing with a web and she drafted 5 paragraphs, which took another hour. She asked me to type it for her. Reprinted with her permission, here is Allana’s Tropical Rainforest report:
Tropical Rainforest
Near the equator, you will find a special habitat called the tropical rainforest. South America, Central America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia are continents that have tropical rainforests.
Millions of animals live in the rainforest. Insects and large animals, like jaguars live on the forest floor. Reptiles, mammals and birds, like the toucan live in the canopy.
There are four layers to the rainforest. The first layer is the emergents which are tallest trees. The canopy is the next layer and the upper parts of the trees. The third layer is the understory which is the small trees and shrubs. The last layer is the forest floor.
The tropical rainforest is a special habitat for a few reasons. It never gets too hot or too cold. It rains 80 inches of rain each year. Most importantly, we must protect the rainforest because it gives us many foods and medicines.
Although Allana was scheduled to present on Thursday, she volunteered to present on Wednesday. She mentioned that her teacher shared her planning web, rough draft and final draft with the class to illustrate how we used the writing process to write her report. Even though we didn’t rehearse her presentation, she replayed her entire presentation for me including a question and answer portion.
We still haven’t received the final grade for her project yet, but I am sure we Allana probably pulled it off with flying tropical colors.
It looks like she should’ve gotten a good grade. It looks wonderful! I can’t believe what they are expecting from kids anymore. I don’t remember elaborate projects like this when I was little.
Hey there,
First off, I love your blog, I just never comment!! Secondly, I found this particular post soooo close to my heart. Just yesterday, I..er..I mean my daughter and I finished her 500 word (FIVE HUNDRED WORD) essay on any figure in history. While the rest of her 4th grade class chose Thomas Edison ( so trite), my gal chose Pocahontas. Not so easy, as you’d think. The movie only gets you so far. Plus, on her own, she came up with 286 words. I had to “help” with the rest. And having her at the keyboard would’ve taken about 4 hours to type up the 800 word essay we..I mean…she..came up with. So, I had to “help” with that too. 4th grade is tough!!
So, good luck on the grade. I hope you..I mean Allana gets an A+++++!!!!
Your Faithful Fan,
Sabrina
@ Staci- Thank you for the kind words. The bar has definitely been raised.
@ Sabrina-Thank you for visiting my blog and for finally commenting. 😉
I laughed when I read your comment. Last year, when Allana was just a wee kindergartner, she had to choose a figure from early American history to present. She had to dress like the character, use props and name 3 important things her person did. Um yeah…did I mention she was only in Kindergarten? And who did my little gifted child pick? Sacagawea. That’s right. I don’t know if you know this, but there isn’t a whole lot on Sacagawea out there. Sure, she’s on the dollar coin and she led Lewis and Clark to the Pacific but that’s about it. Fortunately, we found some books at the library to help us and of course, she aced it. She really loved the whole experience. Me, not so much. Actually, I like to pretend that it was such a burden, but it was really fun and I do miss those kinds of teaching moments.
Is this what we have to look forward to next year?
I loved this story! As a nanny of a sixth grader, we have forgotten things too! I loved how you all did the web for writing! That is such an incredible skill for kids to learn, as it truly helps them plan their writing.
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wow. is she in public school??? doesn’t sound like it!
after all that work, she better get an “E”!
Sounds like you guys did a great job! I hope she gets the grade deserved!!
Visition from MomDot’s Blog Party Day 4!
Beautiful project mama! As a teacher, I’m sure your DD did wonderfully! We expect parents to help their students get a decent project turned in, esp. in FIRST GRADE! I don’t even give my fifth graders that elaborate of a project. (of course in my district there’s like 0 parental supervision/support, so yea…) Good job & bummer about missing the deadline!
(Although I think the teacher should have written back to you ASAP after you turned in the form with Nov. 6 on it & made you aware….naughty teacher!)
Hello again, Other Denise!
Hope your tri training continues to go well. I loved this post…I am a (former) teacher…12 years in first grade. And yes, we are expecting a LOT more of our kids than just a few years ago. This project was ambitious, definitely so for a first semester first grader. I would think it more appropriate for end of first grade. Otherwise, it sounds like your Allana’s teacher simply wanted parents to do a lot of the work!
That sure seems like a lot for a 1st grader, but it looks like she pulled it off quite well. It looks great.
Wow, she did a great job on that project.
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