Today Abby participated in the 4th grade American Revolution Wax Museum. She was assigned the role of Abigail Adams and she worked so hard on this project. The assignment was made between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so there has been a lot of time to work and worry about the final end result. Each student was to research their assigned role, learn as much as possible, write a report, create a bibliography, come up with a costume, then prepare and memorize a 3-4 minute speech about the life of the assigned role. We hit up Amazon for several books on Abigail Adams and found a great costume for only $20, with free two-day delivery. I'm all about cheap, fast, and already complete. My mom is disappointed, I'm sure. She was amazing - she would stay up night after night sewing to make the most perfect costume for whatever the event called for. I still remember having the most gorgeous blue satin flapper dress with white fringe for my 4th grade play. But I'm quite different. First, I failed to learn to sew worth a flip. Second, I just find the internet offers so many easy and cheap options. When Abby came home in first grade and told me that she was going to be a square dancer in her play, I found a great skirt on Etsy. So when it was time to find a Colonial costume, Amazon came to the rescue! So I need to apologize to my mom for not carrying forward her burning desire for perfection when it comes to costumes. Sorry, Mom.
Back to today... Abby worked very hard on her report. She read her books, put together her facts, wrote up cards for her speech, and argued with me about the costume. She did everything just like a perfect little 4th grader should. And another big THANK YOU to Lyssa, who helped Abby so much over the holidays. (Have I mentioned that Lyssa is fabulous??) She practiced her speech over and over. She practiced by herself and in front of the family. And today she performed fabulously!
When we arrived at the school this morning we went straight to the cafeteria. There we found all of the 4th grade students in position for the museum performance. As we made our way over to a place to stand, we spotted Abby looking over her notes...
Remember you can click on the pictures to enlarge...
Once we were given the go-ahead, we made our way into the museum. Of course we headed straight for our Abigail Adams, who nailed her speech! Here's a pic in mid-sentence...
After we learned all about Abigail Adams, Marcus and I split up and stopped to listen to many other speeches throughout the cafeteria. All of the kids did such a great job! I actually learned a lot about several of our Revolutionary heroes. And the kids really seemed to enjoy the big event. Well, after 30 minutes I started hearing, "Man, it's hot in here!" and "I'm tired! How much longer??" But they hung in there and kept it up.
Here's a shot of the busy, busy cafeteria...
And one more of Abby performing her speech...
One little story... when I was listening to a student's speech, I glanced over at Abby, who had just finished giving her speech to another listener. She was looking through her note cards, I'm certain going over any points that she may have struggled with. That's when I noticed her little hands were shaking! She was trembling all over! I'd never seen her do this - and neither had Marcus. She performs all of the time - but typically on a sports field or court. I take that back - she had the lead in her class play back in 2010, and I don't remember her shaking. But she sure was today!! Poor thing! She was nervous! But she gave it her all! Soooo proud of her for sticking through, even when she was nervous. Way to hang in there, Abby! You were a great Abigail Adams!!
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