Reading Fair boards are not required for 2nd Graders at Southpark, but they are for 3rd Graders, and we wanted James to have a "practice year" where it wouldn't count against him and we could all get our bearings in putting together our first board (look dudes, Science Fair projects were eons ago for us "almost 40-somethings"). We asked his teacher for the instructions, learned they were due in 3 days, and got right to work.
James chose one of the "unofficial" Minecraft chapter books that he's read recently and I listed out the elements he needed to pull from his memory to create the board. I had to explain things like "Setting" and "Resolution" to him, but I was impressed with how quickly he answered each item (how focused he was throughout the process - he wrote out all the information during the hour Cora was in her combo class). Once he had everything written down on paper, I pulled out my laptop and let him get to work typing it into PowerPoint (because his handwriting is not up to par for board judging and typing is encouraged anyway). He made it about halfway through before Acro let out (he doesn't get much practice with typing, since most computer work at school is done with the mouse to answer questions and typing is reserved for entering user names and passwords), then finished it at home while I cooked dinner. After dinner, I went over everything he'd typed with him and asked him some leading questions to help fill in a little more detail (and to spellcheck it all), but we basically just went with what he thought to include (because this is his project, not ours). He wanted to create his own artwork for his board, so he drew some characters on a paper that I later scanned and enlarged (and made multiple copies of, hence the many Endermen on his board). I found black construction paper and Jay created a giant Enderman for the center of the board (because he is both more artistic and more patient with measuring out spacing than I am), then I printed out some Minecraft blocks and characters to supplement his drawings, and we let James decide what he wanted to include and where each element would be placed (Jay helped get the grass blocks and text portions taped on straight and level, but he put everything else on solo, and he was very happy with his idea to put a picture of the book in the Enderman's hand!)
He was SO PROUD of the finished product (and was pretty pleased with all the attention he received from his classmates for having "cool Minecraft stuff"). He even agreed to pose with his teacher. In front of the other kids. (There is nothing more satisfying as a parent than watching your child succeed in something and be proud of themselves. It just feels GOOD.)
James chose one of the "unofficial" Minecraft chapter books that he's read recently and I listed out the elements he needed to pull from his memory to create the board. I had to explain things like "Setting" and "Resolution" to him, but I was impressed with how quickly he answered each item (how focused he was throughout the process - he wrote out all the information during the hour Cora was in her combo class). Once he had everything written down on paper, I pulled out my laptop and let him get to work typing it into PowerPoint (because his handwriting is not up to par for board judging and typing is encouraged anyway). He made it about halfway through before Acro let out (he doesn't get much practice with typing, since most computer work at school is done with the mouse to answer questions and typing is reserved for entering user names and passwords), then finished it at home while I cooked dinner. After dinner, I went over everything he'd typed with him and asked him some leading questions to help fill in a little more detail (and to spellcheck it all), but we basically just went with what he thought to include (because this is his project, not ours). He wanted to create his own artwork for his board, so he drew some characters on a paper that I later scanned and enlarged (and made multiple copies of, hence the many Endermen on his board). I found black construction paper and Jay created a giant Enderman for the center of the board (because he is both more artistic and more patient with measuring out spacing than I am), then I printed out some Minecraft blocks and characters to supplement his drawings, and we let James decide what he wanted to include and where each element would be placed (Jay helped get the grass blocks and text portions taped on straight and level, but he put everything else on solo, and he was very happy with his idea to put a picture of the book in the Enderman's hand!)
Boards were judged yesterday and James came home with a 2nd Place ribbon today! He'll now get to compete at the District Level. We're pretty excited about this, since James truly took the reigns with this project. We weren't participating with the goal of competing this year - we really just wanted to get some practice and teach the kids how to describe a book and entice others to read it (yes, Cora too - she watched and learned, and helped a little bit with board construction). Mission accomplished!
Hooray for stories that keep little boys entertained for 20,000 words!
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