Marissa's 5th Grade State Project: Wyoming

About three weeks ago, Marissa came home with a packet of papers & told me that the fifth-graders were all doing state projects. Her state was Wyoming.

No she did not choose Wyoming, it was assigned. My girl wanted Utah. She studied it last year (I think) & knew somethings about it. I told her it's un-officially the capital of Scrapbooking USA. I got a dirty look.

I started looking over the paper work involved and had an instant headache. The kind only teachers can create.

There were details, specific details that were required for this project. Namely it was a 3D project. Meaning clay was involved. Okay that didn't seem so bad. She had 3 weeks to turn it in.

We had some hectic days around here so we didn't start it right away though we had Marissa look up research on her state.

Eventually the fog around here (in my head) cleared and I was able to go over this packet of requirements. I stopped dead where it said there was a report that had to go along with the project. Marissa didn't mention that....I think she got hung up on the fun clay part, like I did.

Like Mother, like Daughter.
**sigh**

It took awhile for the report to be written. I told Marissa "just write the information and we'll tweak it afterwards", telling her that's how I blog. I just type what's on my mind then work it into something that makes sense...sometimes it just makes sense in my mind but that's besides the point. There were tears, there was frustration, but in the end? There was a four page report.
In between the report process, we had started the clay part since it needed time to dry before painting. We used almost five pounds of clay. We weren't messing around.

We printed a map of Wyoming off the computer, then Marissa drew a rough sketch to get an idea of what we were doing ahead of time. When we both agreed on how to go about things we started the clay with both of us molding the great state of Wyoming. This was our interpretation....

She really stressed over this, wanting everything perfect. This is a behind the scenes look at the madness....

Once we started painting the "map" and adding details it looked a lot better. She had to draw labels of things produced in the state. No clip-art was allowed. :( The worst part? She had to draw these things in teeny tiny 1 inch boxes. That was tough, but she managed.

Here she is with the beautiful state of Wyoming. Still nervous about having it perfect but I think she'll feel better once it's in school.One of the best parts of all this?? Using my scrapbook supplies....she really should have had Utah. LOL!