At ILPs we learned Elijah would have an ongoing assignment for this quarter. He would need to read 5 moderately challenging books from different genres and complete 4 assignments and 1 project for them. After ILPs we immediately went to the library where Elijah and I spent a few hours figuring out what row he would complete. He really wanted to complete a box that held fable, tall tale, legend, or myth in it. This presented quite a challenge for me since the book had to be a chapter book that passed the five finger test of difficulty. We settled on the Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling. I was worried it may be a little too challenging so we asked the librarian for some help. She led us to the legend location although she was quite discouraging about us being able to find a chapter book in this genre. We found several chapter books there and even found some Robin Hood books. Elijah was pretty excited about this. He read the book and decided to do Dress and Guess for his project. Completely on his own. He started working (again on his own) at figuring out how he was going to create his costume. He wanted to use one of Dad's t-shirts. He attempted to "tatter" the edges himself but when cutting through the hem proved to difficult he enlisted my help. He wanted to buy paints or use markers to color the shirt green, but we ended up purchasing Rit and I dyed his shirt dark green. I made him a green paper hat with paper and staples and got out the brown sash from a Halloween several years ago where he was Robin Hood. He spent a few evenings working on his speech and preparing for any questions he might be asked by his teacher and fellow students. I pushed him to add more details and to add some closure, but mostly he did it on his own. My two cents was add more details. On Thursday he presented in class. Maxwell and I went to observe him and some of the other students. Although I am biased it is a completely unbiased opinion to say Elijah did awesome. I also learned that kids freely admit when one of their parents do much of the project for them. Let that be a warning to all you parents out there. It was kind of funny. One girl kept saying "We" did this and "we" didn't do that. It took until the end to realize that we meant her and her mother. One boy's dad completed his project for him on the computer. It looked really fancy; it was a game board. Elijah did a great job with enunciation and pausing. I was really happy with his efforts. It is fun how much he loves public speaking. It is fun to have a child with an interest that is completely opposite of both parents. I asked Elijah if I helped him a lot. He was more than happy to take the majority of the credit for his project. I can honestly say he deserves the credit. All I did was push him to add details. Maxwell really looks up to Elijah and has been dying to dress up like Robin Hood this whole week. Below is Elijah's speech. Have a great day.

Elijah Anderson
3-4 Silver
Literature Project
Robin Hood by Neil Philip

I live in London. I was named wolf head at my wedding. Wolf head means there will be a prize for killing me. I feel that it is my duty to treat the poor with respect. The sheriff feels the opposite. We are sworn enemies because of that.
I was stripped of my title Earl of Huntington and my lands. I barely escaped into Greenwood Forest. As you can see, I wear Lincoln green. I also have a band of people that wear Lincoln green that always follow me. Lincoln green is good for camouflage in the forest.
I am the best archer in the world. Sir Richard of the Lee gave me arrows made with rare peacock feathers instead of the usual goose feathers. Peacock feathers will make your arrow fly straighter than goose feathers do.
I'm a master of disguise. It has helped me in many ways. I dressed up as a pot seller to go to an archery contest to win a silver arrow. The tip was golden. Again, I barely escaped. I knew that it was a trap. The sheriff held the contest for a reason. He was trying to catch me. As I have said, we are enemies.
Later King Richard returned. The other outlaws and I were safe for 5 years. Sometimes Marian and I lived at my house. Other times we lived in Greenwood Forest. King Richard was shot and killed with a crossbow. Prince John is now King John and my band of men are outlaws again. Who am I?