Portland Play and Battle of the Books

Andrew participated in the Portland Play this year. It is a 3rd grade play put on about the history of Portland. The kids practice for a couple of months, try out for parts and really put a lot of hard work into it. They learn many songs and memorize most of their lines (except for the narrators). Andrew tried out and got two parts, narrator and hippie. He took learning the songs and his lines very seriously. He had to sing a solo in the song "Blowin' in the Wind" by Bob Dylan. He was surprised when I knew the words to the song--I think he thought it was written specifically for the play, which many of the songs were. It was well rehearsed and came off beautifully. Andrew did an outstanding job. We couldn't be more pleased with how well he does at everything he tries.

Andrew also got to participate in Battle of the Books this year. This is an event put on by the librarian. It is a much-anticipated event every year. The 3-5th graders are allowed to participate. The third graders have a list of about 15-20 books that they need to read. The 4th and 5th graders have their own list, with some overlap. Participation is optional. Those who want to participate form teams. Andrew's team was the Smarties. They had Kestrel, Kristin, Savannah, Kimberly, and Andrew on their team. The name was very appropiate. They strategically divided the list up so that each of the books was read by at least one person. Andrew read almost all of the books. At the Battle of the Books, there is a buzzer system that is used in a quiz show format, similar to Jeopardy. They are asked questions, buzz in, and if they are the first, they give their answer as a team. Andrew answered almost every question for his team. It was kind of a joke among all the parents in the audience, since he was taking it very seriously. At the end, Andrew's team prevailed. They were the winners and lived up to their team name. It was very exciting. The kids all picked up the list for next year's books at the end. Andrew and Kestrel have decided to form their own team this year. They have already divvied up the list and are working on it as we speak. I guess there are worse things than being a bookworm, smarty pants.