Four Feet More

Vika's reading skills have improved tremendously over the past year, which is a wonderful thing except for one teeny, tiny problem. She now is able to read over my shoulder as I type these blog posts, and has taken to censoring or vetoing the things I write about her. *sigh* It's quite tedious, but since I am putting these stories out there for anyone to read, I should respect her right to control the flow of information. That's why there haven't been a lot of Vika posts lately. However, she and I have now struck a deal - I can post a couple of slightly embarrassing things about her, as long as I post her dinosaur report for everyone to read as well. This option is better than her earlier suggestion, which was that we print out a bunch of copies of the report and then sell them to people on the street for $5 each. That's my girl - always looking for a way to make a quick buck!

She's also a D.I.T. (diva in training). I was reminded of this fact the other day when I heard a loud pitched wail coming from her room. Thinking she had gotten hurt, I rushed over to take care of the problem. What did I see? My daughter, sitting in front of her bedroom mirror, practicing crying. Can anyone say "Drama Queen?" Since that incident, I've begun responding her crying a bit more cautiously. And now that she knows we're on to her, she's using the tears tactic less and less.

And now, without any further ado, I give you Vika's second grade masterpiece, her dinosaur report (which luckily, she was able to type up and use spell-check on).



For my research project I chose to learn about the Barosaurus. The Barosaurus lived during the Jurassic Period, which was a long time before Tyrannosaurus Rex lived. The Barosaurus looked like a big lizard with long legs and a long tail and neck. It was fat and one of the biggest dinosaurs on earth. This is why its name means “heavy lizard.” The Barosaurus lived in North American and Africa. A lot of Barosaurus skeletons were found in South Dakota and Utah. The Barosaurus was an herbivore and did not eat meat. You can tell this because it had flat teeth. To protect itself, the Barosaurus may have used its tail to fight carnivores (dinosaurs that had sharp teeth and ate meat). The Barosaurus walked on land and in water. It had hollow bones, which made it easier to move its long neck and tail. One interesting fact about the Barosaurus is that it swallowed stones to help digest the food in its stomach.

I chose to learn about the Barosaurus because it looked cool, and I thought that because it was an herbivore, it would not try to hurt people. I learned from this project that Barosauruses had hollow bones and swallowed stones to digest food just like birds do today! I liked this project and I hope you liked it too.