Love the balloon speech idea!  It seems a little too complicated for fifth graders, but I could see it working on a smaller scale.  I don’t think my kids could handle researching all of the other people in their groups, but I think they could do the rest of it.  It is almost like playing make-believe…I would have loved this as a child.  I know I don’t do enough persuasive writing with my kids.  Persuasive writing is a lot more difficult for kids than narrative writing, for example.  I guess it is just more abstract?  One of my favorite parts about this book is that it provides so much structure with all of the discussion guides.  I could definitely see this helping students stay on task in small group discussions.  The guides even helped me think about my own multigenre project.  For example, what are the most important things to include about the time period and about my great-great-grandfather’s contributions to society?  In thinking about my class multigenre project, I have been trying to figure out what is “authentically appropriate.”  Does the genre always have to fit in with the time period?  For example, say I have a child that is researching the Revolutionary War and wants to do a comic strip…am I supposed to say, “No, because they didn’t have comics then?”  I want students to be able to use whatever genre they are excited about, but at the same time, I want it to be authentic.  Is there a right or wrong answer to this?  Finally, I liked how the last chapter considered the process and product of multigenre as different assessments.  I think the “strengths” and “needs” are very constructive.  At the same time, I do like the objectivity of a standard rubric, so students know ahead of time the exact expectations.  I’m so excited about my multigenre project, I’m just afraid I’ve spent too much time researching and I’m starting to feel the time crunch!  I cannot tell you how much I learned from visiting with my grandparents this week!  I was absolutely amazed (and still am) about all the historical artifacts that have been in that house all those years that I would have never seen before now!  Anyway, I guess researching is half the battle.  I’m still working on bridging the gap between reality (actual historical facts) and fictional genres (ex. journal entry/letter)!