Thomas Jefferson, Milton Hershey and Rosa Parks were just a few of the famous faces seen at O.P. Earle on Friday, May 20. For two weeks, the fourth grade students read, researched and wrote during their classes to create their living wax museum projects to display for parents, faculty and students.

This project involved students selecting a famous historical figure, researching the figure and creating an informational poster. In addition to completing the traditional research project requirements, students wrote a speech from the perspective of their figure.

Furthermore, to represent the true “wax museum” experience, students were also traditionally dressed as their historical figure. This twist, on an otherwise ordinary school project, helped bring history to life for not only the fourth graders, but anyone who attended!

Every “museum” was located in a fourth grade classroom. Students, as their historical figure, were positioned around the room beside their desk. At each desk, students displayed their research posters and a “button” for the visitors to press.

Once a visitor pressed the button, the students (acting as their figures) came to life and stated who they were and what they were famous for. Everyone who visited the museum was able to walk around the classroom to see all of the students and then move from classroom to classroom to visit the other museums.

Some students find research more exciting than others, but the living wax museum project was able to make learning and the research process more personal. Students were able to select their historical figures based upon their own interests and choose their own direction for research. Students chose to learn about athletes, presidents, folk heroes and more.

For the students, this project was truly a work of love and labor and was an exciting new way to bring history to life in the classroom.

– article submitted
by Dawn Mason