Hello, My name is...

Last week, we had many famous people visit our school - from Archimedes to Steve Jobs to Orville and Wilbur Wright.  How is this possible??  These people came to life through our living wax museum. 

I first thought about doing this last summer when a colleague from another district explained how he did it with his high school students in an effort to teach about character traits.  I really liked the idea so I decided to try it out in my STEM room.  The guidelines were simple: Choose a famous person you would like to research, BUT you have to tie that person to STEM. 

What I ended up seeing, literally blew me away.  There were 55 different people that were researched by my students.  After much research, they wrote a biography about their person.  The next step was to find the interesting facts/stories and put them into a speech that was written in first person.  The students memorized the speeches, created a poster, and designed their costumes. 

On the day of the museum, the students frozen in a pose that was significant to their person and waited until a group was ready to hear the presentation.  That is when they came to life.  The speeches were given and it was concluded by "refreezing" into the starting position.

Here is a list that explains why I was blown away:

1. The students changed their speeches as the day went on.  This showed me that they really knew their person because they were able to pull in different facts to avoid sounding like robots.  They also were able to answer questions that the guests asked of them - all while staying in character!

2. When we originally spoke about the speeches, I told my students the audience needed to walk away learning something or amazed by a fact/story.  My students did not disappoint.  People learned where Tollhouse cookies got its name, how Michael Jackson was able to stand at a 45 degree angle, why Archimedes got divorced and much more.

3. I was a proud mom watching these students.  They said their speeches, at a minimum, or 50 times in one day.  From the beginning to the end, they presented as though it was their first time.  Their enthusiasm and dedication really shined through.  We heard students talking in the cafeteria about the "wax figures" they saw.

4. 40 of my 60 students came back in the evening to conduct an optional presentation for the families.  When students attend an after school educational function on their own will, you know it was a successful learning experience.

I hope you enjoy these pictures!

Here's to STEM!
Mrs. Giran