Living History Museum Project
The Living History Museum is a third grade project that incorporates a
lot of the reading and writing skills we have been learning this year to
tell about the life and accomplishments of a figure from history. It will
require students to utilize strategies from our upcoming biography unit
of study. It is special because the children become a person from
history rather than just talk about him/her. The students are the
museum attractions. They are living talking historical figures. So, the
children will need to really take on the personality and characteristics
of the historical figure they study.
There are five parts to the Living History Museum Project.
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A Report
Due Wednesday, May 18 (We will write
the DRAFT of the report in school, beginning on Friday, May 6th
– however the final draft will be completed at home between
Friday, May 13th and Wednesday, May 18th.
A Speech
*We will work on this entirely in the
classroom on Wednesday, May 18th – Friday, May 20th and
practice it on May 23rd-25th.
A Poster
Due May 25 (Completed entirely at
home)
A Costume
Due May 25 (Compiled entirely at home)
A Presentation
Thursday May 26th 2:00-3:15
Read the directions below for information on how to do each part.
The Report (Due: Friday, May 18th)
Students will research a historical figure and report on his/her life and
accomplishments in written form. Students will think about who
they might want to study for this project between Friday, April
8th and Tuesday, April 12th. They will fill out a sheet where they
will select three people they may be interested in studying and
return the paper on Tuesday, April 12th. They will be notified
which of those three people they have been assigned on Friday,
April 15th. They will select a book to begin to read about their
person (at home) on Monday, April 18th. They need to be
finished reading their book (and taking notes as they read in
their readers’ notebooks by Friday, May 6th). This report will be
handed in on May 18th. The students will not read or memorize their
report for the day of the LHM. Instead, they should be able to speak
about the figure they studied conversationally as if they were that
person. The writing of the report will help the students focus in on the
important things that their historical figure did so that they can speak
more confidently as that person.
The report should utilize good informational writing skills and include
the following:
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Interesting facts or information that help people understand why
this person is important to know and remember
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Information organized into paragraphs with topic sentences,
details, and concluding sentences
*The report may be hand-written or typed, but should be the child’s
words, with sources documented (title, author, date of
publication)
*A rubric for the report will come home within the next few
weeks
3rd Grade Living History Museum Poster
(Due: Wednesday, May 25th)
Here is what you should include on your poster.
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A size of at least 12 x 18 inches. (Poster board size is
recommended.)
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A main idea heading that includes the famous person’s name
and fame
For example: “John Muir- Protector of Nature”
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Draw or print a large, detailed and colorful picture of your famous
person doing what he/she was most famous for doing
(For example: Dian Fossey working to protect gorillas, Thurgood
Marshall writing a Supreme Court document.) (The picture may be
drawn/copied on a separate piece of paper and then glued onto the
poster.)
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Write a caption below the picture (Remember: A caption gives
information that explains the picture.)
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A background behind your picture
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Very little uncolored or undecorated areas showing
A printout of a photograph of the person from a website
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Your name written on the lower left corner
In addition you
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should check and edit your work for:
Correct information, spelling and capitalization
Neatness
Lots of interesting things and color
Facts not opinions
*A rubric for the poster will come out within the next few weeks
Your Costume (Due: Wednesday, May 25th)
Here is what you should include in your costume:
* A nametag with your name (subject of your report) written clearly
on it. (DON’T FORGET THIS! It is so easy, and so easily forgotten!)
* If you include props with your costume they should not be weapons
of any type. Also remember you will have to hold your speech to
read from if you don’t memorize it, so if you have props, think about
what you will do with them when you are reading.
* Be sure what you wear is comfortable and easily changed in and
out of. Practice at home.
* Please avoid using makeup, especially to approximate the skin tone
of the historical figure!
* Use your best judgment about what is appropriate for school.
The Presentation (Performed: Thursday, May
26th )
On May 26th, the day of the Living History Museum, we will gather on
the 2nd floor, hang our posters, and stand in front of them. Parents
and students from other grades will then be called to visit the
museum. They will wander through the halls, stopping to talk to third
graders who look like interesting characters to talk to. When they
approach, you are to greet them by saying…
“Hello, my name is (Frederick Dougleass)_
the (African American Freedom Fighter) .
I am so glad to see you.
Would you like to learn more about me?”
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate information for your historical
figure. After the guest answers, you should begin to talk about who
you are, telling important things about your life, like the years of your
birth and perhaps death, the problem you saw in the world, the idea
you had to make the world better, the action you took to make the
world better, and other important details from your life. You should
recall the things you wrote about in your report, and share them with
the guests to the museum. You can use your poster to help you recall
information. To finish, you should say…
“Do you have any questions?”
Continued ->
If the person asks a question, you should try to answer it. If you do
not know the answer you can say…
“I am sorry. It has been so-o long. I do not remember.”
Finally, you may say…
“Thank you so much for listening! Goodbye!”
Each student will perform once for me during the event. I will grade
you on how well you stay in character (Using “I” instead of “he or
she”), how clearly you speak, how sure you are about the information
you learned about the figure, how polite you are to guests and how
well you behave throughout the event.
We will work on the presentations/speeches in class after the
reports are handed in. We will practice with our classmates to build
confidence, and memorize some of the facts we will need to tell guests
to the museum.
If you have any questions about the project, please don’t hesitate to
touch base with us at any time!
Sincerely,
Third Grade Teachers