Fourth graders dressed up as famous figures after doing research
Fourth-grade students at the Charles Street School took on the roles of historical figures — from Pocahontas to Michael Jordan — for the school’s first-ever “Living Wax Museum.”
About 75 students participated in the event on Wednesday, April 11. They dressed up as historical figures or popular celebrities, and each student created a backdrop to fit their character.
The students stayed still and quiet like wax figures until those who attended the event pressed a pretend button on the backdrop. One button triggered the student to come to life and recite a memorized speech about their famous person, while the other led the student to say an inspirational quote from that person.
“What we really like about this is it’s cross-curricular,” said teacher Deborah Falcone, who organized the museum. “Not only was the research involved, they had to memorize their speeches. It’s great public speaking experience.”
Two of the museum’s visiting times were reserved for parents, and one slot was designed for students in first, second and third grades to attend.
“One of our goals was to hold an event that allowed the parents to come in and be involved in the learning experience,” Falcone said. “They’re getting a chance to teach the younger students about these famous people in history.”
Jaida Young, 10, chose to dress up as 17-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim, who recently won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
“At first, I didn’t know that she was 17, and I found it out,” Jaida said. “That’s really cool because she’s so young, and she inspires many young people that want to be a snowboarder.”
“I didn’t even know that people that young can be in the Olympics, so I learned lot of new stuff from her,” she added.
Jaida’s costume included snow boots she got from her cousin, snowboarder-style glasses she borrowed from her mother, medals she received from playing soccer and attending camp, and a real snowboard.
Sidney Lim, 10, didn’t know her famous person even existed outside the movies when she started her research.
“I found out that Pocahontas wasn’t her real name,” Sidney said. “I didn’t know she was captured. I didn’t know she was real.”
Nine-year-old Grace Stavely said she picked women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony because of the impact Anthony made on the country’s history.
“I picked her because I think it’s important that women now have the right to vote because back then only men could vote,” Grace said. “Men could do a lot of things, and women were only allowed to do housework and stuff.”
Alex Stoner said he learned during his research that his subject, chocolate magnate Milton Hershey, was actually a friend with one of his distant relatives.
