In mid-November, St. John Neumann Catholic School in Lancaster held its annual Third-Grade Historical Wax Museum in the school gym. Historical figures came to life as the third-graders presented their memorized biographies.
The creation of third-grade teacher Karen Henry, the project gives students the opportunity to learn about people from history, write a research report, use creativity, and gain practice in public speaking. The students had worked on this year's project for two months.
The students were each required to read a book from the Penguin Books "Who Was?" series, use the information to write a paragraph highlighting important details of their subject's life, and then memorize the paragraph. Each student worked in class to create a background mural for their figure and then worked with their parents to create a costume for their character to wear in the wax museum.
The wax museum was constructed in the gym with students each having their own designated area with the mural behind them and their "play" button in front of them. Parents, faculty members, and fellow students visited the museum; as the visitors pressed the wax museum mannequin's play button, the student came to life and recited his or her memorized informational biography.
This is the sixth year for the museum. Historical figures represented this year were Abraham Lincoln, Jane Goodall, Helen Keller, Queen Elizabeth, Annie Oakley, Maria Tallchief, Amelia Earhart, King Tut, Rosa Parks, Derek Jeter, Benjamin Franklin, Sacagawea, Anne Frank, Elvis Presley, Jesus, Thomas Edison, and Harriet Tubman.
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