Dressed as their personal heroes, students at Pawnee Elementary recently shared one-minute speeches highlighting their subject’s greatest achievements and bringing history to life.
Pawnee Elementary fifth-graders studied, researched, and presented these heroes as part of their school’s annual wax museum. Many fifth-graders across the district study heroes and present what they’ve learned by hosting museums.
As they began their work, students studied the characteristics of heroes including nobility, bravery, and leadership. They researched and compiled lists of people around the world and throughout history who inspired them most. Students read mentor texts, which are texts to be studied and imitated, teaching usage of different writing strategies and formats. These were examples of heroes so students could learn how to spot heroic traits. Students then researched to become experts on their heroes and wrote essay explaining how their hero fit the definition of a hero.
Parents were invited to the wax museum, which was the final portion of the students’ study of heroism. Fourth-graders were also invited to the museum so they could see what they have to look forward to next year and understand the expectations.
Heroes included; Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Malcom X, John F. Kennedy, Theodore Roosevelt, Walt Disney, Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo, Amelia Earhart, and George Washington, to name a few.
Abbey Kobylinski, fifth-grade teacher shared “I loved seeing students take such strong ownership over their learning and become truly invested in their hero and becoming an expert about them and their lives.”