April 16, 2013 > The amazing Sunol Wax Museum
The amazing Sunol Wax Museum
Submitted By Melody Mayer and Danielle Scroggins
The second and third grade students of Sunol Glen School presented their annual "Night at the Wax Museum" on March 27, to a full house audience of parents, family and community members. This exciting evening was the culminating event of a month-long biography unit of study.
Students began by learning about the similarities and differences between an autobiography and a biography. Students wrote and published their own autobiographies before moving on to study the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As a class, students researched and found meaningful facts, both at the library and online, about Dr. King's life. Students then used their research to create a timeline and biographical paragraph with their teacher.
Next, it was time for the students to apply their new skills to another important American of their choice. Each student was instructed to first write a persuasive letter to their teacher about why they should work with their first choice. As an added element to help students prepare for the new common-core standards, students not only had to choose an important American, but were required to describe how/why this person made a difference. Teachers Mrs. Mayer, Mrs. Dorighi, and Ms. Scroggins had their work cut out for them reading and sorting letters to make sure that 70 different people would be represented, without repeats, in this year's Wax Museum.
Once a student received his/her assigned person, they began the research process on their own. They used research notes to write, edit, and publish a paragraph-long speech about their person including important information about their life, interesting facts, and how they made a difference. New this year, students used technology in the classroom to create their own 5-slide PowerPoint presentation.
The big event was, of course, the night in which parents, family and friends came to see the living Wax Museum. For their big entrance, students danced their way around the school's quad to the song, "Living in America," until they reached their assigned spots with their "buttons" ready to go. Students lined up in chronological order by "birthdates" so the audience was able to walk through time and push students' buttons to hear each student's memorized speech. To add to the effect, students spent a lot of time creating costumes and came dressed up as their represented person.
Each year this event is a huge hit and everyone is excited to see who the students chose to represent. We had quite a variety of people from Paul Revere to Bill Gates, Molly Pitcher to Gabby Douglas, and even adorable Shirley Temple!
For more information about this event, or our school in which the multi-age classrooms provide multi-faceted lessons, please contact Sunol Glen School at (925) 862-2026 or online at http://www.sunol.k12.ca.us.