Each year, 3rd graders participate in a “living wax museum” project during the last month of school. It’s truly one of my favorite days of the year! We spend a few weeks reviewing nonfiction by studying biographies, then students get to bring biographies to life!
If you haven’t tried a wax museum yet, you totally should. It is SO much fun – You will be so impressed by your students!
We all have research standards, writing standards, and speaking/listening standards that can be taken care of with this project. Having students write speeches and present in front of an audience is not only meeting standards but it also an important life skill.
My team chooses for students to complete the project almost entirely at school. We spend a few days researching, a few days writing, and a few days making posters. At home, students practice their speeches (aiming to memorize) and put together a costume.
We also encourage artifacts to make our wax museum like a real museum. You will notice that Jackie Robinson brought a baseball bat and glove, while Maria Tallchief brought her pointe shoes!
I like to show my students pictures and videos of real wax museums to help them understand the concept. Otherwise, they have no idea why it’s called a wax museum!
We also spend some time watching videos on YouTube of other schools’ wax museum exhibits, that way students have a model of exactly what is expected of them.
On the day of our wax museum, students show up in costume and we all trek to the cafeteria to set up the exhibits. Students must choose a statue-like pose for their wax figure and remain still and silent until a visitor presses the “button” to make the figure come to life!
We invite the second graders to our wax museum for a little bit of practice before the parents arrive.
You can grab the “button” for free right here. If you need to edit it to fit your needs, click “File,” then “Make a Copy” to duplicate the document to your own google Drive.
Are you looking for a resource to give you a head start on your wax museum project preparation? I’ve got you covered with this teacher-tested, parent-approved, completely editable resource.
This product includes a fully editable parent letter explaining the living wax museum project, a suggested timeline for project completion, a rubric, and an optional outline/organizer to help students write their speeches. Read more here.
It is specifically designed to be used for book characters or famous Americans, but really the possibilities are endless. You could tweak it to make it work for historical figures, public figures, people important to your state, or anything else that helps you meet your standards!
HAVE FUN!
