Grade 7 Social Studies: American Colonization Wax Museum Assignment

This assignment outlines a 7th-grade Social Studies project focused on the American Colonization period, implemented as a Wax Museum presentation. Students are tasked with choosing a historical figure from the era, researching their background, and writing an autobiography from the figure's perspective. They are required to create a trifold or poster with key information, including images, important dates, and the figure's significance. Students also design costumes and prepare a 3-5 minute monologue, replicating their chosen historical person. The project emphasizes verbal communication, public speaking, and research skills, and incorporates technology for research and sharing the event through school social media platforms. The assignment also provides guidelines for safe internet use for research purposes. The project culminates in a school-wide Wax Museum event where students present their characters and information to other classes.

Running head: SOCIAL STUDIES
SOCIAL STUDIES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors note

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Standards of Social Studies:
Kansas Standards in terms of History, Government, and Social Studies Standard:
1: Choices have consequences.
2: Individuals have rights and responsibilities.
3: Societies are shaped by beliefs, idea, and diversity.
4: Societies experience continuity and change over time.
5: Relationships between people, place, idea, and environments are dynamic.
Arts Standard:
VA:Cn11.1.5a: Identifying the way art has been used in order to inform or alter beliefs,
values, or behaviours of an individual or society.
Objectives of Learning:
Students will know about the most known personalities who belongs to the period of The
American Colonization. They will be able to know about them along with their identities and
backgrounds and most importantly their contribution in the field of American Colonization.
The Wax museum presentation:
On Monday morning, in the school theatre, the students of the 5th grade class will be
presenting their wax museum. In terms of this activity, all the other classes are instructed to
choose different subject among the various subjects of the state standard. My class students are
representing the subject The American Colonization. Other classes are doing other subjects, like,
American Revolution, Independence, and other historical and social standard topics (Bolman,

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and Deal, 2018). During this activity of Wax Museum, each student of my fifth grade class will
be dressing up like the historical colonization person or the character whom they have chosen to
act like. However, they have to stay frozen until someone comes to them push the button which
is placed right next to the student’s position. Once the button will be pressed by someone, the
student will be unfrozen immediately and will start to act up like the person they are presenting
and will explain about the person’s identity, background, profession, different important dates
along with other details and most importantly the purpose and role they have served in the
colonization of America. This specific chapter precisely implements two of the visual arts
components, aa the students are doing both the tasks of creating a poster of the particular
character and acting up the famous character as well (Brandon, 2019).
Students Requirements Expectations:
1. A historical figure from the selected subject of American Revolution will be chosen by
the students.
2. The students will write autobiography of the famous personality of that period. This will
help them in knowing the about the person in detail, whom they have chosen to act upon.
a) They will be asked to write a rough draft about the person using pencil. This piece
of work should be comprised with full sentences and written in a way as it was
written by the historical person itself.
b) Students will be skipping lines while writing this draft which will help them to
edit this further if required.
c) The student will be guided by an adult, whether by the teacher or by parents in the
process if editing the draft. The adult will edit the rough draft using pen, and at

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last will sign on the page and put the date and number, in case if it requires to
contact them.
d) Student will write a final draft from their rough one and will attach the previous
rough draft with it (Felton, 2019).
Visual and Physical presentation of the historical character by the Students in the
Wax Museum activity:
1. Student will make a tri-fold or a poster on the famous person, which will contain the
following information regarding the person:
a) The famous person’s name
b) A picture of the famous person
c) Important dates related to the person’s birth and death and other.
d) Why the person become famous during that period of colonization.
e) Opinion of the student on the top five informational pieces regarding the person
along with other additional information, like, his achievements, awards, hobbies
and skills and many more.
2. A customized costume will be made at home identical to the famous historical character,
which will be worn by the student during the wax museum presentation.
3. Student will prepare their act and monologue of 3 to 5 minutes, which they will present
when their buttons will be pushed by someone. The student will be trying to replicate the
historical person.
4. The monologue should involve:
a) Three facts regarding the person’s childhood
b) Three facts regarding the person’s adulthood

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c) The reason they are famous and known for (Russel, et al. 2017)
Guidelines for technology usage in order to search and use information:
1. Students will be approved for using websites which are safe, also those websites will be
given by the school only for the purpose of research. These websites include, Kidtopia,
Britannica school, SweetSearch, DKfindout, EBSCO's Explora for K-12 and Gale’s Kids
Infobits and many more.
2. Any personal information must not be given out by the student on the website.
3. In case any student notice any inappropriate stuff on the website, they must inform their
teacher.
4. Printing and downloading or any other steps must be taken under teachers guidance.
5. The student must not mess up with the computer setting and use it gently.
6. Must not spill food or water near the computer (Govekars, 2018).
Technology tools used for sharing the Event:
On the school Facebook page and Instagram the pictures and details of the wax museum
activity will be shared. Announcement regarding the same will be posted on Snapchat, Twitter
and Instagram. Finally this information will be displayed on the school outside board and school
channel on public T.V (Knapp, and Hopkins, 2018).
Reflection:
This Outline of Wax Museum can be implemented in any future classroom. For instance,
such wax museum activity could be incorporated within a drama or lesson reading class rather a
language arts lesson class. In a reading lesson class the students can act upon and present
information regarding people who have written a poem or book and in terms of a drama class

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they present details regarding on the characters of movies and plays. In my future class I will do
a wax museum activity as a group project rather an individual one. I suppose if more than one
class gets involved in such an activity the wax museum, following several topics this will
become massive and more realistic and fun to learn for the students, as a real museum comprised
of several wax models following several subjects.
This assignment enhances the students ability of verbal communication, as the students
are presenting themselves to many people. It boosts their confidence level in public, as they are
acting and presenting themselves in public. It will polish their knowledge regarding the person
and the history behind that character, also by notice and listening to other students character they
will gather more information. They poster making and autobiography writing skills gets polished
as well in the process.

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References:
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2018). Reframing the path to school leadership: A guide for
teachers and principals. Corwin Press.
Brandon, L. (2019). Teachers' and Students' Perspectives of School-Based Opportunities for
Student Creativity.
Felton, J. (2019). 52 Times Britain was a Bellend: The History You Didn’t Get Taught At School.
Hachette UK.
Govekar-Okoliš, M. (2018). Effectiveness of school lessons from the past as living forms of
museum education for university students. Museum Management and Curatorship, 33(4),
382-397.
https://www.schooltube.com/media/A+Living+Wax+Museum+of+Famous+Americans
%2C+Past+and+Present/1_dhvn7zj2
https://youtu.be/tNWaYXA4xSk
Knapp, K. A., & Hopkins, A. (2018). What's the Buzz? A K-5 School Uses the C3
Framework. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 30(3), 9-13.
Russell, N. J., Seale, A. C., O’Driscoll, M., O’Sullivan, C., Bianchi-Jassir, F., Gonzalez-Guarin,
J., ... & Gravett, M. G. (2017). Maternal colonization with group B Streptococcus and
serotype distribution worldwide: systematic review and meta-analyses. Clinical
infectious diseases, 65(suppl_2), S100-S111.

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