History Comes Alive in Fifth-Grade’s Living Museum Presentation

Fifth-grade students turned back time and transformed into influential Revolutionary figures through costume and actions in the annual Living History Museum presentation.

On a sunny morning, teachers Lisa Collins and Monica Emanuelson welcomed parents and other guests to the cafeteria for the presentation. Amid the beat of a drum, students walked into the cafeteria dressed in costumes reflecting historical figures while singing Yankee Doodle before performing a short narration of the events of the Boston Tea Party.

“The presentation was an interactive learning experience, not only for the students, but the parents as well,” Ms. Collins said. “The students put in a lot of hard work choosing and researching the person they chose to portray. Some students were nervous about public speaking, but they rose to the occasion and put on a great show.”

Similar to a museum exhibit, display booths were set up on tables with visuals and props such as art pieces, books, and a research paper based on each historical figure. Each student stood or sat beside their booth until a guest pressed a button to bring them to life. At that point, the student offered a short monologue on their historical figures. Some of the figures included Paul Revere, King George III, Betsy Ross, Nathan Hale, Sybil Ludington, and more. The presentation ended with students performing the song Revolutionary Tea.

To prepare for the presentation, each fifth grader selected a Revolutionary figure to portray and spent time researching the importance and contributions of this individual. Based on the research, students wrote research papers detailing their findings, which also evolved into their monologue for the performance.

The Living History Museum presentation combined the efforts of history, art, and music with Lower School Art teacher Sue Bennett 1973 helping the students paint a canvas of their chosen historical figure during art class. Music teacher Rachael Jungkeit worked with the students on learning the lyrics to the final song. Ms. Collins thanked theater teachers Lisa Daly and Charlie Alexander for helping with blocking and the staging of the narration.

First established in 2015, the Living History Museum is the brainchild of current fourth-grade teacher Emily Schimelman 2002. The undertaking has now become an annual tradition.