Moving at the Speed of Creativity - 5th Grade Colonial Living History Museum

5th Grade Colonial Living History Museum

Published by Wesley Fryer in history on February 21st, 2011

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This evening was the 5th grade Colonial Living History Museum event at our elementary school.

This is a major highlight for 5th graders, who prepare for weeks to dress and act like a character from the US Revolutionary War era. Our fifth grade daughter was Catherine Barry, known as the “heroine of Cowpens.”

Our current elementary school in Edmond is pretty huge, with around 800 total kids. This panoramic photo I took this evening of the cafeteria as the event got underway reflects how many students as well as parents are in the five fifth grade classes at our school. (I used Pano.)

The students initially paraded into the cafeteria, and performed a short, colonial-era dance together.

Next, students spread out throughout the building and took up their places as characters in a “living history museum.” Visitors (parents and siblings) could “push their button” on their nametags, and students would come to life sharing a one or two minute memorized script about the life and accomplishments of their historical person. After repeating her script more times than she could count tonight, Sarah agreed to let me record her performance after we got home. It was a LOT quieter to record at home than it would have been at school!

It was interesting to notice how many cameras were in hands tonight, and how many of the younger attendees were using smartphones as their cameras!

This was a great event and one I know Sarah will remember forever. Our son, Alexander, is in 7th grade now and clearly remembers his night as “Henry Knox!”