Wax Museum Costuming Information

In order to help students look the part, we start to think about costuming ideas once they have selected the hero they will research.  Costumes are not elaborate, but we try to put items together to make them resemble their hero and help them “feel” the part.  Creative thinking and items from the closet usually do the trick.  (See Amelia Earhart, Thomas Edison, and Neil Armstrong below.)

Typically, a student will work with their family to create their costume.   As teachers, we try to support students who need to complete their look with our small classroom collection of clothing and props along with some creative thrift shop purchases.  

If you have some extra costuming items cluttering up a closet, you can send those in and help us build our collection.  Check the list below for some ideas!

Possible Costume & Prop Items

• Old fashioned looking dresses, blouses, & skirts
• Sport jackets
• Handkerchiefs, scarves, shawls, & ties
• Wigs or hats

Third Grade Wax Museum

The Wax Museum is one of the most memorable projects for third graders!  Third grade researchers will be reading about a hero or heroine, taking organized notes, and writing a paper to teach others about this important person.  Students will then compose a monologue that they will deliver as their hero or heroine - in full costume!  

Our Wax Museum presentations will be on:

Tuesday, March 25 from 1:30-2:30 

Wednesday, March 26th from 6:00-7:00

Ways for Parents to Get Involved with Wax Museum

There are many ways that you can help our kids prepare for Wax Museum!  

Here are some of the ways that you can help:

• Send items that can be used for costuming
• Help students rehearse their monologues  ( We will need volunteers to help students rehearse and offer feedback from March 17th to March 24th)

• Help students dress in costumes for daytime performance (We will need volunteers to come on Tuesday, March 25th from 12:45 to 1:30)

• Help students dress in costumes for evening performance (We will need volunteers to come on Wednesday, March 26th from 5:15 - 6:00)

 If you would like to help, please complete the volunteer sheet that will be in your child's Friday folder.

Finding our Heroes!

Today students learned more about biographies from Ms. Bolas.  After our lesson, we looked through tables and tables of biographies to find a hero to research.  Ask your child who they will be learning all about!

Learning about Elizabeth Blackwell

Smart
Stubborn 
Curious
Brave

These were some of the words students used to describe Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor. Today we read Tonya Lee Stone's book, Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell to learn about another heroine in preparation for our wax museum.  Students discussed the impact she made and the courage she showed as she made history.

Learning about Wilma Rudolph!

We learned about another great heroine today - Wilma Rudolph.  Students were amazed to see her grow from a sickly child to a confidant Olympian.  We thought about her traits and decided she was perseverant, confidant, hardworking, and courageous just to name a few.  She has inspired generations of people to dream big!

Kathleen Krull's biography about Wilma Rudolph inspires us all to look at obstacles and see opportunities!


We watched a video to see Wilma run.  Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLmn7MsDhHU

Learning about Dolores Huerta - A Hero to Migrant Workers

This picture biography by Sarah Warren tells Dolores' story so well.  

In preparation for third grade wax museum, we are examining the lives of heroes.  First we read about Dolores Huerta who fought a battle for fair wages and safe workplaces for migrant workers. Students made lists of her traits and discussed how she showed courage and made an impact in her community.   

Nonfiction Readers Read with Power!

Nonfiction readers are learning how to read nonfiction texts with power.  Readers have discussed what it means to read nonfiction text.  We understand that nonfiction text is teaching us and that it is our job to be learning from the text.  We discussed this and decided that to read with power and learn from text we must:

• Open our mental file on the text topic and think about what we already know
• Be sit up and pay attention kind of readers
• Use text features like headings, captions, and pictures
• Connect the pictures and captions with what we have read in the text
• Think about what we are reading while we are reading it
• React to our reading and learning

Check out these pictures of partners reading with power!

Finding a Partner...

Third graders know that everything is better with a friend and reading is no exception. Third grade readers now have reading partners.  These partners will work together to share their thinking about the books they read.  Students are getting to know their partners as readers by conducting a reading interview.  

Here are some of the questions we are asking one another:

• Can we look over your log and talk about how much you are reading at school and home? Are there times when you read more or less? Why do you think that happens?
• When you find books that are just right, what do those books tend to be like? What should I know about the books in your life?
• What are your goals for yourself as a reader? What are you doing to meet them?
• If you think back over your life as a reader, what have the big turning point moments been for you? Can you tell me more about one turning point? How did your reading change during that moment? What did you realize about yourself as a reader?
• Who has helped you as a reader? What did that person do that was helpful?
  
  
  Interviewers are taking notes, learning about their partner, and discovering ways that they can support each other this year.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Introducing a Book to A Friend!

       

Third grade readers thought about the books that they love - books that are special.  We decided not to keep these books a secret, but to create a buzz about them and share them with our classmates.  Each reader chose a favorite book and wrote a recommendation for it.  We will create a wall of recommendations that we can use as a resource next time we are looking for our new favorite book. 

       

Reading is Thinking!

Third graders have been reading long and strong in readers workshop.  We have been conferencing and talking about strengths and the ways that we can grow as readers this year.  Students have also been closely monitoring the thinking they do as they read.  As they read, they have used post its to record their thoughts, feelings, questions, connections, and predictions.  

Text to Text Connection

Questioning the Text

Recording thoughts and feelings

Text to Self Connection

Prediction

 At the end of each workshop, students have come back together to share what they are reading and thinking with a partner!