The Living Museum

On the heels of our Charlottesville visit, full of Jeffersonian history, Anson's class put on a "living museum" today. Each student had to read a biography, dress as the historical figure, and write a brief history of their life. Anson chose....drumroll....Thomas Jefferson! To be honest, he chose him long before the trip, and without even realizing who he was.

The entire third grade participated, and for about an hour, parents and second graders strolled through. The kids each had a sign with a "PUSH ME" button, and when someone pushed it, they started talking.

(In case you are wondering why there is an ice cream cone on Jefferson's sign, it's because he first ate ice cream on his trip to Europe, and vanilla was his favorite. I'm guessing he didn't eat it out of a waffle cone, but I'll allow Anson some literary creativity here. Obviously a VERY critical part of Jefferson's history.)

Doesn't he look suave? He didn't want anything to do with the wig/ponytail thing, and I almost convinced him to wear one of my ruffly shirts and a doctored pirate hat, but he backed out at the last minute.

Here he is demonstrating the use of the writing box. Jefferson designed it to use as a lap desk, and he drafted the Declaration of Independence on it. Note the details, such as the DOI scroll reproduction and quill pen. (It's such a burden having a C'ville townie as a mom and parents who went to UVA on a day like today.) If I could have hauled it up the stairs, I would have made him sit in our Jefferson chair. I had a nickel and a $2 bill, but accidentally left them at home.

The star of the show (after Anson, of course), is the gorgeous writing box replica handmade by Philip. The kids and parents were definitely wowed.

Some of Anson's classmates below....  It was truly interesting to see whom the students chose and how they dressed up, what they decided to say about them, and so on.

I won't show you everyone, but let's say that there were some questionable choices out there. Ke$ha, anyone?? What parent let their child dress as her? Is there really a biography in the Lacy Elementary library on her?

John F. Kennedy:

Nelson Mandela:

Pele:

Sacagawea and Pocahontas:

Leonardo daVinci:

Bill Gates:

Betsy Ross:

Michael Jordan:

Milton Bradley and JK Rowling:

I was really impressed with the production. Not only did the kids learn a lot about the person they studied, but about everyone's character in the class. I even learned about Mattie Knight (first female inventor of the paper bag machine), random!!! Kudos go to Ms. Avis, Anson's teacher, for steering her class in the right direction. After peeking my head into some of the other classrooms, I realized that at least 50% of most kids dressed as a relatively modern sports figure (Tiger Woods, Dale Earnhart, etc.).

It's looking to be a beautiful few days here in Raleigh. Minus the pollen. Have a great weekend!