Brookwood students immerse themselves in lives of historical figures

Onestudent wanted to learn about Malala Yousafzai and make a parallel connection about wanting to gain an education. Another chose to learn more about Marco Polo because her dad was born in Italy as was the Venetian merchant she studied. A third student related to Neil Armstrong as they both are in Boy Scouting, and he wants to be an astronaut just like the lunar explorer. Another picked Pablo Picasso as she likes art and discovered the world of cubism through studying his great works.

These, and others, dressed like Sacajawea to J.K. Rowling, shared the stories of these famous individuals to schoolmates and parents during Brookwood’s Museum of Biographies.

For more than a dozen years, Brookwood’s Museum of Biographies has intrigued and inspired third-grade students to learn more about famous individuals and what made them famous. It’s a cumulating activity for the 88 third-graders who each was charged to read a book in the “Who Was” biography series that shares stories of trailblazers, legends, innovators and creators, said teacher Abby Wilcox.

“They read the book a couple of times, then for three weeks, they work on research projects,” she said.

The project also includes drawing of their person and a class presentation about who they researched. The presentation could be through several projects such as a PowerPoint, painting, poster, papier mâché or paper as well as an oral presentation about when the famous person was born, died, and facts about their life.

Their drawings were mounted on folders and are displayed during their biography fair where each student could dress up similar to their “Who Was” person.

“They get really invested in the people