Innovative Curriculum Becoming their research number of levels, said Head of Lotspeich Carolyn Fox. By mid-February, students have chosen the historical leader they would like to get to know better and have written a persuasive paragraph convincing Melissa and fellow fourth grade teacher Sara Snyder of their ability to portray their leader. Once they have received approval, students work hard over the next few weeks to bring their leader to life.
On a late winter morning, Melissa Woodard’s fourth graders label file folders, drop in a few papers filled with notes, and pop open hard plastic index card holders. “Do we write our names on the label?” a student asks. “No,” Melissa tells her students. “Write the name of your person. You are becoming the person you will research, remember?” It is that sense of absolute ownership that fuels the fourth graders’ desires to engage fully in the eight-week Living Biography project. They are given just two requirements – that the subject of their research is deceased and that the person made a significant positive impact on society. Other than that, the experience — how they learn and how they teach their peers — is up to them. The project is organic and emerges as the natural next step in each student’s yearlong study of leaders who shaped history.
“Students will dress up as their researched person and present to their classmates, parents, and teachers. The process constantly taps into a higher order of thinking, not unlike that of a written proposal,” said Melissa. “From the moment they read their project description, they are building cases, fortifying their knowledge, gauging their audience, using multi-media research techniques, lobbying their cause, and gaining consensus.” Weeks away from the stick-on moustaches, graying wigs, theatrical bowties, and everything else it takes to put together costumes depicting a multitude of world leaders, the young students are excited and brimming with ideas. One of the signature projects in the fourth grade, the Living Biography has a unique mission to engage students in experiential learning on a
“By the time they finish the Living Biography project, they have explored the life of their leader while gaining preliminary research skills they will
LIVING BIOGRAPHY PROJECT Students chose to “become” a number of noted global leaders. Here are a few of the subjects for the fourth grade Living Biography project: Anne Frank Mother Theresa Crazy Horse Nelson Mandela Martin Luther King, Jr. Rosa Parks Socrates Jackie Robinson Pocahontas Dian Fossey Christopher Columbus Clara Barton Eleanor Roosevelt Steve Jobs
expand upon in Middle and Upper School,” said Carolyn. “This high interest and integrative project instructs and encourages students to organize their thoughts and materials at the fourth grade level providing the building blocks for the more complex writing assignments students experience in Middle and Upper School.”
P.J. Paul
15