Each student in Charlotte's walk-to-reading class picked someone in history to research and present; Charlotte picked Helen Keller. After writing a detailed report on the selected person, the students prepared a 1-minute presentation to share with the other third-grade classes, family, and friends. The students were positioned around the gym with a yellow 'button' at their feet. Guests would push the button, causing the historical figure to wake up and give his or her 1-minute presentation.
Charlotte enjoyed this project so much she learned many words in sign language which she used during her oral report, read several books on Helen Keller, and essentially found way more information than she could ever use. It all paid off - she received her final grade today, a whopping 110%. Her teacher was very impressed with her enthusiasm for the project, for learning sign language, and for her confidence with public speaking. She did do a great job and we are very proud of her. And she made a huge impression on Mary who came home from school that day and promptly made her own button. Mary stood by her button with her head stooped. David dutifully pushed Mary's button. Mary woke up and promptly started into Charlotte speech ("Hi, I'm Helen Keller. I was born in . . ."), complete with wiggling fingers (Mary's form of sign language). I was amazed at how much of Charlotte's presentation Mary had memorized. When Mary finished, she dutifully slumped again like she was asleep. Third grade will be no problem for her, that's for sure.
What a fun idea! I like the idea of the button and family getting to see the report too. :)
ReplyDelete