LIVING HISTORY DAY at Golden West Elementary

This month at Golden West Elementary, Abraham Lincoln and Elvis could be found walking the halls, eating lunch, and taking a selfie during recess. That is because eighth grade students from Dr. Matthew Smith’s history class brought significant historical figures to life with their mobile presentation of a history museum.

This project commonly known as Living History Day was introduced to eighth grade history curriculum over twenty years ago.

Students each dressed and acted as a different historical figure ranging from Abraham Lincoln to Selena Quintanilla to Vincent van Gogh, among many others.

From left: Students dressed as Shin Saimdang, Bob Marley, Vincent Van Gogh, Elvis Presley, and Louis Vuitton.

Eighth grade history teacher Dr. Matthew Smith explained that the Living History project is unique as it meets nearly all history grade level standards and standards in English Language Arts.

“Students researched different historic eras and subjects,” said Smith. “The student who chose Susan B. Anthony delved into women’s rights while the student who chose George Washington, learned of America’s founding fathers.”

Dr. Smith’s project outline included a research essay, poem, speech, and a historical fiction component (that meets the historical fiction history standard) which had students creating a faux Facebook profile for their figure on a worksheet.

From left: Students dressed as Roberto Clemente, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella.

This component became an enticing opportunity for students to really consider historical context and what would have been authentic to their figure during the time. “For example, Jackie Robinson— Who are his friends? What are his posts like? What is the language he would have used?” described Dr. Smith. “It gets students to think about what would have been contemporary with the time and language.”

For the essay portion, students were responsible for conducting their own research, organizing their sources while determining which sources are credible, and constructing a thesis statement that drove their overall study.

Not only did Dr. Smith’s eighth grade students learn about history in a new way, but so did the rest of the school. Dressing and acting as a living history figure meant mobilizing characters from class to class to present a first-person narrative, summative biography on their figure to younger students.

Thus, the eighth-grade students created a monologue.

The speech component of the project came easy for those students enrolled in Dr. Smith’s life skills elective class at Golden West. Smith explained that public speaking is a valuable element to the class that has students learning foundational skills to speaking in public, including writing an effective speech.

From left: Students dressed as Empress Elizabeth of Austria, Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov of Russia, Princess Diana of Wales, and Princess Grace of Monaco.

“About 60% of my history students already knew how to write a minute and a half speech,” shared Dr. Smith. “I can tell the difference between those that have taken the life skills elective and those who haven’t. They’re much more skilled and confident when it comes to public speaking.”

Because many students from Golden West have witnessed the Living History Project for years, in most cases, by the time they enter eighth grade, they have already made claim to a historical figure they want to explore.

Students like to choose figures that shared either a common interest such as baseball or music, a cultural background, or simply someone in history they can relate to.

Dr. Smith shared that because students were already passionate about their historical figure of choice, doing the independent research became easy.

From left: Students dressed as Steve Jobs, Lance Thomas, President Abraham Lincoln, and Ray Kroc.

Living History Day is the vehicle that creates an understanding and appreciation of history while developing the necessary 21st-century tools, skills and aptitudes for tomorrow’s leaders.

Dr. Smith thanks the teachers at Golden West for their classroom flexibility and supporting students in the Living History Project year after year.