550-Assessment

GRADE 5 SOCIAL STUDIES AND THE ARTS

Our Living Museum History comes alive in our classroom. Each fifth grader becomes a person who

changed our community or our world, and visitors press a button to hear their

story.

Museum Day: Thursday, October 8, 2026 | Place: School Library

Why we are doing this

Dear students and families: a living museum lets learners research a real person, then step into that person's shoes. When art and

social studies work together, students do more than memorize dates. Research on arts integration found that weeks of arts-based

activities with 381 pupils increased helpfulness and reduced discrimination among classmates (Lauss & Helm, 2025), so this

project builds teamwork and respect along with history knowledge. The same research warns that cooperation and friendly

competition must be balanced, so our museum celebrates every guest equally and has no winners or ranking.

Studies of primary classrooms also show that arts-based lessons work best when subjects are truly connected and when teachers

and arts partners plan together, while a lack of shared planning and support makes such projects hard to sustain (Escala et al.,

2024). That is why your art, music, and classroom teachers are all part of this event.

Standards and learning objectives

Social studies standard

State standard (Georgia Standards of Excellence, Grade 5

Social Studies, historical understandings): students explain

how significant individuals influenced events and daily life

in American history, using primary and secondary sources.

Arts standards

Georgia Standards of Excellence, Grade 5 Visual Arts:

create a work of art that communicates ideas about a

person or time period. Grade 5 Theatre Arts: develop and

perform a character through voice, movement, and costume.

I can...

Research a historical figure using at least three trustworthy sources, and explain how that person influenced our community or

world.

Write and perform a 60 to 90 second first-person monologue with clear voice, eye contact, and gestures.

Design a visual display and costume piece that match the person's time and accomplishments.

Use technology safely to find, check, and credit information.

Ask respectful questions of classmates' figures during museum visits.

Timeline and checkpoints

The project takes four weeks: about 30 to 40 minutes a day in class, plus short home practice. Museum Day is the finish line.

Week 1: Choose and

research

Day 3 checkpoint: figure

approved and three

sources listed.

Week 2: Write and plan

Day 8 checkpoint:

monologue draft and

display sketch turned in.

Week 3: Build and

rehearse

Day 13 checkpoint: display

and costume piece done;

peer rehearsal.

Week 4: Polish and

present

Day 18 dress rehearsal;

Day 19 or 20 is Museum

Day.

How the museum works

Our classroom (and the hallway outside it) becomes a museum hall. Each student stands as a "living statue" beside a display.

When a visitor presses the paper "button" on the display, or scans its QR code, the figure comes to life and delivers the monologue.

After the monologue, the figure answers one or two visitor questions in character.

Two art forms are woven into every exhibit. Visual art: a tri-fold display board with a hand-drawn or painted portrait, a timeline,

and a symbol of the person's work, plus a simple costume piece. Drama: the first-person monologue, performed with voice,

movement, and freeze-frame posing. Music class will add a short period-style song or sound clip played quietly in the hall, so

visitors feel the time period as they walk.

What you need to do

Select a person who influenced our local community or the wider world (an inventor, leader, scientist, artist, athlete, or

community helper). Get your teacher's approval.

Research with at least three sources, including one book or library source. Record where each fact came from.

Write a first-person monologue (60 to 90 seconds) answering: Who was I? What did I do? Why did it matter then, and why

does it matter now?

Create your display: portrait, timeline with at least four dates, two images or objects, and your sources list.

Prepare a costume piece and props that are respectful, safe, and school-appropriate.

Rehearse at home with family and in class with a partner.

Presenting to peers and families

Visually: your display stands neatly beside you, titles are large enough to read from three feet away, and your costume piece makes

your person recognizable. Physically: hold a still pose until a visitor presses your button, speak loudly and slowly, make eye

contact, use two or three purposeful gestures, and freeze again when you finish. Thank each visitor for coming.

Classmates visit first during a school-day preview, and families visit during the evening or afternoon open house. Visitors are asked

to listen respectfully, ask kind questions, and ask before taking any photo.

Using technology wisely

Technology can stretch learning past our classroom walls. Teachers in primary classrooms have used internet research, virtual field

trips with Google Earth, and student-made digital presentations to give learners access to places and information they could not

otherwise reach, and one class even held a live video call with a local museum worker (Aleksieva et al., 2025). We will do the

same: you may take a virtual tour of a place connected to your person, view digital archive images, or join a class video call with a

local historian or librarian.

Research also shows that students are often asked to use technology to look things up but are rarely given enough guidance or

creative control, and that online safety is talked about more than it is practiced (Aleksieva et al., 2025). So we will practice it

together:

Use only the school-approved library databases, kid-safe encyclopedias, and websites your teacher lists.

Ask: Who wrote this? When? Can I find the same fact in a second source?

Never share your name, photo, or location online. Do not download or copy text; write in your own words.

Credit every picture and fact on your sources list.

Create something new with technology, such as a digital portrait or a recorded narration, instead of only reading.

Sharing the museum with our community

Families who cannot attend are welcome too. Our teacher will use Google Sites for this page, Seesaw or ClassDojo for family

messages and reminders, QR codes on each display linking to a short recorded monologue, Canva for the printed invitations, and a

school-managed Google Meet livestream of the open house. The school newsletter and website will also share class photos with

family permission only.

References

Aleksieva, L., Racheva, V., & Peytcheva-Forsyth, R. (2025). Talking tech, teaching with tech: How primary teachers implement

digital technologies in practice. Informatics, 12(3), Article 99. https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics12030099

Escala, N., Herrera-Pavo, M. Á., Guitert, M., & Romeu, T. (2024). Educational experiences integrating the arts into teaching

practice in primary education in Ecuador. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 54, Article 101671.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101671

Lauss, J., & Helm, C. (2025). The role of the arts in the classroom: Does integration of the arts promote social relationships in

the classroom? Education Sciences, 15(1), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15010014