Humanities class transforms to history museum

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Jeff Crowe

Humanities students spent a class period presenting their projects as museum exhibits.

While many students were in class taking tests, quizzes, or just learning, one class was doing a museum exhibit. Humanities was doing a museum exhibit during 2nd, 3rd, and 4th period on Monday.

Jeff Crowe
Students were able to learn the curriculum in a new way.

“There were a few purposes for doing this project for humanities,” history teacher Sarah Wiseman said. “The first was for us to allow for some intensive research which allows students to dig deep into an area of interest. The second is to practice skills that are useful for writing essays without actually having to write an essay. So each student, their artifact or exhibit, is their evidence and then their presentation is their commentary which is the building blocks of any good essay and they essentially had to answer an LEQ prompt with their project.”

Freshman Karina Shin shares her role in completing the humanities project.

“So you researched a specific empire in one of the eras and then you choose a field of study to research in,” Shin said. “Mine was social hierarchy and then you research that specific empire. Mine was the Roman Republic. And then you see how their social hierarchy was and then you see how their social hierarchy, or whatever field of study, influenced some other civilization.”

Jeff Crowe
Students researched empire eras such as the Roman Empire to present.

Although this assignment can be seen as just another grade in the grade book, one humanities student gained a better understanding of the topic while doing it.

“I learned that characteristics of certain fields of study can come from different empires,” freshman Ashley Philip said. “There’s history behind everything you do in daily activity.”

While writing an essay just helps students to improve their skill, doing a museum exhibit helps students to improve their skill while gaining an appreciation for what they have learned.

“I hope that they gained an appreciation for their area that they researched,” Wiseman said. “And for the contributions of a bunch of different cultures on our culture today.”