The Living Museum

In the third grade, students are asked to do a report on a famous person (current or historical).  As part of the project, they also participate in "The Living Museum" in which they present a short portion of their biography "live" whenever someone presses a fake button on the ground.  Max just performed his "Living Museum" along with the rest of third grade this past week.  It's very interesting to see how our other sons looked like in the third grade doing their presentations ... have a look:

2008 - Charlie Fleischer as Martin Luther King, Jr

Yes, it is pretty funny that a blond haired, Florida-born, 9 year old boy would choose Martin Luther King, Jr. to do his biography.  We didn't want to send him into school black-faced, so a simple ensemble of black pants, white shirt, and black tie did the trick.  

When I asked why he chose Martin Luther King, Jr., "Is it because of what he believed in ... his work in the civil rights movement ... his 'I have a Dream' speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial ... is that why you chose him?"

Charlie responded, "Well, we needed to have a couple of reference books for the biography and it seemed like there were lots for him" 

In the second picture above, you can kind of see the layout of the classroom.  "Living Biographies" stand and wait till someone presses the red button on the floor in front of them and they start their biography with, "Hello, my name is Martin Luther King, Jr.  I was born on ... I was married to ... I grew up in ... I'm famous for ... etc."  All memorized ... and repeated about 100 times during the day as parents and other classes walked through.

2011 - Will Fleischer as Vince Lombardi

This was a bit more predictable.  Will was enthralled with the Green Bay Packers at the time (pre-Colin Kap), and we quashed his other requests of doing the biography on Aaron Rodgers or Donald Driver (they're in their 20s or 30s ... what life have they lived, yet!!!).  

I so wanted Will to start off his Living Museum speech with this line from Vince Lombardi:

Alas, he chose to play it straight and not get kicked out of school.

It was a bit warm in May 2008, so no winter coat needed.  We decided to go with an ensemble of black pants, white shirt, and black tie ... with a couple other props ...

 

2013 - Max Fleischer as Max Fleischer

This was a natural ... Max Fleischer as Max Fleischer, the cartoonist.  One of the most interesting coincidences we found ... Max's father was William ... and Max's older brother was Charles.

Of course, Max's introduction in the Living Museum was, "Hello, my name is Max Fleischer ..."  which went over the head for most of the parents walking through, but the other students in the school that knew Max thought this was interesting.  One girl was completely befuddled ... "I know you're name is Max Fleischer, but who is your famous person?"  To which Max replied, "Max Fleischer!"  It was a mini, Fleischer-version of "Who's on first?"

By now, you might recognize the ensemble ... black pants, white shirt, and black tie ... with some added props for Max (nice mustache!).  He wore suspenders for the pictures at home, but didn't want to wear them at school (of course, he was already wearing a belt ... who wears a belt AND suspenders!!!!)