sources and examining how people from diverse backgrounds have shaped history( social studies) as well as informational writing, research inquiry, and oral presentation( literacy).
Based on their conversation, Mr. Chen designs a three-week project called the Living Wax Museum that integrates research, biographical writing, and performance. He provides a list of historical figures to his class as a starting point; however, the children are free to research and propose their own choices. They can select from a list of US figures who reflect a diversity of races, cultures, and genders, including Ruby Bridges, Dolores Huerta, Neil Armstrong, and Harriet Tubman.
Maya, a multilingual learner, expresses an interest in choosing someone who is Latina like her. Mr. Chen suggests labor activist Dolores Huerta. He also provides some materials to get Maya started, including a biography available in English and Spanish and a collection of artifacts and images that are connected to Huerta’ s life and work.
Maya actively engages with these materials. She explores the objects, including playing with a toy typewriter to see how it works. After looking at a photo of a United Farm Workers’ rally in Coachella, California, she role-plays with a classmate, imagining how Huerta organized this march. Maya also reads letters and speeches Huerta wrote in the late 1960s. She uses these materials and experiences to write a speech in the voice of Huerta about workers’ rights. She practices the speech on her own and in front of different partners over the next few days.
On presentation day, Maya, dressed in an outfit inspired by images of Huerta, stands frozen. When a visitor taps her shoulder, she delivers her speech. At the end of the session, she and her classmates excitedly run to each other, exchanging their experiences.
The Living Wax Museum illustrates what guided play can look like when woven intentionally into the primary grades. Mr. Chen designed the project based on his state’ s learning standards, and he relied on collaboration with his colleagues and support from school leadership.
The experience involved a blend of child-directed and teacher-directed experiences from the beginning. Children chose who they would study, drove their own research process, and decided how to inhabit their historical figure in performance. At the same time, Mr. Chen curated materials to align with each child’ s interests and needs. He planned an environment in which the children could engage with history in a tangible, playful way, where they could handle objects, examine images, and immerse themselves in a historical world. Additionally, he structured the research process and designed the presentation context in ways that gave the work its purpose and audience while keeping the learning goals in mind. The children conducted research, wrote informational texts, and presented to an audience through meaningful, playful experiences. He also created entry points and ongoing supports for all learners. This demonstrates that guided play, when planned thoughtfully, can advance both content goals and equity( Hirsh-Pasek et al. 2020; Cekaite & Simonsson 2023).
While Maya is rehearsing, Mr. Chen observes that she is reading her Dolores Huerta speech quietly and with minimal expression. Mr. Chen says to her,“ Your words are powerful. Let’ s think about how Dolores Huerta might have felt. If you were asking farmworkers to stand up for their rights, how would your voice sound?” Maya reflects, then shifts to a louder, more expressive delivery.
Fall 2026 Young Children 23