Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2011

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The fifth-graders met individually with judges who rated their oral and visual presentations.

Fifth-graders at William Wells Brown Elementary have really delved into the Declaration of Independence, the French and Indian War, and the California gold rush.

“I used my sources to help me figure out what I didn’t already know from class,” said Mia Ingraham, whose topic for their history fair was the American Revolution.

The individual projects were organized by era, such as Civil Rights. Some featured cut-out photos of familiar figures like the Underground Railroad’s Harriet Tubman. Others relied on bold typefaces and other elements for impact, such as children toiling in factories.

And when the Industrial Revolution came up in class, 11-year-old Antonio Felipe Bean was able to share those factory details with his schoolmates. “I had studied it every day to learn more,” he said of preparing his project.

Much like a science fair, the history fair prompted students to stretch themselves and dig a little deeper into their subjects.

“They could explore topics that interested them while I was teaching, going into more depth than we were able to in class,” said first-year teacher Beverly DePaola.

Shacari Berrios decided to examine slavery, saying, “I wanted to know how we gained freedom and who was a part of it, like Harriet Tubman.”

After doing the bulk of her legwork at the Northside branch of the Lexington Public Library, Shacari illustrated key points using a brown cloth backdrop with stark black-and-white images of shackles and a reward poster for runaway slaves.

The kids’ projects had to include certain elements: who, what, where and when; a cause and effect for the event; a timeline with at least five dates; a list of sources; and a journal excerpt in which the student assumed a role from that time period.

“In my diary entry, I just let my feelings show,” said Mia, who signed it Sam Meeker.

As the outspoken teenager who joined the Continental Army, Mia wrote: “I’m upset because I want revenge on King George III for putting taxes on supplies like tea and stuff we need to survive. We are new to this place and we don’t have enough money to take care of our families!”

“Some of these kids are so creative. They researched during computer lab time and in the library. They also used after-school time to put their boards together,” said DePaola, who organized the history fair as part of her Kentucky Teacher Internship Program (KTIP).

She picked a winner from each era along with three overall winners based on visual and oral presentation, and she planned to invite families to see the students’ work one evening after spring break.

DePaola, who teaches history and social studies, believes her students will reap long-term benefits from this experience.

“Hopefully they’ll start thinking about how to research with the appropriate materials so when they’re getting into bigger projects in middle and high school, they’ll know how to do it,” she said.