Are you looking for something different to wrap up your year? Try hosting a Celebrity Ball. This is a teaching strategy I used with my 7th graders to pull in all those biographies in our standards. It involves research and then a ball where they role played their famous person. “Press Agents” attended to help promote their client in a vote for the “Most Important Person in – History”. My daughter’s 4th grade teacher loved the idea so much, she adopted it as well! These pictures are from her class.
Follow these steps to create your own Celebrity Ball:
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The girls showing off their Famous Texans.
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Procedures
1. Introduce the activity to the class; they will have the opportunity to choose a famous Texan, conduct research, write a resume, then attend a Celebrity Ball of the famous Texans.
2. Review the guidelines for the project. Point out to the students that they will need to get your signature for each step of the process on their checklist. This will enable you to make sure they are completing the project in a timely manner.
3. Allow students to complete their research on their famous Texan. If you have a limited amount of time, you may want to provide them research folders with information on the famous Texans prepared ahead of time.
4. Once students have finished their research, model what a resume looks like. Point out what parts of the resume they will be using and what they won’t. Pass out a business card. (Any kind is acceptable). Explain what you will be looking for on the business card. Review the guidelines for writing a speech. Students will need to include interesting information they gathered about their famous Texan. Allow students adequate time to create their resume, business card and speech.
5. Prepare for the ball. Encourage students to bring food and drink to make the ball more realistic. Find and play classical music to simulate the atmosphere of a sophisticated formal ball. Allow your students to make and create props to wear. The student role playing the famous Texan should have props to represent that person. The press agent should wear appropriate business attire.
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Can you guess who these girls are?
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6. The day of the ball, prep your students. Students will turn in one copy of their work (resume, speech and business card) to you. The press agent will then pass out business cards and resumes to the other guests at the ball. After the students have had a chance to mingle, call on a few famous Texans at random to read their speeches.
7. During the ball, challenge their students to complete their Autograph sheet. The person with the most signatures wins an extra bonus!
I hope you and your students enjoy their Celebrity Ball. Let me know what you think!
