Life-Size Leaders

February was Black History Month, and as a research project, middle school students selected an African American leader to research. They learned about the leader's early life, career, achievements, later life, and more. We used books, as well as online databases and websites, for research. This was a good opportunity to discuss credible resources, avoiding plagiarism, and note-taking skills. After taking notes, students wrote a paper about their leader, and created a "life size" model of the person. We put them up in the hallway, and they've been really popular! Students love to stop in the hallway and look at them, and read about the lives of these leaders.