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Making Monuments

Monuments and memorials are built to teach and remind us of past events or people. Students will explore some famous examples and work in small groups to design an original monument. 

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Recycled Cardboard Box
  • Recycled Milk Cartons

Steps

  • Step 1

    Monuments and memorials communicate in a similar way that books do. From the Latin word "moneo" which means to remind, a monument represents an event or a person. It can elicit pride, sorrow, empathy, and more. Have students think of monuments they've visited. It could be a famous one they traveled to or a local one such as a historic cemetery or a house listed on a historic registry. How did they feel when they saw it? How did it affect their understanding of the person, event, or structure? 

  • Step 2

    Form students into small groups, perhaps three  per group, and ask them to choose an event or person to memorialize in a monument. If they chose an event have one member research some facts about the event, have another research facts about some of the people involved, and have the third sketch ideas for the design of the monument. If they chose a person, one member could research some of their accomplishments and another could research biographical facts.

  • Step 3

    Ask students to select recycled items to use as the base for constructing the monument. They can then divide the tasks needed. One person might write and illustrate facts to be cut out and affixed to the monument, another might cover the chosen recycled items in decorated paper, and another might construct additional items from Model Magic to convey the theme or messages of the monument.

  • Step 4

    Have the groups present their monuments to the class and discuss why they chose the topic and some of the history associated with the event or person.

Standards

SS: Individual Development and Identity: Describe factors important to the development of personal identity and the context of identity within families, peer or affinity groups, schools, communities, and nationalities. 

SS: Time, Continuity, and Change: Read, reconstruct, and interpret the past. Imagine the future. Place oneself in various times and spaces and reflect on change. 

Adaptations

Have students explore some notable monuments and memorials such as Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, The Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, or any others.

Statues honor leaders, heroes, war dead, and others and have come to mean many things to different people. Have students explore the debates about the removal of statues, particularly controversial leaders.