No Prep Plans: People Who Shaped America – Florida: Serena Williams

No Prep Plans: People Who Shaped America – Florida: Serena Williams
Living Wax Museum Planner

Introduce students to the extraordinary life and achievements of Serena Williams, one of the greatest tennis players in history and an athlete whose journey to greatness was shaped through years of training in Florida. In this engaging research and project-based lesson, students investigate Williams' remarkable career before preparing a Living Wax Museum performance in which they bring her story to life through a first-person presentation.

Students strengthen research, public speaking, historical thinking, writing, and presentation skills while exploring how perseverance, determination, and excellence helped Serena Williams transform the world of sports.

What's Included
- Teacher directions (1–2 class periods)
- Historical overview of Serena Williams
- Mini research activity
- Living Wax Museum performance project
- Three student research and activity pages
- Performance planning organizer
- Reflection and historical thinking activities
- Online research resources
- Full-color student pages
- Black-and-white versions for economical printing

Students Will Learn About
- Serena Williams' childhood and move to Florida for elite tennis training
- Her rise to becoming one of the greatest tennis champions in history
- Grand Slam championships and Olympic gold medals
- Her powerful playing style and competitive spirit
- Breaking barriers in professional tennis
- Inspiring athletes around the world through perseverance and leadership
- Her influence beyond sports through business, philanthropy, and advocacy
- Why Serena Williams remains one of the most influential athletes of all time

Perfect For
- Florida History
- State History units
- U.S. History
- Sports History
- Biography studies
- Grades 4–8
- Project-Based Learning (PBL)
- Research projects
- Oral presentations
- Living Wax Museum events
- Early finishers
- Substitute lesson plans

Part of the People Who Shaped America – Florida Series
Build an engaging Florida history curriculum with project-based lessons featuring influential individuals whose leadership, innovation, creativity, athletic achievements, and public service helped shape Florida and the nation.

Why Teachers Love It
- Ready to teach with minimal preparation
- Combines history, research, writing, speaking, and performance
- Encourages creativity while reinforcing historical understanding
- Develops public speaking and presentation confidence
- Strengthens research, note-taking, and summarizing skills
- Promotes evidence-based historical thinking
- Flexible for individual, partner, or small-group work
- Perfect for Living Wax Museum events and biography showcases
- Print-and-go classroom resource
- Includes both color and black-and-white student pages

This resource is an independent educational product created to support classroom instruction. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to any curriculum organization, examination board, state education agency, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the United States Tennis Association (USTA), Serena Williams, or any other organization. It is designed to complement teacher instruction and may be adapted to meet the needs of individual classrooms.