Puppetry

What is puppetry?

• Puppetry is a form of entertainment that dates back thousands of years. Though puppetry may be viewed today in our culture as a form of entertainment for children, its history is culturally diverse and enthralling. The earliest examples of puppetry are thought to date back to ancient Egypt. Other forms include Japan’s Bunraku puppetry and Indonesian Shadow puppets.

Goals for the puppetry unit

Students will:• design and build their own sock puppet• develop a storyline into a 5-7 minute scripted performance based

on children’s stories of French or Spanish origin.• Please note that stories will be synthesized so that it meets the

requirements of the performing group.• incorporate significant aspects of their language of acquisition

(French or Spanish) into the script of their performance• develop a unique character voice for their character• present and rehearsed and polished performance of their puppet

show with up to 2 additional partners (total group size will be 2-3 people)

Links to use for stories

• Spanish stories: http://www.worldoftales.com/Spanish_folktales.html

• French stories:http://oaks.nvg.org/french-folktales.html

What’s our take on this Mr. Peebles?

• Capitalizing on what you have learned this year in your French/Spanish classes, students will be placed into groups based on your language acquisition course of study (either French or Spanish) to create a puppet show performance that is in both English and in the language of their current study.

What kind of puppets will we make?

• Students will design and build simple sock puppets. STUDENTS WILL SUPPLY THEIR OWN MATERIALS TO BUILD THEIR PUPPETS.

• Materials to collect and bring in for sock puppets:

1. a solid colored crew sock (other socks like tube sock do not work as well)2. felt material in many colors3. googly eyes4. ping pong balls for eyes5. mini pom poms for nose/accessories6. broken/unused jewelry7. pipe cleaners8. yarn9. a 5”x8” piece of box cardboard for the mouth

You may not need all the above materials or find other materials that may be useful in constructing your puppet, but these are the most commonly used items that are used in constructing a simple sock puppet. You are responsible for supplying you own sock puppet materials.

• Students will be in groups of 2-3.• Students will choose a children’s story that is French or Spanish in

origin. Students may choose to find a fairy tale of French or Spanish origin on their own, but this will be on an individual basis.

• Students will breakdown and story map their chosen story into the following story elements:

• Establish the conflict• Inciting incident• Events of rising action• Climax• Falling Action• Resolution

• Students are to phrase their story into present/future tense of the story as to aid in retelling the story in a scripted form in French or Spanish.

• Students will script the their story using the following cast of characters:• Narrator-speaks English to aid in the understanding of the story (will also play a

minor character who will speak in the language of the group.)• 2-4 other characters who speak in either French or Spanish only (present/future

tense of the language only).• Students will type the script in a shared google doc that will include all group

members, Mr. Peebles, and their language acquisition teacher (Mme. Ryder or Sr. Bays).

• Students will sketch/design/build sock puppets that reflect the characters in the story.

• Students will be expected to memorize their scripts.• Students will rehearse their performance with their collaborators in class.• Students will perform their puppet show for their peers in class.

The rubric

• Criterion A: Knowing and Understanding (Script developed effectively using source story and language of acquisition to present an engaging piece of puppet theatre.)

• Criterion B: Developing Skills (Performer demonstrates effective manipulation skills [lip sync, mannerisms, and vocal choices] in presenting their work.)

• Criterion C: Thinking Creatively (Student worked collaboratively to present an entertaining performance in a polished formant that communicated a complete story.)

• The sock puppets will also be graded based on design and creativity.