puppetry lesson plan

Curriculum and Instruction

LESSON PLAN By: Colleen Trumble

Instructor Name(s):Colleen Trumble

Grade:3/4

Lesson Title: Puppetry 101

Tech Requirements: (list all materials you might need. Include special materials like balloons and also basic classroom materials like chalkboards). Paper bagsMarkersGlueConstruction paperScissorsSlips of paper with some sort of conflict on it, to give students a head start when creating their short plays. # of slips of paper will all depend on number of students in class. Try and make three extra just in case.

Administrative Notes: (if relevant, include any information needed to share with the teacher or the class). Please do not draw on desks, each other or anything other than your puppet. Also any mess you make, you have to clean up.

Specific Learning Objective:Students will construct a paper bag puppet that is unique and put on a short play for rest of the class.

Learning Objectives:1. Students will identify what physical traits are associated with the

emotions of excitement, fear, relaxation and bravery by posing their partners, and being put into these poses from the game emotional puppets.

2. Students will identify what unique traits their paper bag puppet will have by answering a handout.

3. Students will construct a paper bag puppet using the ideas they came up with on the handout.

4. Students will use their paper bag puppets to perform a short play to the rest of the class.

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KSA’s1) How contextual variables affect teaching and learning5) All students can learn, albeit at different rates in different ways6) The purpose of short, medium and long range planning8) Importance of respecting student’s human dignity9) There are many approaches to teaching and learning11) The purpose of student assessment12) The importance of engaging parents, purposefully and meaningfully, in all aspects of teaching and learning.14) The importance of contributing independently and collegially to the quality of your school16) The importance of guiding your visions with a personal, overall vision of the purpose of teaching.

ACTIVITIESName of Exercise:Introduction

Expected Length: (in minutes)3 minutes

Purpose: (why is this exercise included in the lesson)To tell the students a little bit about puppetry and peak their interests

Detailed instructions: (how will this exercise be explained to the group)Instructor will bring a few different examples of puppets to show the class, and make up a different character for each puppet. Instructor will also explain how students are going to get a chance to make their own puppets.

Name of Exercise:Emotional Puppets


Purpose: (why is this exercise included in the lesson)To let the students find out how it feels to be the puppet and the puppeteer in a kinesthetic way.

Detailed instructions: (how will this exercise be explained to the group)

1. Instructor will ask students to pair up2. Then instructor will ask one student to be “A” and one student to

be “B”3. The “A”’s will be the first puppets, they will stand perfectly still 4. The “B”’s will be the puppeteers5. The instructor will explain that she/he will give an emotion, and

then the “B”s must shape the A’s into the emotion given, by communication with them, and moving the A’s into the body

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position. Emotions will be excited and scared.6. Students will be reminded to steer clear of touching any bathing

suit zones and to be gentle, because the roles will be reversed afterwards.

7. Instructor will give 3 minutes for the B’s to shape the A’s and then ask them to freeze

8. A’s will freeze while all of the B’s walk around and admire each other’s work. Emotions will be relaxed and brave

9. The roles will be switched the same instructions carried out. 10. *option* if available, music might be played during this as

long as it matches whatever mood is given.

Name of Exercise:Creating a puppet


Purpose: (why is this exercise included in the lesson)To create an individual puppet for each student


1) Students will be shown examples of different characters by the teacher, and they will be shown her example of a paper bag puppet

2) Teacher will then hand out a question sheet, on this sheet there will be a variety of questions consisting of: Is your puppet human? Or animal? Or something completely different? How old is your puppet?Is your puppet a boy or a girl?What does your puppet look like? Does your puppet have any defining features?Is your puppet mean? Nice? Happy? Sad? Does your puppet have a lot of friends? Or do they prefer to be alone?What is your puppet’s favorite food?What does your puppet like to do for fun? What is your puppet’s name?

3) As the students are answering these questions, the instructor will set out glue, scissors, pencil crayons, markers, construction paper and paper bags.

4) The students will be told that when they are finished their handout, they may quietly come up to the table, pick out a paper bag and a few supplies to start on making their puppet.

5) As students are making their puppets, the teacher will play some soft music in the background.

6) Once they are done, they will be asked to find a partner who is

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also finished, and introduce their puppet to their partner’s puppet and vice versa. The students can continue introducing their puppets to other students until everyone is finished constructing their puppet

7) Once everyone is done, then the class will be asked to sit in a circle, and go around the circle introducing their puppet to the class and then getting their puppet to say hi. (thereby having the students practice moving the puppets mouth in time with their own)

Name of Exercise:The show must go on!

Expected Length: (in minutes) 15 minutes

Purpose: (why is this exercise included in the lesson)To show the instructor what the children have learned from today’s lesson


1) Students will be split into groups of three2) Students will be given pointers with how to use puppets (what

level to keep their arms at, trying to move the puppets mouth at the same time as their own)

3) Students will be given a simple conflict to act out among their group on a small slip of paper

4) Once they are given the scenes, students will have 5 minutes to rehearse this scene amongst themselves

5) Then they will be asked to present their scene to the class and the instructor.

6) Instructor will ask for a huge, loud thunderous roar of applause after every scene.

Name of Exercise:Closing

Expected Length: (in minutes)5 min

Purpose: (why is this exercise included in the lesson)To make sure that students have learned about puppetry from todays lesson


Instructor will ask students how it felt to be the puppets and how it felt to be the puppeteers for the game emotional puppets. Instructor will also ask if the students felt connected to their

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puppet, and if they found that putting on a play for their peers was easier when the puppet was doing it as opposed to themselves.

Instructor will then ask class to take their puppet home with them, and introduce their puppet to their mom, dad or caregiver.

Sponge Activities:Poem Writing

Expected Length: (in minutes) N/A

Purpose: (why is this exercise included in the lesson)To fill extra time if students finish quickly.


Ask the students to write a rhyming 4 line poem, however they are to write the poem from their puppets point of view. Like the puppet is writing the poem.

Instructor will write an example on the board of a poem, and ask children to make of their own

Perhaps another class, the children will be able to have their puppets recite their poems to the class

This will show improvement because the child is going up individually in front of the class to recite their poem, and if they are gaining confidence to do this, then progress is being made.

Children will have their puppets recite the poem they wrote to the class

Class will have a thunderous applause for everyone.

Differentiated Activity:Emotional Puppets

Expected Length: (in minutes)

Purpose: (why is this exercise included in the lesson)So that if a student has a problem with doing this activity for whatever reason, there is still someone else for them to do.


If a student is not able to participate in this activity due to not feeling comfortable with being touched, or if they are disabled, then instead of having another student move them, the aid will move them based on simply talking and nothing more.

If students are still uncomfortable with that, they will be asked to work alone and simply freeze in a position that they find suitable

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to the emotion given. If none of those options are possible, the child might be asked to

be the judge of the class, and pick out the top three puppets for each round.

Differentiated Activity:On with the show

Expected Length: (in minutes)N/A

Purpose: (why is this exercise included in the lesson)An option for students who are not comfortable talking in front of the class at all.


They will either be responsible for making sound effects for the scene in their group, or they can be responsible for drawing a setting by using a piece of white paper and markers.

If a student breaks their puppet, they will have to use one of the teachers for their show.

Comments

Conflict Ideas:

One of the puppets has lost something extremely valuable to them, how are the other puppets going to help find it?

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There is only one cookie left and all of the puppets want it, how are they going to resolve this?

One puppet is caught cheating off of another puppet during a test, what is going to happen next?

The puppets are all on vacation when they realize the hotel they are staying at is haunted! What are they going to do about it?

There is a school dance coming up, and your puppets do not know how to dance! What are they going to do?

Your puppets have been sent on a dangerous expedition to retrieve a golden statue, what happens along the way?

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Creating a PuppetCongratulations class! You are now about to embark on a fantastic new journey of creating your own paper bag puppet character! First however, you need to figure out exactly who your paper bag puppet will be. Grade 3’s, please answer the following questions in your neatest printing. Grade 4’s, please answer the following questions in your neatest handwriting.

1) Is your puppet human? Or animal? Or something completely different?

2) How old is your puppet?

3) Is your puppet a boy or a girl?

4) What does your puppet look like?

5) Does your puppet have any defining features?

6) Is your puppet mean? Nice? Happy? Sad? What kind of personality do they have?

7) Does your puppet have a lot of friends? Or do they prefer to be alone?

8) What is your puppet’s favorite food?

9) What does your puppet like to do for fun?

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10) What is your puppet’s name?

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puppetry lesson plan

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