Teacher Notes
Curricular Area: Visual and Performing Arts

Grade Level: K-2

Overview: This lesson explores world cultures through their puppetry. Your students learn about puppets that are used in various cultures and create their own. The Internet experiences in this lesson are designed to be teacher-directed whole class experiences. A computer hooked to a TV or other presentation system is recommended.

Goals: (from the Visual and Performing Arts Framework, California Department of Education, 1989)

• Artistic Perception: develop an appreciation for imagination and creativity
• Creative Expression: develop theatre skills through exploration, reflection, direct personal involvement; understand the structure and language of puppetry
• Historical and Cultural Context: explore the time and culture captured in theatrical works
• Aesthetic Valuing: extend vocabulary with which students can express the feelings, thoughts, and ideas elicited by theatrical experiences; reflect on, analyze, and evaluate their own work

History-Social Science Content Standards

1.4 Students compare and contrast everyday life in different times and places around the world and recognize that some aspects of people, places, and things change over time while others stay the same.

3. Recognize similarities and differences of earlier generations in such areas as work (inside and outside the home), dress, manners, stories, games, and festivals, drawing from biographies, oral histories, and folklore.

Prerequisite Learning: none

Length of Lesson: 2-3 weeks

Materials:

• various craft supplies
• sample puppets
• butcher paper for posting student responses

Teacher Resources:

• Books:
  
  • Animal Puppets by Kathleen Morgan, Joe Moore, and Joy Evans
  • Happy Hands and Feet by Cindy Mitchell
  • Totline Books by Jean Warren (Puppets 1, 2 and 3)
  • Monkey Mitt Rhymes - Rhymes for Finger Puppets by Wizard of AHHS Inc.
  • Hand Rhymes by Marc Brown
  • Bag Puppets by Joy Evans

Suggestions:

1. Create a bulletin board to display information and student work during the project. Divide the bulletin board into three sections, one for each culture. For each section include student responses that are charted during the activity, pictures of the puppets, and student work.
2. To print images from web pages using Netscape Navigator, hold your mouse button (or right mouse button) down on the desired image. A menu will pop up. Select "View this Image" or "Open this Image". You will then see the image on a page alone at which point you can click print and the image only will be printed. Click the back button to return to the original page.