Puppets, Puppets, and More Puppets

As a project for the last nine weeks, a few of my classes have been writing plays. Our first attempt didn't find us any Tennessee Williams, but who knows maybe there was a future George Shaw or an Agatha Christie lurking in one of my classes. This project all started because I found a couple cute puppets last summer at Barnes and Noble. I brought them to school with me and the kiddies when crazy. Thus began my puppet craze.

I investigated prices on-line and discovered Folkmanis Puppets.  This company will sell puppets wholesale to schools. So for about $300, I racked up a very nice puppet collection. (Yes, that was a lot of money for my small library, but my school has a very supportive PTA program.)

To make a long story short, my some of classes wanted to "play" with the puppets. Of course being the really sneaky creative librarian that I am, I informed them they had to write a puppet skit. Then we talked about what make a good skit. For me this was a great way to teach/reinforce story elements. So after all of our hard work, today we "produced" our skits for the K-2 grade students at my school.

I learned real quick that next year I'm going to have to limit the number of plays to 6. I started to see some of my Kindergarteners begin to get real fidgety. Ten was way too many. Yes, they were short, but I think some of the students were getting tired of sitting even for puppets. My favorite skit for the day was "The Barnyard Rumble". This skit was written by three third graders. I did help them type it because they were fussing over reading their own handwriting. I couldn't help but laugh. (Flashback) I still remember in 6th grade Miss Clayton trying her best to get me to write neater. Today, I type everything.

I have to show everyone their skit. It was so cute. :)

 

I had a couple of the teachers take pictures for me. The gym is not the best place for a grand production, but our school doesn't have a stage.  This activity was as much a learning process for me as it was the kids. I have decided a few things. One, I will have students write skits in the future. Secondly, I will limit the number of skits for one sitting. And finally, and maybe most importantly, the skits will not be during the last week of school!

 

 

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