Students will demonstrate their ability to develop a character voice in addition to using a puppet by making a sock puppet and performing a puppet show using an original script they have written.
Class Level:
Beginning
Main Concepts:
vocal traits, creativity, puppet construction
1994 National Standards:
CONTENT STANDARD 1: Script writing by improvising, writing, and refining scripts based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history. CONTENT STANDARD 2: Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in improvisations and informal or formal productions.
Description:
This unit was developed for middle school students and 45 minute long classes.
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Making Sock Puppets Students will demonstrate their ability to create a character by making a sock puppet.
Lesson 2: Manipulating Puppets Students will demonstrate their understanding of basic puppet manipulation (mouth and body) having the puppet “talk” and “walk” in various styles across the puppet stage and say a simple phrase.
Lesson 3: Diction Students will demonstrate their ability to use projection and diction in speaking by creating a tongue twister and teaching it to the class.
Lesson 4: Rate and Pitch Students will demonstrate their ability to control their voice through the use of rate and pitch by performing in a nonsense puppet show.
Lesson 6: Where is My Voice? Students will demonstrate their understanding of vocal placement by creating a voice for their character.
Lesson 7: My Puppet Party Students will demonstrate their understanding of how to create a character by filling out a worksheet and performing in a “Puppet Party” scene.
Lesson 9: Basic Narrative Structure Students will demonstrate their understanding of basic narrative structure (protagonist + obstacle + objective) by identifying protagonists, obstacles and objective of fairytale characters, as well as three things the protagonist did to accomplish the objective.
Lesson 10: Writing a Script Students will demonstrate their understanding of plot structure and basic playwriting format by writing a short script as a group.
Lesson 11: Practice, Practice, Practice Students will demonstrate their ability to use practice time wisely by using the puppet stage for five minutes to practice their puppet show.
Lesson 12: Puppet Showtime! Students will demonstrate their ability to use a character voice and manipulate a puppet by performing in 3-5 minute original puppet show and writing a self-critique.
