(40 minutes Drama/Language Arts)
- Place students into pairs.
- Ask them to take on the role of their puppet. Ask them to take turns introducing themselves in role and learning as much as they can about each other. Remind them that they should be working the puppet while they do this as if the puppet is doing the talking.
- Then ask students to remain in role and introduce their partner’s puppet to the rest of the class, providing 3 details about the puppet as part of the introduction. For example, “I’d like to introduce Jamal. He is 13 years old, loves to bug the referee at soccer games and thinks he might become a singer on Canadian Idol.”
- Discuss:
- How did the information about the puppet fit with the way it looked?
- How did the action of the puppet(s) contribute to the effectiveness of the introduction?
- How did the puppet’s voice affect the introduction?
- How well could you hear what was being said? - Ask students to place their puppets on their tables.
- Provide sticky notes at each table.
- Ask students to view the puppets and select three to comment on. They should write their own name on the sticky note as well as a specific comment that says something they like or find interesting about the puppet. They then place the sticky note beside the puppet. Remind them that they have to provide details about what they like, e.g.,
- You can’t just say, “I really like your puppet. You have to say what you like about the puppet; for example, I really like the way you used the colour purple for the face of your puppet. It makes him seem extra funny and is more interesting than a real skin colour.”