Storytelling - The Art of Puppet Shows
After reading Denise E. Agosto's article this week and reading fellow class members' blogs, I was transported back to my youth. I remembered loving to go to the public library for story time. Sometimes, we would be treated with the occasional puppet show. This is a memory that I have not tapped into for years until this week. The art of puppetry is an excellent way to share the love of storytelling in a manner that is "unplugged" and magical. Who would have guessed that these storytelling "interactions [would have such an] impact on language development, [and] later, cognitive functioning, personality, and social behaviors" (Greene & Del Negro, 2010, p 37).
As I continued to reminisce, I thought about how "storytelling [can] build community among students...to enhance memory recall, in support [of] literacy development, and to promote creative thinking" (Agosto, 2016, p.22). What a great way to have students display their comprehension (recall), but also dive deeper into the meaning and moral of the story. Greene and Del Negro point out how storytelling has had a great impact with students who are differently-abled. Storytelling allowed "children who had trouble putting their thoughts into words [to become] increasingly articulate and engaged" (Greene & Del Negro, 2010, p 112). Combine storytelling with puppetry and you have a winning combination. Agosto speaks of "visualization" and "cognitive engagement", what a great way to have elementary students of any ability to display their understanding but through puppets. Creating the characters, the scenery, and the script, applies the skills Agosto noted that are needed to show their critical thinking skills and apply their story sequencing ability (Agosto, 2016, p.22).
With puppetry, you can be as creative as you like, and as simple or detailed as you choose. This allows for expectations to be leveled and/or matched to each individual child's ability. You may find that you may be surprised at the outcome. Here is a quick link with directions and an example of needed supplies: Storytelling with Puppets.
This seems all well and good for younger students, but how could we apply this to older students? In continuing my research, I located a list of Aesop's fables, which includes some of his lesser known fables. This is a great link because it does give the moral of each fable, which can be difficult for students to determine based on their knowledge, as well as a link to lesson plans for teachers. While looking through these fables, I was drawn to five specific fables, as I had NEVER heard of them and they had great messages for older children to apply to their everyday lives.
The Dancing Monkeys ("Not everything you see is what it appears to be")
The Swallow and the Crow ("Fair weather friends aren't worth much")
The Dog and the Hare ("No one can be a friend if you know not whether to trust or distrust")
The Hare with Many Friends ("He who has many friends, has No friends")
The Eagle, the Cat, and the Wild Sow ("Don't let fear paralyze you")
Older students have many lessons to learn and how to navigate through difficult situations. Introducing students to these lesser known fables removes the stigma of storytelling being just for "children". So how can we involve older students into the art of storytelling and creativity? Older students may not be as eager to work with puppets, but they may be more inclined to use another "visualization" means like making a video. Here is an example of teens re-telling "The Eagle, the Cat, and the Wild Sow" from SchoolTube.
These creative outlets allow children of all ages to realize that everyone is and can be a great storyteller, as David Phillips presented in his TedTalk from this week's readings. Whether students are making puppets and scenery or producing a school film allows children to make an emotional investment in storytelling (Phillips, 2015; TED 2016).
References
Agosto, D. (2016). Why storytelling matters: Unveiling the literacy benefits of storytelling. Children and Librarians. Summer. pp. 21- 26.
Dailey, r. (2019, August 25). The eagle, the cat, and the wild sow. Aesop's Fables for Teens. [Video]. SchoolTube. https://www.schooltube.com/media/The+Eagle%2C+ the+Cat%2C+and+the+Wild+Sow/1_bvom8e1b .
Greene, E. & Del Negro, J. (2010). Storytelling: Art and technique (4th ed.). Libraries Unlimited.
Long, R. (2020, September 24). Aesop's Fables - Online Collection. StarSystems. https://aesopfables.com/aesopsel.html
Phillips, D. (2017, March 16). The magical science of storytelling [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj-hdQMa3uA.
Simondi, T. (2020, December 3). Fables of Aesop. Aesop's Fables Home Page. Retrieved September 6, 2021. https://fablesofaesop.com/.
