The magic of puppetry.Introduced this fifth grade unit on puppetry puppetry Art of creating and manipulating puppets in a theatrical show. Puppets are figures that are moved by human rather than mechanical aid. They may be controlled by one or several puppeteers, who are screened from the spectators. as a subtractive sub·trac·tive adj. 1. Producing or involving subtraction. 2. Of or being a color produced by light passing through or reflecting off a colorant, such as a filter or pigment, that absorbs certain wavelengths and transmits or sculpture experience. Students enjoyed it immensely and met the challenge of carving, or taking away from a solid form. This was the first time I used Balsa Foam. Balsa Foam is a material that is very easy to carve. You can even carve into it with a toothpick toothpick, n a wood sliver used to cleanse the interdental space. toothpick, balsa wood, n a triangular wedge of balsa wood used to clean the teeth interproximally and stimulate the interdental gingival tissues. . Students also did their own sewing and thoroughly hammed it up when presenting original plays to classes throughout the school. Designing the Character Students sketched a few different characters in their sketchbook. Using the Sunday comic's pages of the newspaper, I instructed them to draw just the nose of one character, the eyes of a different character, the mouth of a third character, and so on. The purpose was to create a humorous drawing of a character that no one had ever seen before. I wanted them to get away from making puppets of already existing copyrighted characters, and design their own characters in their own way. They picked the sketch they liked best to use for their puppet's head. Carving the Head I cut pieces of white paper the same size as the front and side of the Balsa Foam block. Students then drew a front view and a side view of their character's head. I told them to be sure to use up most of the area of the square or they would have a lot of carving to do! They held the paper up to the block, pressing down on the drawing hard enough to inscribe in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. the lines into the block. I found it difficult at first to explain the process of carving parts away from the Balsa block. Initially, students just wanted to have a front view and side view drawn on to the block. I found that the best way to explain the process was to make one myself, to demonstrate each step in the process. My puppet was a caricature caricature, a satirical drawing, plastic representation, or description which, through exaggeration of natural features, makes its subject appear ridiculous. of myself, which I christened, "Mr. Mini-Wales." Balsa Foam can be carved with a variety of materials, but what worked for us was an open pair of student scissors scissors Cutting instrument or tool consisting of a pair of opposed metal blades that meet and cut when the handles at their ends are brought together. Modern scissors are of two types: the more usual pivoted blades have a rivet or screw connection between the cutting ends . For fine detail work we used a scratch tool. Finishing the Puppets Students added color to the puppet heads with tempera tempera (tĕm`pərə), painting method in which finely ground pigment is mixed with a solidifying base such as albumen, fig sap, or thin glue. paint, They added details with yarn, pipe cleaners pipe cleaner, n a small, brushlike device used to clean the spaces between the teeth (used also for other purposes). It should not be inserted all the way between the teeth, but rather just far enough to massage the tissue and remove any plaque. , and other materials. I gave them a pattern for the puppet's body and they chose two 9 x 12" (23 x 31 cm) sheets of felt for the puppet body. After cutting out the two shapes they sewed sew v. sewed, sewn or sewed, sew·ing, sews v.tr. 1. To make, repair, or fasten by stitching, as with a needle and thread or a sewing machine: them together. When the sewing was finished, they attached the bodies to the heads and the puppets immediately came to life with outrageous voices and personalities. Performing Students divided into groups of three and began brainstorming ideas for their plays. One member of each group acted as scribe scribe (skrīb), Jewish scholar and teacher (called in Hebrew, Soferim) of law as based upon the Old Testament and accumulated traditions. The work of the scribes laid the basis for the Oral Law, as distinct from the Written Law of the Torah. and wrote down the words for their scripts. They rehearsed and made props and backgrounds for the plays. I showed them how to have puppets enter and exit. The first instinct is to have them just pop out of the ground or go back down as if the puppet were going down an elevator. I showed them how to have the puppet walk in from the side and exit the same way. I also encouraged them to maintain the puppet's height throughout the play so that it did not appear that the puppet was shrinking and growing. Because these puppets mouths do not move, it was important to let the audience know which puppet was speaking. To do that it was important that only the puppet speaking moved its head and hands around, while the others on stage remained still. Students enjoyed performing their plays. We invited younger classes to come and watch. They repeatedly asked for more opportunities to present their plays, and the performance became more polished each time they did. Safety Note It's important to stress safety with this material, not only in handling the carving instruments, but also because the dust that is made by carving is extremely irritating. If it gets in the eyes, flush the eyes out with water. Students need to be reminded not to blow the dust off the sculpture, as it can accidentally go into their neighbors' eyes. The carving part of the project takes a while and creates a lot of dust. I covered the table with large sheets of heavy poster board. At the end of the class I picked up these sheets, and dumped most of the dust into the garbage. Students then finished cleaning up with sponges. NATIONAL STANDARD Students use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories. Andrew Wales Wales, Welsh Cymru, western peninsula and political division (principality) of Great Britain (1991 pop. 2,798,200), 8,016 sq mi (20,761 sq km), west of England; politically united with England since 1536. The capital is Cardiff. is an art teacher in Athens, Pennsylvania
Athens is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, two miles (3 km) south of the N. Y. State line on the Susquehanna and Chemung rivers. . |
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