The second and third grade students were delighted by a visit from storyteller and puppeteer Marilyn Price. Marilyn brought a variety of puppets with her and began her time with us by introducing the students to the different types of puppets. These included string puppets, rod puppets, shadow puppets and even puppets made out of recycled materials, such as box puppets. The third grade students in Jeanne's class were excited to show Marilyn the puppets that they had recently completed for their re-telling of the Chinese zodiac story.
After telling a few different stories using both hand puppets and other tools from her craft as a storyteller, Marilyn gave each student a blank puppet. She then showed them how to manipulate the puppet in realistic looking ways. The students especially enjoyed making the puppet look like it was climbing a tree- without an actual tree- and having it settle in to sleep. She also talked with the students about ways to decorate their puppet with facial features and clothing; in her conversation with the students she was very clear that the puppet was theirs and that there were no mistakes that would be made when decorating the puppets.
It was wonderful to see students in both grades respond with such joy as Marilyn told stories and taught them how to to work their puppets. The second graders are currently working on learning stories to tell for their upcoming storytelling night, and the third graders are working on creating their puppet show for China night, which made the connection to Marilyn's craft all the more meaningful.
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