Selected Poems of Joy Harjo - Music Center

Step-by-Step Sequence of Learning – use these cognitive processes: experience, inquiry, creation, performance, reflection, assessment
Model Lesson Eight – Puppetry Arts: Creating Meaning through Motion & Sound – Bring Your Puppets to Life!
Prior to the Lesson:
Teachers guide students to complete all puppets and attach sticks and moving parts
Teachers guide students in storing completed puppets by groups together with script of each group’s found poem
ASSESS PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
How does the audience experience the puppet when it is close to the light? When it is away from the light?
What does puppet’s movement tell us about its character and personality?
How does the puppet’s movement communicate the mood of the performance?
EXPERIENCE - Getting Smarter
Preparation: Now that the puppets are completed, let’s animate them – bring them to life with movement and sound. First we will practice some of the
techniques used in manipulating a shadow puppet. Then we will give all puppeteers an opportunity to develop a unique character for their puppet by giving it an
entrance, a movement, an emotion and an exit. These actions will be accompanied by sound.
Light and Shadow – Size, Sharpness or Blurriness
Directions:
Turn on the light behind the screen.
Show and explain where the puppeteer must sit in order to properly manipulate the puppet without blocking the light
Place the puppet close to the screen.
Slowly move the puppet away from the screen, closer to the light.
Ask these questions:
What do you see when I place the puppet on or close to the screen?
What do you see when I move the puppet away from the screen, closer to the light?
How does the size and sharpness of the shadow change when I move it toward the light? Away from the light? (compare/contrast)
(Image is smaller and sharper when it is close to the screen; larger and less detailed when it’s closer to the light, away from the screen.)
After this demonstration, teacher steps away from the screen to lead the entire class in practicing the movements with an imaginary screen and light
source. The students mirror your movements.
Music Center Anchor Work Model Curriculum Unit: Selected Poems of Joy Harjo.
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