Performance Guide Vol.5 / No.3 > on the web at www.waltonartscenter.org
Welcome to WAC Performance Guide, published by the Education department of Walton Arts Center. This guide is designed to enhance your learning in the arts. Enjoy the performance, and thanks for being part of the 2007-2008 Colgate Classroom Series.
Leo Lionni’s Swimmy, Frederick, and Inch by Inch Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia uses puppetry, music and innovative design to tell stories. Live performance of children’s literature extends the learning of readers.
About the Performance
Contents
About Mermaid Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Ready, Set, Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Leo Lionni’s Art on Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Puppetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Kinds of Puppets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Puppets for Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Puppetry for Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Pre-performance Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 After the Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Writing Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Swimmy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Inch by Inch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Extended Learning After the Performance . . . 10 Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Learning standards Reading: Oral and Visual Communications; Variety of text; English Language Arts; Listening, Speaking, Viewing; Music, Dance and Visual Arts.
Teacher contributors Education Activities by: Tracie Gill Slattery GT teacher, Fayetteville Public Schools Art by: Maggie Slattery
Puppeteers from Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia present Inch by Inch, adapted, directed and designed by Jim Morrow, music by Steven Naylor, and narrated by Richard Donat. Mermaid Theatre ranks as one of North America’s most respected theaters for young audiences. Their adaptations of children’s literature have been performed to millions of children around the world. They have earned many awards for excellence. Mermaid Theatre features two skilled puppeteers who operate several puppets at once. The director carefully planned the performance for the stage. He designed how the puppets appear on the stage with scenery. The lighting designer planned the stage lighting to illuminate special colors on the puppets and scenery while making other parts of the stage invisible. Light and shadow help tell the stories in special ways. The frame around the stage (proscenium arch) helps the audience see the puppets on stage. Special music was composed to underscore the movement of the puppets. An actor narrates the story. The designers and puppeteers think carefully about Leo Lionni’s illustrations and the events of each story. They use body movement, rhythm and precise timing to create the characters of Swimmy, Frederick and Inch by Inch. Puppeteers, directors, designers and actors collaborate to create the performance for the audience to enjoy.
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Ready Set Show The Performance The performances is based on three Caldecott Honor books chosen for beautiful images and whimsical texts. Swimmy is a tiny fish in the vast ocean that uses ingenuity to fend off danger. The story is told as a shadow puppet play. The fish shapes are mounted on thin wires that are moved within the frame of light on the puppet stage. (Puppeteers glide on wheeled chairs to create their fluid movement.) Frederick is a mouse and a poet who makes everyday life an artful experience. The two dimensional puppets are covered with felt fabric. The puppeteers are on stage but not fully visible because ultraviolet black light is used to focus attention on the puppets. Inch by Inch is an inchworm who loves to measure absolutely everything, including a robin’s tail, a flamingo’s neck, a toucan’s beak and a nightingale’s song. Three dimensional puppets are used in this story. The inchworm is a foot long and other creatures are quite large. The puppeteers are visible to the audience.
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Stories on Stage Leo Lionni was an accomplished graphic artist and understood how images tell stories. His illustrations combine large shapes and bold colors. They translate easily to the stage and the art of puppetry. A good puppetry show needs a good story. Lionni’s stories about animals with human feelings are told with brief dialogue and swift action. Teachers can demonstrate how images tell a story by asking students to interpret the illustrations in notable wordless books such as Eric Carle’s Do You Want to Be My Friend? or Mercer Mayer’s A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, This process will help children learn to “see” a story using visual images. Also, when reading stories or poems about animals to children, teachers can encourage students to create simple movements using the hand, finger, and/or arm for the animals as they appear in the story, thus demonstrating how stories are expressed in movement. Inch by Inch is good for this activity because different animals appear on their own page. Lionni’s books, Swimmy, Frederick & Inch by Inch, performed by Mermaid Theatre, are Caldecott Honor Books.
Kinds of Puppets
Puppets come in all shapes, sizes and styles. Hand puppets such as Elmo from Sesame Street have moving mouths, hands, fingers, and arms. Rod puppets use a simple rod, stick or wire and jointed parts that are manipulated. Marionette puppets are held with strings attached to heads, arms, and legs and have moving parts that are carefully controlled. Large theatrical puppets such as the ones in Fayetteville’s First Night parade require several puppeteers to operate. When puppeteers must be visible on a stage, they dress in black or brown to keep the audience focused on the colorful, moving puppets. All puppet movements must be carefully choreographed to emphasize the character of the puppet. Teachers and students can create:
Puppetry The word puppet is derived from the Latin pupa meaning “doll.” Puppets have been found in many civilizations including: in Egyptian tombs and in children’s graves in Greece and Italy. Before books were invented, puppets
Finger Puppets: > Animal puppets—Draw/color an animal on poster board or file folder; cut out two holes for two fingers to go through; use index finger and middle finger for animal legs. > Spider puppet—Find a pair of old gloves, glue “eyes” onto thumbs, bring thumbs and hands together to create spider puppet. > Mice puppet—Wrap a piece of pipe cleaner around finger at the knuckle joint for a tail; draw two eyes and a mouth on the finger tip; cut out and glue on two small ears. Hand Puppets: > Large Mouth Puppet—Fold a paper plate in half; glue/draw large eyes on top to be any animal from a frog to a screaming monster. > Paper bag puppet—Decorate a paper bag with markers. Add yarn, large eyes, fabric, buttons, etc. > Sock Puppet—Use markers to decorate an old sock; put on arm and let thumb be the bottom half of the mouth with the other fingers as the top.
were used to tell stories in China, India, and Europe. The famous Punch and Judy puppets originated in France during the Renaissance. In North America, puppets grew in popularity in the 1900’s at circuses, fairs, schools, and street
Shadow puppets: Simple shadow puppets can be made by cutting the outline of a figure out of cardboard and gluing the figure to a stick. For more elaborate puppets, make joints in the cardboard figure using paper fasteners. Attach straws or rods to control movement. Focus light on the back of a screen and bring the shadow puppets against the screen in silhouette.
shows. Today audiences are familiar with the Muppets from Sesame Street and the puppets from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. Read about the many
Rod Puppets: For a quick rod puppet, take an old doll or stuffed animal and use tape, string, or wire to attach rods to each hand or arm. Use the rods to control the movement.
types of puppets (this page) and create an internet research activity locating different puppet images from different time periods and countries.
Life-sized Puppets: Trace the outline of a body in a pose on two pieces of butcher paper placed flat on the floor. Duplicate cutting enables forms that can be stuffed with newspaper or shredded paper and then stapled or sewn together after students add clothing and facial details with felt-tip pens. Adapted from Flowers, Cedric and Alan Fortney. Puppets: Methods and Materials. Davis Publications Inc, 1983.
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Show Learn
Puppet Activities
Puppet Activities for Teachers Discover new ways to teach with puppets. Dolls/puppets from a historic time period can tell the class how they lived. Example: a Navaho Indian puppet can demonstrate customs, costume, and functions performed by Navaho women. Students (grades 3-5) can make puppets to recreate historical moments or present a fictional character’s role in a story. A simple sock puppet can appear at the end of the day to discuss what the class did during the day. A student could be chosen to select the puppet and speak first.Collaboration: One large hand puppet (the teacher) plus five small finger puppets (the students) can teach long and short vowels. Each finger puppet represents a different vowel. A call and response dialogue could be used, for example: Anna “A” “What do you say?” aaaa Eddie “E” “Speak to me! Eeee Izzie “I” “What do you go by?” iiii Olivia “O” “O what do you know?” oooo Ulna “U” “Let’s hear from you, to!” uuuu Adapted from Lindeman, Earl W. and Marlene M. Arts and Crafts for the Classroom. Macmillan Publishing Co, 1983.
Advice for Puppeteers from master puppeteer Jan VanSchuyver > Know your story well. > Create a simple sock puppet or stick puppet for practice. > Initially, work with only one or two characters. > Concentrate on the puppet showing through action what is happening in story. > Practice with the puppet in front of a mirror. Rehearse and get honest feedback. VanSchuyver, Jan, Storytelling Made Easy with Puppets, Oryx Press, 1993
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History Read one of Leo Lionni’s books Swimmy, Frederick, or Inch by Inch. Divide class into small groups and re-create a simple puppet show of one of the books. Pre-K through-1st grade students can re-create Swimmy as a class, each student making a red fish stick puppet and a big fish puppet and the teacher making a black Swimmy stick puppet. With older students, one from each group can narrate story as group members enact the story. Puppet stages can be quite simple with a sheet covering a table and puppeteers behind table; a sheet strung across a clothesline held up with clothespins, or a large box with back and front cut out and sitting on a table. Ask questions after rehearsal: Did the puppets stay in character? Did the puppets move like the character would? How did the puppet action help tell the story? Did we tell the important part of the story?
See www.magic-puppets.com for more ideas on creating a puppetry stage.
Pre-Performance Activities
Before the performance read and discuss Swimmy, Frederick, Inch by Inch. (language arts: 0V.2.K.4—4.4 listening and responding to literature; fine arts: A.3.1. understand and relate how art is used to communicate ideas and feelings to others)
Worm Wantto-Knows
Read each book and ask: What happened in the story? What did you notice about the characters, illustrations, and setting? Examine illustrations, discussing art elements (texture, shape, line, value, color, pattern, space) and talk about how they contribute to the story. Identify conflict and indicate resolution. What did you like about the story/book/pictures and why. As each story is discussed, make a chart for each story element—character, plot, setting, theme, descriptive language. Ask students to indicate beginning, middle, and end of story.
the world measured 22 feet long and
Students chart story elements for all three books: Compare and contrast using a Venn diagram. What is similar about the characters? How do main characters interact with other characters? What are the conflicts each character faces? Any similarity of those conflicts? What events happen in the stories that are the same and what events are different?
came from South Africa.
(language arts: 0V.2.K.4—4.4 listening and responding to literature)
1. There are over a million earthworms in one acre of soil. 2. The largest earthworm ever found in
3. Cleopatra thought earthworms were sacred and forbid anyone from removing them from the soil. Aristotle called earthworms the “intestines of the soil.” 4. Earthworms are 82% protein. 5. The Aborigines of Australia and the Maoris of New Zealand include earthworms in their diets. 6. Earthworm tunnels are 3 to 10 mm in diameter and serve as channels for plant roots and water filtration. 7. Earthworm castings (dung) contain 5 times more nitrogen, 7 times more phosphorus, 11 times more potassium, and 1000 times more beneficial bacteria than the material the earthworm initially digested. 8. Earthworms do not have eyes.
Student activities
> Make a puppet for the main character of one of the stories using textured papers and practice making up movements for the puppet as the stories are read once more. (language arts: OV.2.K-4.1 listening for information and understanding)
> Classify characteristics of mouse, fish, and inchworm and study their habitats. Create habitat dioramas with shoe boxes and textured collage art. See diorama ideas at www.stormthe castel. com/mainpages/dioramas/diorama. (science: LS.2.K.1-4 Characteristics; LS.4.K.1-4 Populations and Ecosystems; fine arts: A.2.6 produce art works to demonstrate an understanding of the various purposes for creating)
> Record facts students already know about worms, mice, and fish. Share a story of an encounter with a worm, mice, and fish and invite students to write a short story about a worm, a mouse, and a fish. Younger students can write a story as a class. Invent “what if ” possibilities, for example: What if one of the animals were famous? What if they wanted to learn to ride a skateboard? What if they swim together every afternoon and then something happens? What if they meet at your house or school? Invite students to offer other “what ifs”. Ask students to creatively include a number of fishy fun facts, wacky worm wonderings, and amazing mouse musings using dialogue, action, and narration. (science: L.S.2.K.1-4 characteristics; LS.4.K.1-4 Populations and Ecosystems; language arts: W.5.K.3.2, 1-4.2 purposes and audiences; fine arts: A.2.1 use creative problem-solving, critical thinking skills, and various resources to select subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning. A.2.2 transfer ideas and feelings to others through original works)
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Responding to a performance
Lessons from Frederick “Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood” T. S. Eliot Students don’t have to understand everything
Objective: learn and write a variety of form poems
to listen to or benefit from poetry. Just hearing
(language arts: W. 5.1.8,2.9,3.8 topics and forms)
the words spoken is key. Young children are eager to hear the rhythm of poetic language; the meaning can come later. A great book for teaching poetry is Kenneth Koch’s Rose, Where did you get that red? 1. Read good poetry to class and write a poem every day. 2. Read an inspiring excerpt from the book at www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/ prmMID/17152. 3. Assemble a Poetry collection. Another
1. Acrostic Poem—formed with the letters of a theme word to begin each line which all relate to theme. Write an acrostic poem for the season of winter:
Wintry weather Igloo warmth No insects Thick breath Echo of falling snow Ripe, red cheeks
great web site is Poetry4Kids.com with funny kid poems and a free online rhyming thesaurus. Ask school and community librarians for their favorite poetry collections for students. Ask parents, teachers, family, and friends for copy of a favorite poem to bring to class for readings and create a book of Collected Poems From People We Know. 4. Students host poetry readings where students read poems they like or have written. Readings can be during a class or at lunchtime or after school. Parents and local poets can be invited and there can be refreshments. Students could host monthly readings at a public library or a local bookstore. (language arts: OV.2.K-4.4 listening and responding to literature; W.5.K-4.4 topics and forms; R.10.K-4.1 exhibit behaviors and habits of an active reader; R.10. K-4. 13-16 reading a variety of poetry for enjoyment and critical analysis)
Amazing Mouse Musings 1. You can keep mice on a table without a cage because mice are afraid to jump off high vertical drops. 2. Mice can make their own vitamin C. 3. Mice like hard bread. 4. Mice will nurse babies that are not their own. 5. Baby mice curl up when they are being carried. 6. Greeks and Indians thought mice were lightning bolts. 7. The name mouse comes from “mus,” a Sanskrit word that means thief
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2. Cinquain—five line poem Line 1: one word (the title) Line 2: two words that describe the title Line 3: three words that tell the action Line 4: four words that express the feeling Line 5: one word that recalls the title Cinquains can be biographical poems about students, historical figures. For example:
Poet Quiet dreamer Thinking, gathering, sharing Warmth, Fullness, Love Frederick
Writing Activities
Reading Prompts: Demonstrate how good poetry is written to be spoken. Hand out a copy of the following poem by William Carlos Williams: This is Just to Say
Reflect and Assess after the performance Reflect on the performance and evaluate with students. Responses can be written or discussed or both. Consider the following:
Post-performance: Cirriculum Extensions Writing Prompts: 1. Ask students to interview Swimmy or Frederick or Inch by Inch and record their responses.
>W hat did you notice about the scenery and characters. Describe. >W hy did the artist choose it? How were they created? >G ive an example of a creative
2. Type the following and ask students to circle their answer in each question. Then, ask students to choose one answer and write why that answer is true.
piece of scenery. > I n what ways did the performance differ from the picture books? > How did the puppets move? > I n what ways were movements realistic for characters? >H ow did music enhance the performance? >H ow did the performance make you feel?
> Are You More Like‌..? > Are you more like a mouse or a fish? > Are you more like an ocean or a garden? > Are you more like a worm or an insect? > Are you more like fur or fish scales? >A re you more like a large animal or a small one? >A re you more like the ground or the water?
>W hat thoughts did the performance bring to your mind? > I s there anything about the performance that makes you wonder something?
3. W rite about a time when you discovered what Swimmy did—we are often more successful and more powerful when we join together to accomplish something.
I have eaten The plums That were in The icebox And which You were probably Saving For breakfast Forgive me They were delicious So sweet And so cold. Ask students to read the poem to themselves. Then discuss: what is this poem about? What tone of voice is the speaker using? Does the tone change at all? Who could the speaker be talking to? How old is the speaker? Is the speaker really sorry? Ask students to pair with another and each take turns speaking the poem beginning with the title. Ask for volunteers to read the poem to class. Note the variations in readings. Also, note how much more alive and meaningful the poem is when spoken than when simply read. (language arts: R.10.1. 17, 2.15, 3-4.16, reading a variety of poetry for enjoyment and critical analysis; R.11.1.14, 2-3.12,4.13-14 reading with fluency and expression; OV.1.1-2,4.11,3.13 speaking for literary response and expression)
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Swimmy and Inch by Inch Activities
Inch by Inch Activities
Swimmy Activities
1. Practice sequencing skills >R e-read Inch by Inch. Then students try to remember all the animals the inchworm meets in the order he meets them. >A fter reading the book, hand out squares and ask students to draw the animals and sequence in the order they appear. >R ead again, asking students to listen for the sequence of animals. This time, ask students to write the names of the animals met in sequence and check sequence of the drawings.
1. Mural - After reading and seeing the performance of Swimmy, plan and create a large underwater habitat mural and fill with fish. > Studying underwater habitats >C ut a long sheet of white butcher paper and ask students to draw underwater scenes with crayons. >P aint entire paper with shades of blue and green tempera. Place saran wrap over tempera and dry in the sun (or classroom). When dry, remove saran wrap to reveal a beautiful underwater scene. > Students each create a fish of themselves to add to the mural.
(language arts OV.2.K.-4.2 listening for information and understanding; OV.1.K.7,1-2.10,3.12,4-10 speaking for literary response and expression)
(fine arts: (A1.2 explore skills associated with media; A.2..6 produce art works to
2. Practice Concrete and Abstract concepts of measurement. > As an introduction, review Inch by Inch measuring a song. > Discuss and consider the following: How does the worm measure the birds? > Can you measure a song? List things you can’t measure with a ruler. Can you measure love with a ruler? How would you measure love best? (Math: M. 13.K.5, 1.8,2.11,3.9,4.8 applications)
demonstrate an understanding of the various purposes for creating—aesthetic, functional, social) science: L.S.2.K.1-4 characteristics; LS.4.K.1-4 Populations and Ecosystems).
2. Write and read letters to Swimmy. >E ncourage students to ask Swimmy questions that he alone can answer. > Pair students and allow them to read their letters. >A sk students to pretend to be Swimmy and based on their knowledge of the book and performance, answer the letter their partner wrote. (language arts W.5.K.4, 1-3.4, 4.4 topics and forms)
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Extend Learning (After the Performance)
Read Leo Lionni’s Little Blue and Little Yellow > Students tear a piece of paper to represent themselves > Create a little story about that piece of paper > Write and illustrate story with torn paper on four or more pieces of construction paper. Books can be laminated and/or bound with three hole punches tied with yarn. Read Lionni’s Let’s Make Rabbits > Students create an animal using scrap paper and give it a name. > Students create a one-minute story about that animal and tell the story to a partner. Remind listening partners to demonstrate active listening behaviors—facing the speaker, making eye contact, maintaining attention. > Listening partners then tell one thing they liked in their partner’s story and then ask one question. Switch partners and tell the same story again, changing the story a little to expand and clarify it. > As a team, create a new story with both partners’ animals and illustrate the collaborative story with cut scraps and construction paper.
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Using textured paper students can make one of the animals from Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals and then glue on a popsicle sticks, straw, or thin newspaper roll. Read the book to class and have each student demonstrate their animal puppet, moving it appropriately as the book is read. Movement is key to showing a puppet’s character > Ask students to put hands together and move like swimmy would. Move hand like swimmy would and then move hands and arms. Ask how Swimmy would move when scared, happy and sad. > Using a sock puppet and move to show Swimmy scared, happy and sad. >M ake a mouse using only your hand. Communicate with hand movement a mouse who is cold in winter…..now warmed by color and inspired by poetry How would a mouse scurry away? (fine arts: (A1.2 explore skills associated with media; A.2..6 produce art works to demonstrate an understanding of the various purposes for creating—aesthetic, functional, social) science: L.S.2.K.1-4 characteristics)
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get more information online
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Education Grantors > Bank of America > Mid-America Arts Alliance > Kraft
Education Benefactors > Ted and Leslie Belden
Websites: > www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org
> www.read,write,think..org
> Joel & Lynn Carver
Developed by the National Council for Teachers of
> Michael & Susan Duke
The webpage for the Kennedy Center’s national arts
English and International Reading Association
> Johnelle Hunt
and education network in Washington D. C.
> www.shrewsbury-ma.gov/schools
> Tom & Vina Hyde
> www.atozteacherstuff.com
First grade student web page about Leo Lionni with
> The Billy J. & Jeane S. Martin Foundation
Excellent resource for lesson plans on making books
author biography, original student-created illustrated
> John and Kathy Menzer
with students as well as much, much more
stories and teacher resources
> Andy & Mary Murray
> www.eric-carle.com
>w ww.stormthecastle.com/mainpages/ dioramas/diorama
> Pat and Barnes Parsons
Official site for the author and illustrator, featuring his books, a bulletin board, a biography, and more.
information and tips on making dioramas
> Marilyn Phillips
> www.ezra-jack-keats.org
> Marilyn Patterson > Jim & Lynne Walton
Includes information about the author, his books,
Bibliography
lesson plans, and more
Briggs, Raymond. The Snowman.
> www.familycrafts.about.com/od/puppets
Random House, 1999.
Instructions for making lots of different kinds of
Carle, Eric. Animals, Animals.
puppets with simple materials
Philomel Books, 1989.
> www.greenville.k12.sc.us
__Do You Want To Be My Friend?. Harper
Examples of 1st grade Frederick collages
Festival. 1995
> www.magic-puppets.com
Cronin, Doreen. Diary of a Worm. Joanna Cotler
Information on making puppets, building stages, and
Books, 2003.
other puppetry matters
Koch, Kenneth. Rose, Where Did You Get that Red?
> www.makingbooks.com
Vintage Books, 1990.
A website with teacher tips for making books as well
Lionni, Leo. Little Blue and Little Yellow.
> Linda & Buddy Wray
General operating support for Walton Arts Center is provided by Wal-Mart / SAM’S CLUB Funding also provided by Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts. Walton Arts Center and Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative are founding members of the Partners in Education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
as list of resources on making books
Mulbk, 1910.
> www.mermaidtheatre ands
___Inch by Inch. I. Obolensky, 1910.
Learning at Walton Arts Center:
Website for mermaid theatre with Leo Lionni link to
___Frederick. Pantheon, 1967
Jenni Taylor Swain, Vice President Programs
teacher resources and activities
___Swimmy. Random House, 1963
Laura Goodwin, Education Director
> www.poetry4kids
___Let’s make Rabbits. Pantheon Books, 1982
Wendy Booth, Learning Concierge
Huge collection of hilarious poems and fun,
Mayer, Mercer. A Boy, a Dog, a Frog, a Friend.
Contact:
interactive resource for kids
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2003.
Dr. Patricia Relph, Arts Learning Specialist prelph@waltonartscenter.org
11 Performance Guide / www.waltonartscenter.org