The following are suggestions of ways “Don’t Move Puppet Theatre” could fit into the AusVELS Foundation level.
These are just a few suggestions, there would certainly be many more. Excerpts are taken directly from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority website here.
[See the other levels here: Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6]
Both my show and workshop incursions would fit very well into THE ARTS curriculum. Students are shown behind the scenes of my puppet theatre and learn a great deal about performance. The workshops also develop a hands on approach to creativity and art. Even my handouts after each visit encourage the children to be creative in making their own mini theatres from a ‘colouring-in’ poster.
“Students make performing and visual arts works that express and communicate experiences, observations, ideas and feelings about themselves and their world. With guidance, they make arts works in traditional and contemporary (including digital) arts forms in response to stimuli drawn from sources such as play, problem solving, imagination, observation, incursions and excursions. Students’ natural tendency to discover possibilities and limitations is encouraged through exploring different ways of using performing and visual arts elements, principles and/or conventions, skills, techniques and processes, media, materials and technologies. As part of their arts making, students talk about ways in which the Arts are part of their personal experience, as well as cultural and social events in their community. They discuss and express opinions about arts ideas they are exploring and works they are creating and, with guidance, begin to use arts language to describe features of their own and others’ arts works. They learn about ways of making personal responses to arts works based on sensory perception, and consider ways that they and others can be both makers and audience.”
In CIVICS AND CITIZENSHIP confidence in your own abilities and public speaking are developed. Drama has a large influence on this area of development. After seeing my show or making a puppets, students can be encouraged to perform their own works, including writing simple scripts or performing infron of their peers.
“As students work towards the achievement of Level 4 standards in Civics and Citizenship, they begin to develop a sense of belonging to the school community. They are introduced to the idea of the classroom being a community and they learn about respect and concern for others and being fair. They engage in school and cultural events in a responsible and active way.”
COMMUNICATION is important in all aspects of life. At the beginning of my show sessions I discuss how to be a good audience member, how to listen well and join in when appropriate. Much of this is covered in the communication topic as per below.
“As students work towards the achievement of Level 6 standards in Communication, they begin to identify basic communication conventions in the classroom and playground such as being attentive listeners, facing the speaker, and taking turns. They learn to focus their attention and to listen without interrupting. Students practise retelling what a speaker has said to them and learn to ask questions when appropriate, exploring the interactive nature of communication.”
My puppet making workshops fit into the DESIGN, CREATIVITY & TECHNOLOGY topic very well. Children learn to use different materials in new ways at the same time as being creative and letting their imaginations grow. My workshops are constantly used for this technology based topic to great result. Many of my workshop materials are recycled.
“Students investigate everyday, familiar products and recognise the basic characteristics and materials from which they are made and how they are used. They explore the differences between natural products and artefacts, and learn that materials can be recycled and reused to produce new products. They play with and manipulate materials in both a free and focused manner to foster development of their design and technical skills. They learn appropriate terminology, including the names of materials/ingredients and their characteristics and properties (for example, rough, smooth, shiny, soft, flexible), and processes such as measure, mix, cut, join”.
My performances and their relevance to developing stories and scripts in ENGLISH are obvious. After seeing a show and behind the scenes, students are always inspired to go away and create their own shows for each other. I suggest how students can make their own theatres and I have seen this happen immediately when I return to the same school the following day.
“The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of Language, Literature and Literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together the three strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier levels, and teachers will revisit, strengthen and develop these as needed. Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They listen to, read and view spoken, written and multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is to entertain, as well as some texts designed to inform. These include traditional oral texts, picture books, various types of stories, rhyming verse, poetry, non-fiction, film, multimodal texts and dramatic performances. They participate in shared reading, viewing and storytelling using a range of literary texts, and recognise the entertaining nature of literature. Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts including pictorial representations, short statements, performances, recounts and poetry”.
“Students are encouraged to identify some features of texts including events and characters and retell through the use of performance, use of illustration and images. They are also encouraged to share feelings and thoughts about events and characters. They will use interaction skills including listening while others speak, using appropriate voice levels, articulation and body language, gestures and eye contact.”
My shows and workshops can encourage talk of the HISTORY of puppetry. The obvious benefits of drama can also help students be more confident in sharing their work on history through different forms of communication including oral, graphic, written and role play.
MATHEMATICS & SCIENCE are also involved in a hands on way during my workshops. I discuss three dimensional shapes as the students endeavour to cut out a spherical head for their puppet from a cube shaped piece of foam.
“Students sort, describe and name familiar two-dimensional shapes and three-dimensional objects in the environment. They explore change in the world around them, including changes that impact on them, such as the weather, and changes they can effect, such as making things move or change shape. They learn that seeking answers to questions and making observations is a core part of science and use their senses to gather different types of information. Objects are made from materials that have observable properties. The way objects move depends on a variety of factors, including their size and shape. Students are encouraged to share observations and ideas”
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