March is Reading Month 2012, Tip #8: Puppet Show!

Today's tip: have a puppet show!

When I saw that the puppet show post was on deck for Tip #8, I was a little worried.  We've been busy and I've had little time for puppet costuming and set design. But something happened yesterday at school that made me realize that it doesn't have to be so hard. Yesterday, in a book with Father Bear and Baby Bear, I did a puppet show to the dialogue using only my hands. I did a puppet-less puppet show. And if I do say so myself, I brought down the house.*

This slacker puppet show had my right hand as Baby Bear and my left as Father Bear. (No symbolism intended, Father Bear is not "sinister." In fact, I find him to be overly patient with Baby Bear sometimes.) I held my right arm lower and used amazing character voices.  I raised my arm up when Baby Bear climbed a tree, peeking out of the hole in the tree with quick turns left and right.

After the show, the kids made their own hands be puppets and they thought of things the characters might say.  It was incredibly fun and required them to really think about the characters. I think "Puppet-less Character Puppet  Re-readings and Possible Conversations" needs to be in my bag of tricks.  I can't wait to try this with the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems, always a favorite at our house!


*Or in this case, I brought down the kidney table.

More Mo!

A while ago, Francis made this sweet card for Mo Willems at 826 Michigan drop-in writing (for ages 6-8). I scanned it because it was so cute, but Mo got the original.

Fran even wrote a thoughtful note with suggestions for Mo's next Elephant and Piggie book.

So you can imagine our surprise when this came in the mail today for Fran:

All we can say is, we want more Mo! We can't get enough of that guy! And we loved his shout out to 826.

Smooth Operator

Some of my favorite classroom activities for practicing reading fluently are shared reading, reader's theater, and partner reading. Another big component for teaching fluency is having it modeled with frequent, well-read read-alouds and also direct teaching in minilessons and conferences. It always amazes me how a simple demonstration comparing a "robot read" with a "fluent read" turns on light bulbs for readers. Additionally, studying how punctuation shapes reading is a huge help (phrasing, making it sound like talking, using end marks and commas to guide our voices).

But what does home support look like? I have noticed Fran's reading level has progressed nicely this year. When he is reading something with very high accuracy or familiarity, his intonation and phrasing are spot on. If the text is new (even with high accuracy), he does a great job reading with meaning about three-quarters of the way through the text and then reads more in short phrases to finish. That being said, our reading time is right before bedtime and he is exhausted from a busy day in full-day K and playing outside until dinner. Still, I have been thinking a lot about a home-support plan.

Basically, I think partner reading would be a good way to address this for a few reasons. Most importantly, Fran likes reading with me as a partner. I read a page, then he reads a page. Also, when we read as partners, I can subtly help with tricky spots and also cycle in-and-out modeling good phrasing. Fran and I have also talked about reading "quick enough so it sounds like talking." The Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie books are a great read for this- the books are all dialogue and one person can read the Elephant talk bubbles and the other person can read the Piggie part. I think Fran would also enjoy writing and performing puppet shows (or having Elephant and Piggie Puppet shows.)

Reading fluently- or smoothly, with expression - will also elevate comprehension. I think these activities will be a fun for Fran and will make him feel very proud. Hopefully Claudia will outgrow her puppet fear so we have an audience!