"PLANS FROM PARTNERS" LESSON

• To learn how to make puppets and realize that puppetry, like opera, is another kind of theatre
• To gain a deeper understanding of the characters in Rossini's La Cenerentola
• To use this understanding to make decisions about specific characters and express them through puppet making and performing

• Standard 1—Creating, performing, and participating in the arts
• Standard 2—Knowing and using arts materials and resources

• Music
• Visual Arts
• Literature
• Literacy skills: Narrative procedure

• Sock puppet, rod puppet, marionette
• Oaktag Marionette instruction sheet and template
• Puppetry construction materials (oaktag—9 x 14/one sheet per child, 7 paper fasteners per puppet, Spools of fishing line to be cut to various lengths, paints, brushes, markers, scissors, etc. to decorate each puppet.
• 1 teacher pre-completed puppet for demonstration
• La Cenerentola Verse Play by Paul L. King
• La Cenerentola character list
• Top of bookcase to serve as the puppet stage
• Music excerpts from La Cenerentola CD

1. Show puppet examples and elicit answers from students about puppetry and its uses/function. (e.g., entertainment; relating of history, morals, social behavior, spiritual beliefs)
2. Focus on the "craft" or "art" of the puppets themselves. Chart student responses on the board to directive-looking questions: What do you notice about each example? How are the puppets similar? (e.g., They all move.) How do they differ from one another? (e.g., materials, form of movement, size) Which do you think took the longest to make, and what about the puppet supports this? Which do you think was easiest to make, and why?
3. Allow students to handle the puppets investigating how each works and the variety of puppets that can be created. Also direct students to look at the details and how these help "define" and communicate a puppet's character.

1. Ask students:
   
   1. What do you remember about the opera, "La Cenerentola"? (e.g., The story was funny. The costumes were funny. They used bright colors.)
   2. Why would you want to use puppets to put on an opera? (e.g., It would be fun. It would allow us to use our own imaginations. It would be different from what we saw.)
   3. What kind of puppets might we want to use for our version of "La Cenerentola"? (e.g., marionette, sock puppets, rod puppets) Have students support their answers by citing specific aspects of each type of puppet they suggest.
2. Introduce students to the particular type of puppet that the teacher has already prepared. (Depending on skill level, the puppet can be the more challenging marionette version or the simple sock or bag puppet with which students are usually familiar. Click here for specific instructions for the marionette puppet.)
3. Distribute materials and instructions and allow adequate time to plan and construct the puppets. (4 - 5 45-minute sessions for puppets creation.) Assign students (or student pairs) a character from the opera. Before beginning construction, students should plan out how they will visually communicate their puppet's personality and character, through use of costume, colors, facial expressions, accessories, and other details.
4. Lead a classroom discussion about each puppet's character (voice and music) and its physical appearance. Have student pairs refine their voice and acting choices with prompts such as: Think about how you heard the performers' voices in performance. Think about how the CD recording sounds for your character. How do these ideas help you create a voice for your own puppet?
5. Have students rehearse selected scenes with their puppets, using the Verse Play, refining their ability to annunciate clearly and project while moving their puppet. See Extending the Lesson, below, for further options.

1. Have students stage a final, full performance for invited guests. Divide the class into groups and allow each team to rehearse and "stage" La Cenerentola using the Verse Play. Alternatively, divide the play into scenes so that you end up with the groups presenting consecutive scenes of the Verse Play.
2. Ask students to choose overture and scene-change music for their presentation. This may be music from Rossini's La Cenerentola, simple student-created melodies, or "found music." Have students articulate the reasons for their choices as they relate to the story and characters. What mood and/or information do they want the music to convey?

• Assess puppets in terms of students' ability to communicate specifics about the selected character through details, thus demonstrating an understanding of the individual character's role and personality.
• Assess student performance by children's ability to communicate the story through voice, puppet gestures, and musical choices.

• Students compare the script and characters from La Cenerentola to a storybook narrative of Cinderella in a Venn diagram or story chart.
• Students examine existing Playbills and then create one as a class for your performance. Assign small groups responsibility for various aspects (list of characters and related performers, performer biographies, credit list [for scenery, lighting, stage hands], etc.).
• Students use photographs of the puppet performance to create a storyboard for a movie script, writing in director and camera operator directions.

• Students create a dance version of the Cinderella story, having each child communicate what he or she knows about his or her puppet character through body movement. Assign a "director" and "choreographer" to help the class work toward a final, integrated performance.
• Students view a videotaped dance version of Cinderella and compare and contrast it to both the student-puppet performance and the opera.
• Students explore other stories told through music and/or puppetry throughout the world. Show videotape and/or attend performances, whenever possible.

• Students expand their investigation from the "Social Studies" tie-in above by researching the costumes of the various traditions around the world. Ask students to explore whether and/or how the puppet costumes relate to traditional garments in their respective societies.
• Students plan and construct murals as the scenery for the puppet performance.