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      Puppets: why and how?
      Submitted by hayriye on 6 February, 2011 - 01:01

      In one of my previous posts, I mentioned three golden tips to use puppets effectively. Here I want to talk about some activities I carry out in my classes. Before that, let's answer why we should make use of puppets to teach very young learners.

      Puppets...

      • catch children's attention easily.
      • create a non-threatening and warm atmosphere.
      • motivate students to speak English.
      • allow more interaction.
      • provide more exposure
      • integrate all language skills.
      • create opportunities for different intelligences.

      What activities can we conduct with puppets?  

      We can...

      • use as our language assistant to give directions
      • use to announce the next activity such as asking for the puppet to take a CD out from the box ( e.g: It signals that they're going to listen to a song)
      • use as a partner/ a model to start an activity 
      • play games
      • read  / tell  a  story  to  the  puppet.
      • carry out some writing tasks such as writing  a  letter / e-mail  or  sending  a  postcard  to  the  puppet.
      • conduct short  dialogue  exercises or drills

      Here are some activities I can suggest. If you have more, I would like to read about them.

      Average: 2.5 (2 votes)

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      CoffeeAddict's picture
      CoffeeAddict
      Love it!
      Submitted on 6 February, 2011 - 08:28

      I am a secondary teacher myself, and teach grade 8 (I have taught grades 6 & 7 too but that was many years ago) so I have no experience with using puppets in class. However, I have a 4 year old at home, and I can certainly testify to the fact that little kids love to watch, play, play-talk and listen to puppets. I am sure they must be an invaluable tool for teachers teaching young learners. I bought a few puppets from IKEA and they instantly became favorite toys at home. The IKEA puppets are animals (they have many different kinds) and they also sell finger puppets - which are also cute but I find them difficult to play with. I wonder if I could find a way to use puppets with older students? Perhaps with them as puppet masters?

      ;-) Have a nice day!

      CoffeeAddict

      britishcouncil_elt's picture
      britishcouncil_elt
      Using puppets
      Submitted on 6 February, 2011 - 13:46

      Hi Hayriye,

      Thanks for sharing your tips. Here is a very practical handbook about using puppets in the primary classrooms:

      http://elt.oup.com//catalogue/items/global/teacher_development/teaching_...

      Sirin

      Nesrin's Blog's picture
      Nesrin's Blog
      Lovely!
      Submitted on 7 February, 2011 - 21:28

      Hi Hariye,

      Using puppets is a lovely idea with young learners.

      You could model a language via the puppet; asking and answering Qs to show a sample dialouge; to show how an activity will be done; to instruct an activity, and so on, which is a great way to draw Ss attention.

      When I read your post, I thought of asking Ss to have their own puppets to speak out when a new language is presented. Maybe this could help them use the language more freely, what would you say?

      Nesrin

      hayriye's picture
      hayriye
      To nesrineren
      Submitted on 10 February, 2011 - 22:36

      Yes, you 're right. They enjoy having their own puppets. To serve this purpose, in the beginning of the term I handed out the sheets of different finger puppets to my students. They cut and coloured them. I also gave envelops for keeping paper finger puppets in. When we read stories, they act out their own version of the story using these puppets. They also create dialogues with the puppets. You can find paper puppets on the internet.

      Have a nice day!