Puppets help teach life lessons

The pupils research and write a new script each year.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
NEW MIDDLETOWN -- The Springfield Puppeteers are ready to take their show on the road.
The puppeteers, fifth- through eighth-graders, are pupils in Karen Stewart's special-needs class at Springfield Intermediate School.
They've written and honed their own script for the play they put on, using puppets secured through an autism grant to focus their play on various careers.
The puppeteers debuted their program at Springfield Elementary School last month.
Presentations
The pupils write a new script every year focusing on a different theme. The class is willing and able to present its play to other schools, targeting kindergarten and special-needs classes, Stewart said.
Stewart said her goal is to incorporate puppets in every aspect of teaching special-needs children.
It gets them involved physically and is an aid to helping children with learning difficulties. It helps them develop motor skills, and the puppets themselves serve as handy tools to model emotions, to listen and to role play various situations, she said.
It's also great speech practice.
The puppeteers make their presentations in front of a group, enhancing their skills and public speaking confidence.
It teaches them to pace their speech so it is slow enough for everyone to understand and improves their basic reading and writing skills, the teacher said.
Children who are learning to ready need oral practice, and the puppet shows help meet that need, Stewart said. The scripts can include songs or rhymes which teach vocals.
They have to read and research the show's theme and then use that information to create a script, she said.
This year, the children gained experience researching various professions, summarizing that information into a written report and then transforming the report into an interesting script, Stewart said.
Creating a play increases their comprehension skills, their ability to follow directions and to work in a group setting. Next year, the play may be about dinosaurs, she continued.
Presenting the play to an audience has improved the pupils' public-speaking skills, including learning to use expression in their speech and working to correct articulation difficulties, she said. They learn from each other by watching each other's performance, she added.
gwin@vindy.com