Puppetry and Education

Practice in the classroom

Contents

I. Construction techniques and manipulation of the hand puppet and peepers

II. Puppetry in Early Childhood and Primary Education. Some Experiences
III. Project Ethics with Puppets to Address Bullying

Resources
IV. The Gepeto Puppet Theater Group
V. The History of Puppetry
VI. “Making Puppets Come Alive”
VII. Puppet Theater is an Art. Can it also be Didactic?
VIII. Puppet Theater in Education around the World
IX. Puppetry in inclusion
X. Video links illustrating the construction and manipulation techniques of puppets
XI. Files on the importance of Puppet Theater in Education
XII. Forum for exchanging experiences

1
Puppetry and Education
Oscar Goldszmidt1

There are few publications about Puppets in Education in Brazil. This gap makes it
difficult for teachers to search and expand their repertoire, and makes many puppets sit in
chests or on shelves. We felt the need to publicize the Art of Puppetry in Education, creating
materials that can be accessible to educators and puppeteers, to reach a greater number of
people and be a channel of communication between teachers of different schools, puppeteers
and artists. Therefore, we aim to create this Blog about puppetry with the following
objectives:

• To promote the teaching of puppetry in schools as a playful medium of artistic expression,

play and communication;
• To teach techniques for making and manipulation of puppets in school, as a playful activity
that allows - through an aesthetic experience - the creation of scripts, characters,
manipulation, interpretation and presentation of puppet shows. This teaching aims to develop
students' critical thinking, provoke reflection on ethical values and motivate them to study,
improving the Quality of Education;
• To present successful experiences in Brazil and in other countries that illustrate the use of
puppetry in Early Childhood and Primary Education;
• To create a Forum in which teachers, educators, psych pedagogy practitioners, psychologists
and puppeteers can post their questions and share their experiences with the use of puppets;
• Promote, through puppetry, the inclusion of the child with special needs.

Playing with puppets is a lot of fun. It is important to emphasize that, as well as

various play activities, the puppets develop creativity, stimulate imagination, manual work,
and socialize the child, as he has to integrate into a team, each fulfilling a role, collaborating
with their colleagues, dialoguing and solving their challenges together.

1 Artist, puppeteer and art-educator. E-mail: donaite7@gmail.com.

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 The Blog, aimed to puppeteers and educators in general, especially to art educators,
due to the training they have in the area, will have Chapters I and II dedicated to techniques of
construction and manipulation of the puppets, their use in Early Childhood and Primary
Education. Chapter III details a script of a puppet show, based in the workshop "Ethics with
Puppet Theater applied to Bullying" held in the E.E. "Júlio Prestes de Albuquerque", in
Sorocaba / SP, Brazil, during the year of 2017.
We emphasize that this workshop, in addition to reducing cases of bullying,
stimulated reflections on ethical and moral issues, as well as the production of texts and
theater creations, making pupils improve school performance, as reported by the teachers
themselves.
In "Resources", the reader interested in puppetry research will find information on
various aspects of the art like:
Making puppets come alive,
The use of this technique in the educational area in others countries,
The curriculum of an advanced Puppetry course for teachers, master dissertations and
doctorate theses,
The author's experience with puppetry in teaching children with special needs and his work in
schools,
Links of diverse contents on the subject, as well as videos about various types of puppetry
shows and manipulation.
As already proven in scientific research developed by James Catterall, PhD at
California University (USA), with the teaching of Art focused on the languages of theater and
music it is possible to improve the cognitive ability of the students, improving their learning
and quality of education.
Claudia Costin2, in her column of the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, dated
September 14, 2018, reported on the work done in the best schools in the state of
Pernambuco, Brazil:
"But the schools also impressed me with the quality of their work in dimensions not measured
by the index IDEB3, such as music, short films produced by students, mastery of other
languages or robotics, confirming that teaching art in school is fundamental for improving the
learning abilities of children and teenagers.

2 Cláudia Costin, director of the Getulio Vargas Foundation Center for Excellence and
Innovation in Educational Policy (FGV)
3 https://www.somospar.com.br/ideb/
Index of development of basic education
3
References that support the proposal:

Works and videos of James Catterall:

James Catterall “Doing Well and Doing Good by Doing Art”, <http://www.aep-
arts.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/AEP-Wire-catterall.pdf>

Interview <https://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2001/05/05/a-marriage-of-art-and-
learning-an-interview-with-james-catterall/>

Dr. Catterall on the Impact of Arts Education,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSdD9YxOSRk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ys_owj-H8k

James Catterall in “Clarifying Creativity: How it Works and How it Grows”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HcpN283dhE

Just in case any of the links are broken try the link name for example:

James Catterall in “Clarifying Creativity: How it Works and How it Grows”:

If this link is broken, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HcpN283dhE
Try Clarifying Creativity: How it Works and How it Grows

4
 Practice in the classroom

I - Construction techniques and manipulation of the hand puppet and “peepers”

II - Puppetry in Early Childhood and Primary Education. Some Experiences
III - Project Ethics with Puppets to Address Bullying

The process of producing a puppet show in a school, in this case on the subject of
bullying, aims at developing students' critical thinking and provoking reflection on ethical
values. It is interesting to note that the workshop participants improved their school
performance. The Blog describes this process with the day-by-day activities and informs the
YouTube link with the film of the show, in order to encourage teachers to produce a play at
their schools.
Hugo Villena's book, "Titeres en la Escuela"4, published in 1996 in Buenos Aires
by Ediciones Colihue, also describes this process in detail.

I Construction techniques and manipulation of glove puppets and “peepers”

We have worked the hand puppet in all our workshops. It is easy to make and has
many possibilities of expression. as it is our own hand that manipulates the puppet.
Two types of hand puppets are easy to build and manipulate with children in the
classroom.
The first type is the puppet made with a sock. To make a sock puppet, follow the
instructions in this link5. This puppet is very useful to stimulate verbal communication and
motivate the child to talk to another child through puppets.
Synchronize speech with the movements of the puppet's mouth, one must place the
hand in the puppet with the thumb under the mouth and move this finger to speak. With each
syllable, push your mouth forward and backwards.
You can use only a sock in which the hand is placed inside and the tip of the sock is folded
into the hand.

4 Puppets in school
5 : “Learn How to Make Sock Puppets Here”
<http://www.legendsandlore.com/sockpuppets.html>

5
Figure 1: sock puppet
Source: Oscar´s personal collection

In the second type, we have the glove with arms but no mouth6.

Figure 2: Oscar with hand puppet

Source: Oscar´s personal collection
This hand puppet allows a richer manipulation, since our hands can be very expressive.

6 “Learn How to Make Sock Puppets Here”,

<http://www.legendsandlore.com/sockpuppets.html>
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Figure 3: Hand puppet basic costume
Source: Oscar´s personal collection
For this basic costume model, we cut two identical fabrics and glue them with hot
glue, craft glue or sew them together, leaving the bottom open.
For the model of basic costume glued with hot glue, watch the video in Portuguese on the
link.7

Rodape 4 Video in portughese “Puppet costume in TNT (Pressed fiber fabric)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy_Vykc3CWw

Alternatives for making the head

Suggested Materials
1. Styrofoam ball of 80 or 100 mm in diameter. Make a hole to put one, two or three fingers
according to the child's preference. We make the lining of the ball with papier maché or with
a child's sock.
If it is papier maché, we glue three layers of pieces of newspaper wet with diluted white glue;
then dry, sand and paint.

2. We can make another type of head by pressing a sheet of newspaper forming a ball around
one, two or three fingers. Wrap this ball with paper tape.

7 Video in portughese “Puppet costume in glued TNT

(Pressed fiber fabric)”. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy_Vykc3CWw>

7
3. Another way is to cover the Styrofoam ball by stretching a child's sock over it: we cut the
sock and glue the open end with white glue into the finger hole. When drilling the hole, test
with the sock so you have room to enter your fingers with the glued sock. On the sock, glue
the nose and eyes, which can be Styrofoam balls, and add hair, which can be made of wool.

Note: In all cases, the basic puppet costume neck enters the finger hole and is hold there,
either with the finger pressure or be glued to the wall of the hole.

How to introduce puppets in the classroom

Viviana Rogozinski8, an Argentinian puppeteer, shows us the different stages which

are essential to start working with puppets in a classroom in her excellent book: “TÍTERES
EN LA ESCUELA - Expresión, Juego y Comunicación, (Puppets in School - Expression,
Game and Communication)”.

Stage 1: Playing with Puppets or exploratory games

This sequence can be modified in case there are no puppets for the first stage.
Neutral glove puppets can be made for the second stage.

In this first stage, it’s important that both child, and also adult, become familiar with
the puppet material - its size, shape, texture, weight and color. Children can play alone or with
their colleagues, trying to feel the puppet through their senses, but with a subjective look
which activates their creativity, allowing them to explore its possibilities.
Ideally, children should have complete freedom in this process, but in case of lack of
initiative, the activity can be guided by the suggestion of themes, music, sounds and scents.

Stage 2: Glove Puppet Sign Language

At this point, I will boldly leave the recommendation of Viviana Rogozinski, adding a
new stage. Children between the ages of two and six (up to seven years old) manifest a clear
egocentrism in their social relations and in their way of thinking. That is why animism
predominates in their games, and we can see them giving life to their toys, in particular, the

8 Curriculun Viviana
8
puppets. To work with this age group, the reader will find information in Viviana´s
methodology for introducing puppets and in several experiences in chapter II.
Between seven to eight years old and twelve to fourteen, children begin to use logical
reasoning to socialize, to communicate autonomously, already accepting rules. This is the
time to teach them the language of the glove puppet, with which they can express their
emotions and feelings. The movements of the fingers, wrist and forearm are described are
described further on.

Stage 3: Improvisations

Here we return to what Viviana Rogozinski proposes. In this third stage, the children,
organized into groups, create a brief history with actions mediated by a conflict. It is very
common for children to express themselves violently through the puppets, by hitting other
puppets with punches. In this case, the teacher should guide the use of creativity and present
other means of communicating, for example: beating in slow motion, giving life to the objects
and suggesting to caress instead of beating. This makes it possible for children to look for
other ways to express themselves through puppets.

Stage 4: Performing

At this stage, it is important to gather the group in a circle and allow each one to tell a
story that could be the theme for the play’s script, as the example provided by this Blog, based
on a real case of bullying. In this way, we believe children will play the characters with
greater credibility, since they can relate the story to their own reality. Our objective is to
promote ethical behavior and values such as respect, solidarity, responsibility, honesty,
tolerance, among others.
Like any drama, the script must present a sequence of actions which contains an
introduction of the characters, a conflict and a final solution. The best puppet performances
contain few dialogues and a great deal of action, so it is important to explore opportunities for
action scenes, as in the case of the fight scene in the first video9 of the case study of this blog.
It is important to highlight that the value of this activity lies in its process, in which
students develop their creativity, build puppets and scenarios, socialize, collaborate to solve
their challenges, respect the opinions of colleagues and learn to obey the director. Therefore,
9 https://youtu.be/xuAelZhQqyg
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it is not essential to produce a complete puppet show. Several short scenes will give them the
chance to practice the basic elements of the puppet theater and also have fun.
Viviana Rogozinski
30 years as a puppeteer and teacher of preschool and primary education. Workshops for teachers. children and
teenagers. Teaches «Puppets and visual arts in primary Education», for the bachelor´s degree in Primary
Education of the National University of San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentine

Falta No de rodape breve curriculo de Viviana ................................

Viviana Rogozinski's Methodology for Introducing Puppets in the Classroom

Viviana Rogozinski uses the following methodology for starting to work with puppets, both
for teachers and for students of any age.
With the aim of relaxing mind and body before introducing the puppets, it is necessary for the
participants, students or teachers, to get rid of the state of stress produced by the concerns of
daily life. With that purpose participants will walk randomly around the room, listening to
soft music.
Our hands are one of the most expressive parts of the body. To give life to the puppet, we
have to develop its sensibility to be able to show with our hands, emotions, such as happiness,
sadness, surprise and feelings like love, happiness, hatred, envy, compassion, empathy or
disappointment.
While walking, each time the person in charge of the workshop applauds, all stand still in
front of a colleague and make a gesture with their hands, in silence, demonstrating, without
words, an emotion or a feeling. The colleague should answer also with a gesture with his
hands.
Next, the participants sit in a circle, move freely first one hand, then both, making them
communicate to each other, perform some actions, such as dancing, swimming or embracing
and tell, in silence, a story.
In the next stage we will work with all kinds of gloves, wool, latex, mechanic´s, feast gloves
or whatever else available.
With the glove in our hand, we close our eyes and imagine the environment in which the
owner of the glove lives, how would be his personality and his character. Our hand will
express now the emotions, feelings and actions that he will carry out in his profession and in
his private life. If the participants have difficulty wondering how his personality might be,
you could suggest such things as being sociable, cheerful, anxious, aggressive and about his
10
character, it could be his way of reacting, his good or bad temper, if calm or violent, if
generous or selfish, if he has a solid moral or is dishonest.
In the next stage we will work with a neutral glove puppet. Participants receive the puppet
with their eyes closed and try to find out the best way to put it in their hands. Once the
participant has closed his eyes, he will imagine what that person would look like, how his
personality and character would be as described above.
The next stage is to create improvisations among the participants with their neutral puppets in
which they manifest their personality and character.
It is important after each of the stages that the participants who are willing to, choose the most
interesting action, perform it so the other participants and the person in charge of the
workshop can express their constructive criticism.
The last stage is the representation of the play: In this stage it is important to gather the group
on a circle and each participant may tell some personal experience that could be the theme of
the script of the play, as in the case of this Blog, it was a real case of bullying. In this way,
students will interpret the characters with greater credibility. As we want to promote ethical
behavior, values such as respect, solidarity, responsibility, honesty, tolerance, can be worked
on. Like any play, the script must have a sequence of actions in which we will have an
introduction of the characters, a conflict between them and a final solution.
The end should not be an obvious moral teaching. Values should be shown as the values of
each character.

Puppet language
According to the Piaget’s description of the evolution of the child, teenager above twelve
years old are able to use the language based on the book: “ Making Puppets Come Alive: a
method of learning and teaching hand puppetry” by Larry Engler and Carol Fijan.

Position of the fingers inside the puppet and the forearm in the stage
Figures 4: alternatives to the positions of the fingers inside the arms and head of the puppet
Figure 5: Option I - forearm in front of the curtain; the puppeteer has less mobility, but tires
less
Figure 5: Option II –hand above the curtain; the puppeteer has more mobility, but tires more,
this is the most common posture. It is necessary to stretch the fingers, wrists and forearms,
before and after the show, to avoid future pains on the shoulders and cervical spine.

11
The arm always moves at the same level and always vertically. The direction of the puppet's
gaze always turns to another puppet or to the audience.
In triangulation, the puppet looks at the other puppet, then at the audience, then at the other
puppet again.

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13
Figures 6 to 14: Finger manipulation. Drawings made by artist Laura de Paula Barbeiro

14
Figure 6 Yes Fig, 7 No Fig. 8 Clapping hands opening and closing arms
Fig, 9 Showing overthere Fig 10 Good bye Fig 11 Come here Fig 12 Thinking Fig 13
sending a kiss Fig 14 Rubbing hands

15
16
Fig 12 to 17 Wrist manipulation
Fig 15 No with wrist Fig 16 Reverence Fig 17 Reading

17
Fig. 18 to 23: Forearm manipulation
Drawings made by artist Laura de Paula Barbeiro
18
Fig 18 Common walking . Puppet goes slightly up and down while advancing
Fig 19 Walking while leaning backward and forward
Fig 20 Walking while turning right and left
Fig 21 Running, like walking, moving up and down faster
Fig 22 Jumping like a frog
Fig 23 Flying

Improvisation:

Two students. One manipulates a girl puppet crying and another manipulates a boy. The boy
comes to comfort the girl, who stops crying, hugs the boy and gives him a kiss. The two
puppets go away hand in hand.
“Peepers“
Suggested materials:
2 styrofoam balls 3 or 4 cm in diameter
1 rubber band
Plastic craft eyes to glue on styrofoam balls, or painted eyes.
For hair, wool yarns, strips of plastic grocery bags, feathers or other fabric strips.
Tools:
L type size 10 screw, hand borer or Philips screwdriver.
Tapestry or crochet hook
Drill holes along a diameter of each ball with the L screw, hand borer or. Philips screwdriver
Pass the rubber band through the holes of both balls with the aid of a tapestry or crochet hook
and tie the ends of the rubber band.
The balls can be loose or glued, as in the photo. Paste hair and eyes, or paint the eyes.
Put on the rubber band around the index and middle fingers.
Manipulation depends on child's imagination.

Videos of tutorials of construction and presentations with peepers

Another way of making peepers in Portuguese
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACdrd5f9hPE

19
See demonstration of the inventor of the peepers, Hobey Ford, 10
Peepers Making off11
Home made peepers12
You can search in Google for ‘Peepers puppets’ and you will have lots of Lejo videos

Figure 24: Styrofoam balls glued with craft glue

Source: Oscar´s personal collection

Puppet Shows and Manipulation Links

Basic rules for puppet manipulation in portughese:

7 Vídeo “Como manipular bonecos - Vlog 2”. (How to Manipulate puppets)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL2GInUt92U

8 Vídeo “Bringing Your Puppets To Life - Puppetry for Educators Series”.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERsIEFGwKgE&t=11s>

9 Vídeo “Puppet Basics: Glenda Bonin Shows How to Use a Puppet Without a Puppet Stage”.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOwIrm3m5I8>

10 Video El hipo [The hiccup], Gabriel Guaira Castilla Salta Argentina.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAzL-Q1hivs

11 Video Historia com flores (Story with flowers) Guaira Castilla Salta Argentina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwowwkHO1T0

12 Video Grupo de Títeres "El Chonchón", Argentine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBJnJBCAjXw

10 Vídeo “Peepers!”.: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyGDzfVWGks&t=63s >

11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWOVyZ4gsbw&list=RDfpMUholzcWU&index=8

12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rEJE7DjtNo
20
13 “TITIRITRAN - ANIMA SONHO ‘Bonecronicas’ (titirimundi)”, Grupo Anima Sonho,
Porto Alegre, Brazil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGQJaLhGWtA
.
TRAS CARTÓN - Rafa Teixido, Córdoba,
Argentine.

14 The Old Woman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftHutgC96pE

15 Tango
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtk3qKhVBrM

16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2mopxSP77Y&t=46s
.
17 “Otto el caracol” (Otto, the snail), Graciela Molina, La Casa del Títere, Córdoba,
Argentine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcUx1DmFJL4

18 Sergey Vladimirovich Obraztsov Famous Russian puppeteer

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II. Puppetry in Early Childhood and Primary Education. Some Experiences

Pinocchio visits a school

Few schools use puppets, and this is largely due to the lack of knowledge about how to work
with this art.
The private school "Crescer e Aprender" (Grow and Learn), located in Vila Santana, in
Sorocaba /SP/Brazil, uses J. Piaget - System of Multimedia Education, with puppets.

Puppets
"An important motivator in the learning process, the puppets, corresponding to the characters
in the Student Manual of Early Childhood Education, allow the teacher to create situations
and activities that not only develop the imagination but also revise or reinforce the curriculum
contents."13

J. Piaget - Multimedia Education System offers puppets for each level of education. 14
(?????????)
No rodapé https://jpiaget.com.br

No rodapé https://jpiaget.com.br/produtos

Nursery School I . • Nursery School II • Preschool I • Preschool II Primary School I

The author had the opportunity to tell the story of Pinocchio with his puppet for twenty
children in the range from three to four years old at the School "Grow and Learn." When the
show ended, the children surrounded the puppet, hugged it, kissed it and told him, "You must
not lie, Pinocchio, just tell the truth." The video of the "Pinocchio" presentation at the School
Grow and Learn is available on link:15 (?)

13 https://jpiaget.com.br/

14 https://jpiaget.com.br/produtos#material-de-apoio

15 https://youtu.be/-nh4rhBalBw

Nursery School I
22
No rodapé (?) https://youtu.be/-nh4rhBalBw

J. Piaget - Multimedia Education System offers puppets for each level of education.

Nursery School III

Preschool I

23
Preschool II

Primary School I

24
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Puppets in preschool and primary schools in the USA

1 Denise Özdeniz 16 (?)

Puppets in Primary School

Denise Özdeniz gives courses and workshops for teachers in Early Childhood Education
using the puppets for English classes. She puts two pencils in the puppet's hand and asks him
to give her a pencil, first one color and then another, creating a dialogue with him. Then she
takes the pencils and the puppet asks for them. Finally, she asks a child to do the same
dialogue with the puppet. Children consider the puppetl as a person, which allows them to
communicate with the teacher without feeling embarrassed or anxious. They like to talk to
him, ask him his name, what he likes to eat, and ask him to do something. Thus, they practice
the language they are learning in a relaxed way.

2. George Dempsie17 (?)

Can I Love You? A Child's Adventure with Puppets and Play
George Dempsie, a teacher with ten years of experience in Education with puppets, was a
primary school educator in Pennsylvania, USA, in the year 2000. In his text, he shows us the
process of socializing an immigrant child named Shazana, who entered his first-grade
classroom and declined to speak. He decided to use a puppet called "Hilda", which he kept in
her little house, to socially and integrate Shazana into the group.

3. Mavis Yap18 (?)

A Visit from Flap Jack: Advantages of Puppets in the Classroom

Teacher Mavis Yap reported a successful experience in a second-grade classroom of a school

16 ÖZDENIZ, Denise. “Puppets in Primary.” Humanising Language Teaching. Ano 3, v. 3, mar.

2001.
Available in: http://old.hltmag.co.uk/mar01/sart7.htm
17 DEMPSIE, George. Can I Love You? A Child's Adventure with Puppets and Play. Journal of
the Imagination in Language Learning, v. V, 2000, p. 28-34. Disponível em:
<https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED476595.pdf>

18 Adaptação do texto de YAP, Mavis. A Visit from Flap Jack: Advantages of Puppets in the
Classroom.
https://ed.psu.edu/pds/teacher-inquiry/2006/yapm.pdf
26
in the United States. She managed through the puppet, a technique easy to use, a good
classroom behavior, using simple ways to deal with difficult or delicate subjects, develop a
stimulating mood, and improve student performance.

Puppetry in Primary School

Experience of teacher Marisa Lopes

The work of teacher Marisa Lopes, with whom I worked in partnership, describes an
experience that took place in all grades of the Primary State School "Professor Jorge
Madureira" in Sorocaba, SP, Brazil.
Due to the relevance of its theoretical basis, it was included in Resources. The detail of the
work process carried out with various types of puppets and their illustrations will be an
example to follow for teachers who wish to start puppetry work in their schools.

Teacher Marisa´s experience:

Before developing a puppet project at the school, I participated in several teacher training
workshops and Technical Guidance meetings offered by the Teaching Board of the Sorocaba
Region, from which I sought to absorb as much knowledge as possible. In one, held in 2014,
our teacher, Coordinator of the Pedagogical Center19, got us together in groups and showed
us, through videos, the puppet theater. She introduced us with such passion that motivated me
to start working with puppets in the classroom. We made an articulated direct manipulation
puppet that used newspaper as the basis for its construction. This being an inexpensive and
abundant material, it would not be difficult to achieve. We did it in the workshop and I took it
to school later, introduced it to the students and proposed the activity. The students soon
found that it was a cute little puppet, so they named and christened the Project as "Cute Little
Puppet". I remember that my students were soon organized into teams and started working.
At first, I would only do it with the seventh grade classes, but joy and enthusiasm took over
all classes. The other classes when they saw the puppets, soon wanted to participate in this

19 Roberta Jorge Luz, was at that time, the Art Pedagogical Coordinator of the Teaching Board
of the Sorocaba Region
27
project as well. Therefore, I worked with all the students of the State Primary School
"Professor Jorge Madureira" in Sorocaba / SP/Brazil. It was a challenge to work with direct
manipulation. There had to be unity, teamwork, and synchronism in performing the
movements. The scene had to look real. The audience had to watch, listen, evaluate what was
being done;
the central focus of the actions was the character and not the manipulators. It was great to
see them working as a unit!

Figures 1 and 2: Making a puppet

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figures 3 and 4: Students manipulating a puppet

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

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Figures 5 and 6: Students manipulating a puppet
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figures 7 and 8: Students manipulating a puppet

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

29
Figures 9 and 10: Puppets made by students
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Puppetry is always worth trying, so I am sharing my experience and the results obtained by it.
I worked puppetry with children of various ages, trying to develop in them a taste for the art,
working with creativity, team spirit, a good relation of their self with the other. I have tried to
stimulate the ability to create and interpret a scene, the production of text, the pleasure of
reading and the desire to learn by researching, seeking knowledge and developing critical
sense so that as adults they will be conscious citizens, builders of a better future.
We are the proposers
Having chosen this project, a new challenge arose: to fulfill the school curriculum without
neglecting the proposed contents for each series / year. For the year of 2015 it wouldn´t be
different. I sought something that would stimulate the critical sense and awaken the creative
spirit of the students. Thus came out the project "We are the proposers". This project started
from the need to establish goals and challenges to be achieved by exploring the most different
artistic resources and materials, taking into account spontaneity, curiosity, the desire to
express oneself and the innovative spirit through art. We worked with paintings by
contemporary artists and events around the world, we researched in books about what is art,
about the function of art, beauty or chaos, art and madness (beings, words, places and non-
existent objects), art for what?, why art? ... We made notes about art and their daily life, in
which they became proponents, collaborators and builders of a new art taking into account
their notes, doubts and curiosities about the facts of their daily life that surrounds them,
aiming the development of their critical sense, their aesthetic and the taste for art.
The outcome of this projecr surprised me, considering the few available resources. It was
good, considering that I could count with conscious students that collaborated in making
objects and problem solving that came out with the activities. I tried to stimulate creation,
imagination, group work.

30
We built together the idea that monsters are strange, imaginary beings, who love, have family,
have friends, some are good, some are not. Some are afraid, others are brave, the same as
humans. From there, we began to experiment, each room went one way. The most disordered
classes stopped to listen to the puppets of their classmates. Within the classroom, everything
went well: one group proposes to interpret and shows it to their clasmates.
They created several objects for the project "We are the proposers". It was very funny. We
proposed the activity and they proposed the way to express it. The classes were divided into
groups of five students. Each student created his own artistic object. They gathered the objects
and formed a brief text. First improvised and, in a second moment, they wrote down a detailed
script. After the presentation of the created objects, they were shared (exchanged) with the
other rooms. Each group now met the challenge of creating a play with a strange object (not
made by them).

Figures 11 and 12: Presenting the puppet show

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

A visually impaired student palpated the object with the help of his colleagues, touched the
curtain and raised his puppet over the cloth. He had a slight difficulty in telling the text
previously written by his group, for he had to remember the plot, but his memory and ability
to improvise soon solved the problem and he had a great time laughing loudly behind the
curtain. The student was well accepted by his colleagues, who disputed the position of a
helper with the materials or his locomotion. There is a girl student who helps him with his
assignments.

Creative process and project images

31
It all came out from a paper cylinder, in which I illustrated a way of giving life to characters
with simple features (sulfite paper, scissors, glue and crayons). Subsequently, I proposed to
them the creation of imaginary beings (monsters). We created the characters and their stories
by always answering these questions: who?, where?, what?. We began its creation with
drawings of beings, their imaginary habitat, planets, strange places and their characteristics.
There was individual creation, besides writing as a form of register. From that experience, we
made character designs. Through the drawings we created them, we created their families, the
place where they lived, what they liked, what they don´t not liked, each item in a class. Then,
I asked that starting from the drawing (project) they should built it in a three-dimensional
form. Instigating creation freely and exploring various materials such as plush, papier mache,
soft drink bottle, milk carton, modeling clay, gift packaging, paperboard, cardboard, etc. The
little monsters were executed having as a model the previously made drawings; from then on,
we created the scenes. We told stories of strange beings and people, in a way that they existed
only in the imagination of those who created them. We invented the houses and cities where
these beings lived through models and drawings. We made brief poetic texts and performed
them using these characters as theatrical allegories. The show used rod and straw puppets.

Figure 13: Rod puppets made by the students

Source: Marisa´s personal collection
We also created scenes with day by day objects aiming new texts, new plays and creating
characters. We explored the imaginary world wearing masks and we held debates.

32
Until then, I used a cloth and two volunteers to stretch it, separating the stage from the
audience. It was here that we came up with the idea of creating a stage with a fixed curtain
improvised from two “cangas20” stapled on a piece of string, which was suspended and tied to
the door and window of the room.

Figure 14: Group performing with a piece of fabric wrapped around their hands
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

20 A lightweight rectangular piece of fabric that can be attached to the

body in different ways (eg to serve as a beach exit) or be used in beach, swimming pool
etc. to cover the ground or the sand on which the person lies. Word reference

33
Fig 15: Student presenting the puppet he made.
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 16: puppet made with a day per day object (fruit juicer)
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 17: Rod puppet with a piece of fabric wrapped over the hand to serve as a costume for
the puppet.
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

34
Figure 18: Rod puppet with a piece of fabric wrapped around the hand to serve as a costume
for the puppet.
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 19: Rod puppets

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figura 20: Objet made with a soft drink bottle

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

35
Figura 21: Character made with a milk box
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Fig. 22 : Group performing and audience watching

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 23: Student narrating while others perform

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

36
Figure 24: Student narrating while others perform
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 25: Puppet made out of gift bag

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 26: Puppet made with a paper sheet

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

37
Figure 27: Making hand puppet
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 27: Exhibition of drawings in classroom

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

38
Figure 29: Hand puppets above the “canga” curtain hanged accross the classroom
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

"Working with puppets is easy using recyclable materials. This way we generate new creative
possibilities. By selecting, storing and providing students with a variety of materials that can
be recycled, transformed and re-signified, we greatly enrich the workshop and provide
students with a moment of reflection on caring for the environment when we reuse these
materials that would be discarded. Our puppet project was renewed due to the presence of Mr.
Oscar Goldszmidt as a motivator of these activities that took place in E.E. "Professor Jorge
Madureira". We planned together the content to be worked on and the forms of approach.
Initially, we tried to illustrate the origins of puppetry through projections presented with the
aid of a notebook. We showed vídeos on the manipulation technique and types of puppets.
In sixth grade, I used the paper puppet, made with a cylinder and its ends glued together. Next
we added faces, hair, clothes and arms. It is an extremely simple, cheap and effective
resource. It stimulates the creation of characters and the construction of texts. "

39
Figures 30 to 36: Paper Puppets made by students of Primary School
40
Source: Marisa´s personal collection
Some students were inspired by popular songs to build their puppets:

Figure 37: "I threw the stick at the cat"

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 38: "I threw the stick at the cat"

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

41
Figura 39: "Yellow chick", "I threw the stick on the cat" and "Bunny potbellied"
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figure 40: “Mrs spider, sun and rain”

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

With students from seventh grade, I worked with stick puppets. These were made with cheap
materials and their handling was extremely simple.

42
Figures 41 and 42: Students making and manipulating rod puppets
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figures 43 and 44: Eighth grade making and manipulating puppets proposed by Oscar
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

I also worked with finger puppets in the seventh and eighth grades.

Figures 45 to 48: Finger puppets made by the students

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

43
We created some characters using everyday objects.

Figures 49 to 51: Puppets made with everyday objects

Source: Marisa´s personal collection

Figures 52 to 54: Oscar and teacher Marisa Lopes showing how to manipulate puppets for the
students of the sixth grade of Primary School EE. “Prof. Jorge Madureira” and students
exercising body expression with puppets
Source: Marisa´s personal collection

44
"With this project, we created plots about a cat, a mouse and a dog living adventures as
friends; for that, we used finger puppets to dramatize the story. We made stories about
bullying, using puppets stitched by a student's mother and a stage built with recyclable
material. We made puppets with cones on the subject of inclusion. We performed puppet
shows with everyday materials transformed into characters. We made milk box puppets from
songs. We also created puppets with recycled materials and developed plots about friendship
and respect. It was quite productive. As a form of evaluation, the students made reports to
register all this theatrical dynamics.
I was very happy with the result of this work, as I believe I have contributed to the critical
training of these children. After this deep experience in Puppetry, I can assure from my
observations that the practice of Art can provide:

• The awareness of the existence of various possibilities

• The exploration of new materials;
• The possibility of emotional expression;
• The discovery of the importance of social life, knowing oneself and others, fulfilling the
rules and obeying the combined ones;
• Nutrition of the aesthetic sense, critical thinking and the integral consciousness of being in
development;
• Increased self-esteem;
• Improvement in learning;
• The proposal of new perspectives on a given fact;
• The exercise of creative cognitive ability;
• The construction of images, texts, and performing objects;
• The imaginative ability to create beings, places and strange things;
• The appropriation of codes and languages for communication;
• The awakening of creative ability in proposing a new art;
• The development of a peaceful and harmonious relationship accepting differences.

III. Ethics workshop with puppetry

45
The time has come to plant a seed of ethics in teenagers at a public school in Sorocaba, São
Paulo, Brazil: E.E. "Júlio Prestes de Albuquerque", also known as Estadão. With these
students, we intend to put into practice our dream of improving the quality of education in
Brazil by teaching ethics. We held a first meeting on April 13, 2017 with Inês Sotto,
coordinator, Regina Matavelli, Reading Room teacher, and Paula Felice, NPE sociocultural
analyst, responsible for reading rooms in Sorocaba state schools. At this meeting, we
presented this project:

46
 ETHICAL PROJECT WITH PUPPETRY
STATE SCHOOL "JÚLIO PRESTES DE ALBUQUERQUE"

The Impossible Dream (The Quest)

Man of La Mancha

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear the unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not
go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too
weary
To reach the unreachable star!

This is my quest, to follow that

star
No matter how hopelesse, no
matter how far
To fight for the rights without
question or pause
To be willing to march to Hell
from a Heavenly cause!

And I know, if I'll only be truth

for this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peacefull
and calm when I'm laid to my
rest

47
 And the world will be better for
done
That one man scorned and
covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of
courage
To reach the unreachable stars! 21

If you want results in a year plant corn,

if you want results in ten years plant a tree,
if you want results in one hundred years, educate.
Confucius

Overall goal of the project

This project proposes to teach techniques of elaboration and manipulation of puppets as a
playful activity that allows, through an aesthetic experience, to create a script and its
characters, to interpret them and to present a play to classmates, in order to provoke in them
the reflection on ethical values.

Specific objectives of the project

Debates will be encouraged among the students, mediated by the teacher (s) guiding the
project. From these debates, the plays scripts will be constructed, focusing on the
development of critical thinking skills and competencies, such as questioning and dialoguing
with colleagues regarding the arguments of others.

Justification
The puppet theater stimulates and expands the creative potential; develops the imagination;
favors contact with others, being relevant as a socializing resource and a significant vehicle
for the appropriation and construction of different knowledges. It has also been shown as a
playful resource and important stimulus to reading and producing text during the teaching and
learning process. The appropriation of manipulation techniques and animation of puppets is
an important means for the development of creative work.

21 https://www.letras.mus.br/man-of-la-mancha/1353586/
48
The art of puppetry has proved to be a valuable strategy in education, in particular, in the
transmission of human values through the students' reflection on the personality of the
characters.

Methodology
The puppets will be constructed by the students with recycled materials. Everyone will help in
writing the scripts. The characters will be defined by their different personalities, actions and
attitudes. Several rehearsals will be neessary to be able to present the show to their colleagues.

Coordinators:
Oscar Goldszmidt, voluntary project author and director
Regina Matavelli, Reading Room teacher

Resources
The project has no cost, as only recyclable materials will be needed for the construction of the
puppets.

Activities
• Debates on ethical dilemmas;
• Exercises on manipulation and improvisations with puppets;
• Collective creation of the script of the plays;
• Collective creation of the characters;
• Construction of the puppets;
• Rehearsals and presentation of the show.

Schedule
The workshop will be held, initially, once a week, in the afternoon, at a time to be determined.
Project period: to be defined
Start: to be defined
Suggested presentation: October 2017

Target Audience
Students of other grades.

49
Casting
Students to be chosen jointly by the teacher Regina and the author of the project

Outcome of the project

As a result of the implementation of the project, it was possible to eliminate bullying in
Primary level in the school where it was worked, and the pupils significantly improved their
school performance.
This improvement of the cognitive by working with art, especially by Puppetry, is based on
the research of Professor PhD James Catterall of the University of California, who dedicated
many years to prove this relationship.
This experience suggests that it could be a simple, economical and playful way to improve the
Quality of our Education.

Project in Process

Once the project was approved, on April 26, 2017 we had the first meeting. Two groups of the
7th grade were formed, with students between 12 and 14 years old.
The director introduced himself and the students spoke their names and why they wanted to
learn how to work with puppets. Most wanted to amuse their little siblings. One student
reported that he had leukemia, of which he was already cured, and was hospitalized at the
Children's Cancer Hospital of Sorocaba. There was a doctor who cheered the children and
gave them hope with a puppet. He even left Little Red Riding Hood puppets and the
children played at night with them. This student had the dream of learning how to work with
puppets to go back to the hospital and make the children happy. After the workshop, he was
able to fulfill his dream and worked with the same doctor. Another student wanted to learn to
cheer the children of an orphanage.
In the second meeting, we taught the basic elements of puppet manipulation: forearm position,
puppet level and gaze. Each one placed a puppet (provided by the director) in his//her hand,
presenting it with its name and some characteristics of his personality. The students sat down
and placed their puppets in front of a rehearsal stage. The first notions were given so that each
one would make the head of his puppet with a styrofoam ball, small bottles of soft drinks or

50
yoghurt or simply by wrapping newspaper around the ring finger and forming a ball with
paper tape.
We started to give the first notions of morality and ethics. Three students asked very
vehemently to join the group and were accepted. In the third meeting, the pupils of the first
group performed standing, two by two, a scene in which a puppet was crying a lot because her
puppy had died, the other puppet came to comfort her. She would stop crying,
cheer up, hug and kiss the puppet, walking away hand in hand. After they finished, we
interpreted the scene for the students. The second group performed the same scene
Ethic dilemmas
Following the performance we had a debate on ethic dilemmas with the second group, after
three hours debating they didn´t wanted to leave the classroom!
We asked what moral principles are for. The students expressed their opinions, turning
clockwise, until they came to the conclusion that if we follow these principles we will have a
good life, we will be happy.
It was explained that, while moral rules allow life in society, ethics explains the philosophical
reasons why we have to have these rules. According to Mário Sérgio Cortella: "Ethics is the
conception of the principles that I choose, moral is its practice".22
We started debating ethic dilemmas presenting to the group the story of a teenager who
becomes pregnant, the boyfriend doesn´t assume and the parents reject her, a friend advises
her to make an abortion and she dies. We asked who was responsible for that death, and the
answers went deeper and deeper until they came to the conclusion that it was a lack of
education.
Three other ethical dilemmas were debated:
1. A group of tourists enter a cave and the sea enters and closes the exit. The first person
trying to get out is a pregnant woman, but she gets stuck at the exit.
Dilemma: Do they kill the pregnant woman stuck in the exit or they all die drowned?
All the students decided to die!

2. A teacher leaves a very expensive watch on her desk and leaves. The students leave the
room and only two friends are left: John and Peter. John picks up the watch. The teacher
comes back and asks about her watch. Nobody answers. The same happens with the director,
who decides to call the police, who also gets no answer. He decides that: either the watch
appears or everyone goes to jail until it will appear.
22 Mário Sérgio Cortella, brazilian phylosopher
51
Dilemma: Does Pedro denounce John or is he arrested with the rest?
Peter asks his father what to do and he answers: choose the lesser evil.
All the students voted to denounce John, except one, who did not want to betray his friend!

3. John and Mary are a couple who have two friends, Peter and Ralph. John asks Peter if he
knows if his wife is betraying him. Peter knows that Mary betrays him with Ralph.
Dilemma: Does he tell him or not?
Faced with the question: "Why are you here?" After stating at first that it was to prepare for a
job, the students finally came to the same conclusion: to be happy!
It was very gratifying to note that these teenagers were able to reason and deepen an issue and
arrive to a conclusion already in our third meeting. These students had already performed
puppet theater with Regina Matavelli, a Reading Room and Pupppeteer teacher with a family
tradition in Guaraciaba Circus. Her relationship with these students has helped to develop this
project. The Portuguese teacher, Zilda, commented that she was amazed to see how the
students involved in the Project improved in Portuguese during the school year. In this letter,
she assesses their progress in school performance throughout the project period:

52
Figure 55: Letter from prof. Zilda commenting her visit to the project
Source: personal collection
Translation of the letter
On May 31st we had the opportunity to go to the reading room and marvel at the lecture given
by Mr. Oscar who welcomed us with open arms. We had a very productive conversation
through the accounts of experiences lived by Mr. Oscar. The students became very involved
and felt free to express their opinions and feelings about the subject matter. We talked about
ethics and citizenship and the students learned a lot from the lecture that generated much
reflection for all of us. We marvel at the prescence and the work of Mr. Oscar, affectionately
53
called "Gepeto," that by means of an informal conversation transmitted much knowledge for
all. We can already see the difference and the improvement in the behavior of the students,
because they could perceive that the school environment can be a pleasant place when it
embraces such projects that encourage the creativity through the making of the puppets and
the students' interaction.
Thank you very much in advance
Teacher Zilda Aparecida Fonseca Ramos and students of 7º C

The workshop was intended to create an ethical awareness among students. The students told
anecdotes from their lives about how they believed in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny as
children. Several came from private schools and faced with the question of why this school,
"Estadão", was good for them, they said that they were better treated by teachers in the public
school than in private schools.

On May 24, the author was not able to participate due to a flu, but asked the students to do
improvisations. There were attended by the coordinator, Inês, and by a supervisor, who were
delighted with the shows.
In one play, a girl considers herself very handsome and intelligent. She invites her classmates
to a party. When they arrive, the girl turns away each one of them showing several prejudices.
The grandmother tells her that this is wrong and that she should ask forgiveness from each
one; they forgive her and make a new party. It is important to emphasize how they created a
script bringing ethical content, withbeginning, middle and end, with the conflict solved at the
end and with a very good manipulation for beginners.

54
Figure 57: students manipulating hand puppets
Source: Oscar´s personal collection
On May 31, we began to discuss what the script would be. One student reported her
experience with bullying. Her brother, a teenager is mentally disabled and is almost blind. At
the school he attended, he suffered bullying from the entire school. They called him BLIND!
One day he came back from school and told his mother that he could not take it anymore and
he did not want to go to school anymore. He got depressed and didn´t wanted to get out of
bed. His sister, our project participant, asked for a week's leave at school and kept talking to
him until he convinced him to go to a special school. Here were the ideas for the two shows. It
was decided collectively that the script of the first one would begin with a teacher who asks
the student: "How much is 2x2?" He thinks and replies: "5, teacher!" Everyone shouts:
"ASSHOLE!", ASSHOLE! And end up beating him. The next morning the mother wakes him
and he says to her, "Mother, I can´t take it anymore, I'm not going to school anymore" and
shouts looking at the audience: "WHY, WHY DO THEY DO THIS TO ME?"
The second group proposes to give the student who has suffered bullying a chance to recover.
The mother sends him to a psychologist who can persuade him to go back at the same school.
To the question of how much is 2x2, he answers proudly: "4!". The puppets who used to bully
him clap their hands. (During the show, the audience clapped as well). He ends up as a
55
psychologist and there is a graduation scene. The first patient to receive is the student who
was bullying him, with his daughter who is the victim of bullying at school. They recognize
each other, the aggressor apologizes and the three embrace. He says to the girl, "Now, believe
me, you will recover."
On June 14, we worked on the script and, during one class, there was a debate about ethical
dilemmas with the students of the first grade of High School. At the end, one student said,
"Teacher, we want to take an ethics lesson every week!"
On July 9, we had rehearsals of the two shows in the Noble Hall.
On August 23rd, we started by saying that we had only seven rehearsals until October 11, and
that we would have to make the most of that time. We insisted that the students feel what the
puppet should feel and put emotion into the scene. To do this, they needed to rehearse at home
and prepare the puppets made of yakult bottles, capping the letters with paper tape and gluing
wool in the bottom as hairstyle to move in the graduations scenes. We rehearsed for the first
time with a curtain two meters wide. The lower ones had trouble getting the puppet up over
the curtain. A girl knelt in a chair. Another sat on the back of a colleague! The voices very
low and lacked emotion. We did tests with several students for each character. We asked what
the purpose of the project was. I was led to exchange ideas until they came to the conclusion
that it was to show, first, the suffering of those who are attacked by bullying and then that the
psychologist's solidarity and forgiveness could generate hope for those who do bullying to
reflect and stop that aggression, which, in fact, happened. The bullied puppet created such an
impact on the audience that those who practiced verbal and physical aggression stopped.

After each rehearsal, we asked for constructive comments from the rest of the students. When
we talked about the sunset scene, we asked how many people had watched the sunset and two
students said they had never seen one! One student always had more creative ideas.

In the impromptu graduation speech, the bullied student thanks his family, friends, etc., and
the psychologist, who took him out of depression.
We shot several scenes. One of them, it was the pupil with the puppy, which was very good in
terms of handling and voices.

On September 13, we performed rehearsals of both shows. Prof. Zilda brought the first
scenographies, in the form of posters supported on one or two pieces of wood, with school,

56
house, park, and psychologist clinics made by students who did not participate in the show.
They performed the first complete rehearsal.
On September 20, we had a debate about the end of the second play: "Is it a dream that there
will be no more bullying?" It is interesting to note that at the end of the debate, the idea came
back and we asked: "Who wants to dream with me that the “Estadão” is going to be
Sorocaba's first school that will end bullying?" Most of them raised their hands.

On October 4, the last rehearsal took place in the Noble Hall of the school. We tested students
for the characters of aggressor and victim of the first play. The rehearsal of the second play
was excellent. One student brought the puppets sewn by her mother. It was defined that
Antônio Donato would film the plays and Pedro Garcia Moura would do the sound controls.

The show
On October 11, two students were missing and we had to rehearse other students for the
substitution. Antonio Donato filmed these rehearsals. Pedro Garcia Moura prepared the sound
design with his control desk, his amplifier sound box and our microphones. Result: the sound
was excellent!
The audience was formed by 7th grade students, and others from various other grades and
even high school.
In the first video, the student who is bullied and doesn´t want to go back to school looks at the
audience and asks, "Why, why do they do this to me?"
This phrase had a very strong impact on the audience of students, before the show there were
approximately fifteen complaints about bullying, a practice that stopped after the show. This
is the power of the puppet!
After the first show, there were lectures and debate on bullying by a third-year high school
student and myself.
After the lectures, the second show was presented, in which the same student recovers
supported by his mother, his colleagues, the teacher and the psychologist.
When we finished, I said that I had a dream to make our school the first state school in
Sorocaba to end bullying, and I asked who wanted to dream with me. Everyone raised their
hands, including those who practiced aggression and those who suffered, many of them with
tears in their eyes.
Show, October 11, 2017

57
7th B grade puppet theater
Title: "Why?"
Cast
Direction Oscar Goldszmidt (Gepeto)
Collective Script
Puppeteers
Teacher Kathleen - D. Lopes
Student suffering bullying Caio or 7º C
Student bullying Larissa - Kathleen Sandri
Supporting Choir
Lara Cristina
Nathany
Jamilly
Liam
Puppy Felipe Negretti

Mother Nicoly

Scenography Teacher Zilda Aparecida Fonseca Rosas and students

Teacher of the students Wania Leticia de Farias Reis

Teacher of the Reading Room Regina Matavelli

Sound design Pedro Garcia Moura

Filming Antônio Donato

Lectures and debate led by Arthur Vasconcellos and Oscar Goldszmidt

??(No) Rodape Video of the puppet shows

https://youtu.be/xuAelZhQqyg

These are posters made by students from other grades:

58
Figures 57 to 59: posters made by students from other grades
Source: Oscar´s personal collection
Note: Amplify the 3rd figure and you will see in the lower right hand corner a devil saying:
“Say yes to bullying!” While the Angel says: “Say No to bullying”.
59
 It is important to emphasize the effect on students of the process of learning to
manipulate puppets, to debate ethics and morals through ethical dilemmas, to create a
complete show with the choice and construction of a collective bullying script, to define the
ethical characteristics of the characters, to experience the aesthetic experience of interpreting
them and presenting the shows to their colleagues from other grades.
The fifteen students who were to participate in the project were selected by the
teacher of the Reading Room, Regina Matavelli, they were student readers and some of them,
had a little experience with puppet theater. The classroom was divided into groups of smarter
and weaker students, working in separate groups. Students now form a single, united group,
respecting differences, improving behavior, including and helping the weak, and applying
what they have learned about ethics.
There was a very gratifying case. One student made the best interpretation of the
character who was bullied. When we presented the videos to other students, we made an
interview with this student. The boy commented that when he had to feel the suffering of the
puppet, he himself stopped bullying and even "started paying attention in class". As pointed
out, the Portuguese teacher of the students of the second play, Zilda Aparecida Fonseca
Rosas, commented on the gradual evolution of her students throughout the process of creating
the show:

"The Puppet Theater Project had a fundamental importance in terms of creativity and
reflection on the importance of respecting differences and the diferente ones, contributing to
a greater participation of students in oral and written activities and especially in school
performance”.

There was more participation, improved concentration; in the oral part, one student
came to help complete the idea of another. There was also improvement in other subjects,
according to the coordinator, Inês Sotto.
Reflecting on the project process, we can interpretet of it as an elementary Action Research in
Education, since we can define this type of research as: You need to diagnose the situation,
create and develop a strategic work, evaluate it, analyze and understand the consequences of
the action taken.
Bullying was diagnosed, chosen the strategy of teaching ethics through a puppet
theater conducted by the students. Two shows were produced and the efficiency of the action

60
evaluated. According to the report of the Portuguese teacher, Zilda Aparecida Fonseca Rosas,
responsible for the students of the second play, "The Overcoming", we can accept that an
action research was carried out.
This research was conducted only in one school, but it corroborates the results of
James Catterall's studies on the influence of practicing an art for cognitive development. We
hope this experience will inspire educators to conduct similar workshops in their schools.

CONCLUSION
There are several sources that guided our project. Among them, we highlight the
remarkable research of James Catterall, Professor of the University of California. In his thesis
"Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive
Involvement in Music and Theater Arts", this author, along with to Richard Chapleau and
John Iwanaga, states that:

[...]Furthermore, differences in math proficiency among students

actively involved with instrumental music versus uninvolved students
have grown significantly over time. The continued involvement of
students in the performing arts, performing in plays and musicals,
participating in drama clubs and courses, is associated with a variety
of developments for these young people: gains in proficiency in
reading, self-esteem, and motivation and higher levels of empathy and
tolerance for others. Our performing arts
analisys were conducted only for low-income youth (SES refers to the
socioeconomic standard as a measure of the level of family education,
income and type of work of the parents). Our presumption would be
that the most favored young people attending more qualified schools
would be more likely to engage in theater because of their parents'
ability to offer opportunities to participate in both private and
community theater events.

Sandra Ruppert et al. declare that: In the late 1990s, James Catterall and colleagues
analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Educational Survey (NELS: 88), a study of
about 25,000 high school students over four years and found significant connections between
a high involvement in artistic learning and academic success in general. In 2009, Catterall
analyzed 10 additional years of data related to the same group of students, now 26 years old.
The results, presented in "Doing Well and Doing Good with Art," strongly connect arts
learning with overall academic success and professional achievement.

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 Catterall gives much importance to the cognitive aspect, establishing a rational
cause-effect relationship between the practice of an art and intellectual development. But
there is a subjective aspect that, from our experience, deserves a reflection. In the workshop
that we discussed in this paper, we experienced a very significant experience. One of the
participants in the puppet theater workshop interpreted the character suffering bullying. When
we presented the videos to other grades, we had an interview with that student. He
commented that when he had to feel the suffering of the puppet, he himself stopped practicing
bullying and even "started paying attention in class."
"I stopped bullying.". This sentence is paradigmatic because it shows how puppet
theater, as an artistic intervention, moves and produces a change in the student. He transmits
to the puppet his suffering and feels empathy for him, undergoes a subjective change, and
stops bullying.
"And I even started to pay attention in class." On the other hand, this phrase shows
us that the puppet theater performed in this way can become a mean to motivate the student in
his her desire to learn. Being an activity that can be developed with minimal investment,
training teachers and working with recyclable material, we hope that this technique can be
replicated in other schools, improving the quality of our education. This experience can be
reproduced following the information in this Blog. Results will depend on, among other
things, the student's personal bond with the teacher and the educator's ability to "spark an
emotion in the student."
This Blog reports an experience that worked, provides general information to guide
teachers, but leaves them free to use their creativity and their possibilities to encourage their
students to express their feelings, their expectations, their needs, their dreams, feeling the
pleasure of giving life to the puppet and having a reason to go to school with joy.

Bibliography

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the mind and heart. Edited by Matthew Bernier and Judith O’Hare. Available at Amazon.com:
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CARPENTER, Michael; D’ANTONA, Robin. Bullying Solutions: Learn to Overcome from

Real Case Studies. New York: Barron’s, 2014.

CATTERALL, James S.; CHAPLEAU, Richard; IWANAGA, John. Involvement in the Arts
and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement In Music and
Theatre Arts. Graduate School of Education & Information Studies University of California at
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ROGOZINSKI, Viviana. Títeres en la Escuela - expresión, juego y comunicación, Puppets in

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