Puppets+and+Storytime

In [|this School Library Journal article]  by Renea Arnold and Nell Colburn, the authors offer information on how puppets help children develop early literacy skills - both when used in storytime and when the children are allowed to play with puppets on their own and with their parents and caregivers.  First and foremost, though, puppets are FUN and help grow a love of books and stories!

A puppet sharing a story enchants a preschool crowd every time. Here’s a talking point to share with the director: “Young children who get excited about books and stories are motivated to learn to read. Research shows that **motivation** is absolutely essential because learning to read is hard work . The motivation has to be there. Puppets are star motivators.  Whenever they are on the scene, it’s all pure fun and children want more of it.”

Then there’s **narrative skills **. What do puppets do best? They tell stories. When early literacy specialists discuss narrative skills, they never fail to mention the value of “pretend play,” “acting out the story,” or “encouraging the child to be the storyteller.” What better way to understand sequencing , an important reading skill, than to put a story together? The physical presence of puppets helps children remember what happens, and in what order, in a story. Children learn about <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">prediction <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">when they wait breathlessly as a puppeteer builds up suspense, preparing for the next puppet to pop out of a bag. Librarians can get young children off to a good start by helping them use puppets to retell a story they’ve just read. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">When we point out that the puppets will act out the story from the book, we emphasize the early literacy skill <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">print awareness <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">All of this naturally leads to **<span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">vocabulary development **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">, another early literacy building block. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"> Words emerge almost magically, even from usually reticent children, once they have a puppet in their hands.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">So there’s the opportunity to add **<span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">phonological awareness **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"> to the puppets’ bag of early literacy tricks. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"> Who wouldn’t want to sing a fun new song along with a cool puppet? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">And that leaves just one of the major early literacy skills— **<span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">letter knowledge **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">**.**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">five practices that support early literacy skills: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing with children. Puppets <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">talk <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"> and <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">sing <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">; we <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">read <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"> to learn stories for the puppets to tell; and of course, all of this is imaginative <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">play <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">. It’s easy to think of ways to add <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">writing <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">to this repertoire: writing down words for the puppets to say or <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">writing <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;"> an invitation to a puppet play. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">We’ll defer to <span class="ital1" style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">Sesame Street <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-left;">’s Bert and Ernie on that one.

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