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Chinese Art
Teacher's Resource
Lesson Plan: Chinese Folktales, Poetry & Music
Lessons submitted by: Patti Burkhardt
Shadow Puppets
Grades
3-5
Sunshine State Standards: VAA121, VAA122, VAA123, VAA124, VAB121,
VAB122, VAB123, VAB124, VAC121, VAC122
Goal:
This activity will ready Grades 3-5 students for their visit to the
Naples Art Museum where the Gow
Collection will be explored. There are related lessons for Grades
PreK-2 and Grades 6-12. Another lesson
is also provided for an on-site tour of the museum.
Background Information:
The ancient Chinese invented paper, gunpowder, matches, the compass,
a seismograph to measure earthquakes, the umbrella, and more! They created
profound philosophies, gorgeous art, and great legends. Even their money
was neat. Coins had a hole in their center. There were not any banks,
so people stored and kept their coins by running a string through the
center. A thousand coins strung together was called a string of money.
The Chinese culture also developed a rich musical orchestra.
Ancient China covers
11,000 years of history divided into big blocks
of time called dynasties.
Objective:
Students will collaboratively work in small groups on interpreting a
particular Chinese story through the use of shadow puppets that they
have individually created.
Background Information:
Chinese puppetry comes in three forms: the marionette theatre, the shadow
theatre, and the glove theatre. Of the three, marionette theatre has
the longest history and has spread the farthest. As early as the Sung
Dynasty in the tenth century A.D., the marionette theatre and shadow
puppet theatre were already highly developed. In fact, other types of
Chinese theatre had yet to develop. Subsequently, puppetry had an important
impact on the development of other types of Chinese theatre. Puppetry
in China has been considered a performing art of immense appeal rather
than a casual amusement or child's game.
Shadow puppetry
is based on the penetration of light through a translucent screen or
sheet of cloth; the shadows seen by the audience are silhouettes. Traditionally,
the 8-12 inch puppets, scenery, and props such as furniture, pagodas,
halls, and plants are made from leather.
Chinese shadow
puppetry is an ancient art form. It has flourished because it has a
simple format (a portable screen and light source) and has been accessible
to large numbers of people. It is a unique expression that gives insights
into the stories and traditions of Chinese culture. http://library.thinkquest.org
Here are the Seven
Chinese stories:
Note:
'The Journey of Meng" and "Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Story"
both have violent endings. Use at your own discretion.
Materials:
student copies of Chinese stories, oaktag, pencils, scissors, sticks
and/or plastic straws, tape, twistees, small brass fasteners (brads),
a sheet, flashlight
Teacher Preparation:
Make several examples of shadow puppets ahead of time. Provide additional
resources which depict the clothing, hairstyles, etc. of the ancient
Chinese and use traditional Chinese music for background music.
Vocabulary:
Activity Description:
- Students will
be read the seven story summaries and then divided into small groups
to work collaboratively on a particular ancient Chinese story. The
group will decide on the number of puppets necessary for the puppet
play. All the students should make their own puppet. If difficulties
arise in deciding who will make a particular character for the play,
have the students use the ancient Chinese game of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'
to decide.
- Students make
their shadow puppets.
- Students rehearse
with narrator.
- Students take
turns performing their group shadow puppet play with background music.
NOTE:
When making puppets with movable arms, the body and arms need to have
their own sticks, which are attached with twistees. The body stick should
be attached vertically with two twistees along the center of the puppet
body with two pairs of holes which are 1-2 inches apart vertically.
The arms only require one pair of holes and one twistee.
Suggested Resources:
A How-To for Making
Shadow Puppets: http://www.worldbook.com/fun/wbla/camp/html/craftpup.html
Chinese Shadow
Puppets, A Standards-based Unit for Fourth Through Eighth Graders:
http://www.uvm.edu/~outreach/units/ChineseShadowPuppetUS.html#Unit
Overview
Basic Shadow Puppet
Design:
Crafts of Many Cultures, Aurelia Gomez, Scholastic, 1992, pp.66-67.
Assessment of
Effort / Perseverance
Rubric
- 4- The
project was continued until it was as complete as the student could
make it; the student gave effort far beyond that required; the student
took pride in going well beyond the requirement.
- 3- The
student worked hard and completed the project, but with a little more
effort it might have been outstanding.
- 2- The
student finished the project, but it could have been improved with
more effort; there was adequate interpretation of the assignment,
but the student neglected the finishing touches; or the student chose
an easy project and did it indifferently.
- 1- The
project was mostly completed with a few loose ends left off; the student
displayed minimum involvement and lackadaisical effort.
- 0- The
student did not adequately finish major portions of the work.
(Here are
related lessons for Grades PreK-2 and Grades
6-12.)
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