Puppetry, pantomime and clowning around

Teaching Pre K-8, Mar 2002 by Elliot, Ian, Hurley, Nancy

This Blue Ribbon middle school in Southern California offers electives in theater, journalism and leadership

Many schools have something special to offer that sets them apart from other schools. In some, it's heavy involvement in the community; in others, it's technology everywhere you look. Whatever, you know the school with the extra something is exploring new dimensions for education.

Diegueno Middle School in Encinitas, CA, is no exception when it comes to exploring new dimensions. However, it's not the Internet or community involvement that sets the school apart; rather, it's the electives it offers its seventh and eight graders.

And if you think "electives" means a choice of art or music or perhaps a foreign language - think again. Electives, Diegueno Middle School-style, include a number of far-out courses that would feel right at home in a community college curriculum. Talk about preparing kids for the real world!

Eclectic electives. Here's what Principal Marilyn Pugh has to say about the electives taught at her school:

"We offer Spanish, computers, music, art, drama which includes puppetry and clowning - leadership, journalism and computer lab; the kids like using technology.

"We have a video production class, where the kids are integrating film and computers. They're trying to do a video yearbook, which is great," she said. "We also have a cartooning class that's an elective. I had 164 sign-ups for cartooning. We currently have one section of choir and one section of band, which has about 90 members."

Lucky kids, with all those elegant electives to choose from. There's a catch, however: No matter how many electives kids would like to take, they can take only one.

"There are five core classes students have to take English, history, math, science and physical education," according to Marilyn, now in her fourth year as principal of Diegueno. "There's room for only one elective in middle school. If students take Spanish, they can't take anything else, so that's tough."

Academic awards. This insistence on the importance of the middle school years is a sure tip-off that life at Diegueno is not all cartoons and clowning.

Need proof? The school can point to several academic awards it has received in recent years. In 1999, for example, it was named a California Distinguished School and, in 2000, it was nationally honored as a Blue Ribbon School for the second time.

Also, Diegueno has gone in for technology in a big way. It currently has two computer labs -one for the elective program and one for teachers who can sign up for Internet research with their students. It also has a media center with 10 computers. The school is ordering more computers, so that by the end of the school year, it will have 36 computers in the media center, plus books and a third computer lab for its 1,011 students.

Fun and learning. One reason why Dieguefio stu- dents are enthusiastic about the electives they take is that the classes are fun. Nancy Hurley's Introduction to Theater class is a shining example.

A classroom teacher for over 20 years, Nancy has been teaching theater at Diegueno for the past three years. When Teaching K-8 visited her last fall, she was teaching four theater classes and one English class.

The format of each semester-long theater class is varied. Nancy starts with basic stage movement, so the students will know how to move on stage. She also does a voice unit, which becomes very important when the students get to puppetry and must work behind a curtain. Next, the students move into pantomime and then into puppetry. (For a step-by-step explanation of how Nancy teaches this unit, see "Puppetry for Middle Schoolers" on page 47.)

Pre-pantomime. "Before I do pantomime, I do a week of what I call pre-pantomime. We do all kinds of observation, concentration games and sensory recall.

I use two big boxes and put about 15 small objects in each box and cover them. I divide the students into two groups - one for each box. Once I take the covers off, I give the kids 15 seconds to look at the objects and remember them. They then go back to their seats and write down as many objects as they can remember."

The kids play other games during pre-pantomime week. The games vary in format, but they're all about three things: observation, concentration and cooperation.

Following game week, the students must perform a character pantomime. They have to come up with some kind of situation involving two characters in a conflict of some kind. One thing character pantomime teaches middle schoolers, Nancy believes, is that conflicts do not have to devolve into a physical fight.

The unit's final project is a solo pantomime performed to music. According to Nancy, this is an ideal opportunity for the students to create an interesting story with instrumental music as the inspiration.

A class of clowns. Several years ago, Nancy met an elementary school teacher who created a unit on clowns. She invited Nancy to watch her students do their clown acts.

"I thought this would really work in junior high." Nancy said. "Last year was the first time I did it. The students have to come up with a clown name, a clown costume and a short clown act. They can have a partner if they wish."