Center for Puppetry Arts
AFRICA
AFRICAN ROD PUPPET- each student will need the following materials for the puppet:
• 1 paper towel tube
• 1 sheet of colored tissue paper (craft tissue or gift tissue, approx. 15”X 20”) • 2 craft sticks (popsicle sticks) (for arms)
• 1 head *(template is in 2 pieces) *** colored file folders are ideal!!!**** • 2 hands *(template)
•
1 nose *(template)
•
2 eyes (template)
•
hair (template)
• scissors, glue, scotch tape
• *assortment of “scrap” construction paper (for facial features & decoration)
Instructions
: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!!!1 Prior to the program, trace head, hand, and nose templates onto colored file folders (you can use any color, but any shade of blue and green is ideal), then cut out.
2 Trace eyes and hair onto black or brown construction paper.
3 Bring pre-cut templates and all other supplies to the program with you.
4 Arrive at least 10 minutes early to the program in order to pass out materials. Pass out all templates and materials to the students before the program begins. Students will need 8 pieces of tape about the size of a large band-aid. It is helpful if you stick the 8 pieces of tape to the edge of the table in front of each student BEFORE the program begins.
5 Wait for the program to begin. Students will be led through all puppet building steps and learning activities.
Templates:
Head template, Piece #1
H
Eye Template
Activity 1: MAP EXERCISE
QCC’s explored: Meets various social studies/map skills.
Have you ever tried peeling an orange and making the peel lie flat? There is no way you can do this without breaking the
peel. To flatten out a world map, mapmakers may divide the land into pieces, rather like the segments of an orange.
In this activity, a class will break up into seven groups, representing the seven continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica). Taking turns, each group should take a few pieces of tracing paper and pencils up to the classroom globe. Holding the globe steady, each group should trace around the shapes of the large land areas in their designated continent.
On the classroom wall or bulletin board, students should tape the pieces of tracing paper together to make a flat map of
the world. Call on students to walk up to the map and label the seven continents, four hemispheres, and four oceans. Did
you know that Africa itself is a continent? Which oceans touch Africa?
Activity 2: FOLKTALE ENACTMENT
QCC’s explored: Meets oral and written communication skills in language arts; meets fine art skills in theater/performing arts.
Choose two African folktales and read them out loud to the class. (These may be selected from the bibliography at the end of this study guide.) Discuss these stories in class and decide the‘”messages”’ they have in common. Write these on the chalkboard. Students can then vote on their favorite story. Put on a puppet show enacting this story using the rod puppets that were constructed during the program!
Activity 3: RESEARCH SKILLS
QCC’s explored: meets various language arts skills in written communication/research skills; multiculturalism. Below is a list of African countries, divided into alphabetic categories. Teachers should
alphabetically “scramble” each category. After dividing students into four groups, give a scrambled section to each group. In a timed situation, each group must alphabetize the countries on their list. As a research assignment, each student should choose a country from his or her alphabetized list. Students should then write a one-page paper about this chosen African country. Students should choose three of the five following topics to cover: arts & crafts, food, environment, customs, natural resources.
SECTION 1:
SECTION 2:
Algeria
Egypt
Angola
Equitorial Guinea
Benin
Eritrea
Botswana
Ethiopia
Burkina Faso
Gambia
Burundi
Gabon
Cameroon
Ghana
Cape Verde
Guinea
Central African Republic
Guineau-Bissau
Chad
Ivory Coast
Comoros
Kenya
Congo
Djibouti
1-North America 5-Asia
2-South America 6-Australia
3- Africa 7-Antarctica
4-Europe
SECTION 3:
SECTION 4:
Lesotho
Sao Tome & Principe
Liberia
Senegal
Libya
Seychelles
Madagascar
Sierra Leone
Malawi
Somalia
Mali
S.Africa
Mauritania
Sudan
Mauritius
Swaziland
Morocco
Tanzania
Mozambique
Togo
Nambia
Tunisia
Niger
Uganda
Nigeria
W.Sahara
Rwanda
Zaire
Zambia
Zimbabwe
*http://www.afroam.org/children.html Websites To Explore:
Explore a 2nd grade report on Africa. This website is full of really good, basic information. Mali is one of the highlighted countries.
http://www.agate.net/~dresden/mappage.htm
Go to the “On the Line” webpage and click on Ghana, Mali, or Burkina Faso to find great information on each of these countries. You can find about about daily life, food, arts, etc. Great photos!
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/ontheline/index.html
A professor from Clemson University put together a web site entitled “Images of Daily Life in Morocco”. These are great photos to look at and have students compare Moroccan life to their own.
http://www-geoimages.berkeley.edu/GeoImages/Miller/millerone.html
Learn about animals from Kenya at this website.
http://www.kenyabeasts.org.uk/main.htm
Bibliography:
Capaldi,Gina. Africa: Customs,Cultures,Legends & Lore. Torrance, CA.: Good Apple Publishing,1997. Jeffries,David. Multicultural Folk Tales. Huntington Beach, CA: Teacher Created Materials, Inc.,1992. *The proceeding bibliography was compiled from the Barnes & Noble website,
<barnesandnoble.com.>. Some of the publishing information has been abbreviated. Ayo,Moller & Dawn. Africa. Random house Inc.,1995.
Reader,John. Africa: A Biography of The Continent. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1998. Sandler,Dillon L & Diller D. The African Cookbook. Carol Publishing Group, 1993. Willet,Frank. African Art: An Introduction. Thames & Hudson, 1993.
The Rich Foundation • The Goizueta Foundation The Atlanta Foundation • The Jim Cox, Jr. Foundation
Equifax Inc. • Junior League of Atlanta
The Ray M. and Mary Elizabeth Lee Foundation • The Livingston Foundation • The Pitulloch Foundation • The Gary W. and Ruth M. Rollins Foundation • The Gertrude and William C. Wardlaw Fund Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation • Mary Alice & Bennett Brown
Foundation
