Date: Fri 04-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-Sandy-Hook-puppets

Full Text:

Fairy Tales Inspire

First Grade Puppeteers

Janine Dubois was narrator for the Thursday performance.

Taking a bow: From left, Kevin Spieker, Daniel Warner-Crouch, Jackie Hornak,

Melisa Fracker, Bobby Carlson, Jessica Schwerdtle, Chuck Brooks and Ryan

Pineau.

From behind the scenery, Bobby Carlson (left), Melissa Fracker and Chuck

Brooks worked the puppets and spoke their lines, while adding sound effects

when necessary.

An appreciative audience of parents and siblings enjoyed Thursday's show.

-Bee Photo, Evans

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

While studying fairy tales during the month of March, Sandy Hook first grade

teacher Kris Feda and her students discovered that their favorite stories

often began with the familiar phrases, "Once Upon A Time" or "Long Ago In A

Kingdom Far Away."

They might have noted, as well, that the opening scene of the movie "Star

Wars" begins in a similar manner - with introductory sentences scrolling out

of a star-filled universe as though from the pages of a book.

"A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away"... these are potent words,

indeed, to lure young and old into worlds of fantasy and imagination.

"We found other things that fairy tales had in common," Mrs Feda said as she

spoke to an audience of parents visiting her classroom on Thursday morning,

March 27.

"Fairy tales may include royalty, the number three, magic and the wolf as a

bad character," she said.

After listing common fairy tale elements, Mrs Feda said she and the children

had the idea of creating a class puppet show using puppets the children might

bring in from home.

The result was their class puppet show titled, "The Tricky Wolf of Gold

Meadow."

The children made story maps and Mrs Feda wrote the play, which had all the

right fairy tale ingredients. There was a narrator, a frog that needed to be

kissed before turning into a prince, a wise old owl, an unusually acrobatic

turtle, a flighty ladybug, a pretty good bunny and a very bad wolf.

The children made the scenery themselves and their families supplied a

mid-morning brunch to follow the show.

The class gave two performances on Wednesday and Thursday with a different

cast for each day so everyone could have a chance "on stage."