Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | January 27, 2011

Five Little Monkeys Song with Finger Puppets

www.gogogenius.com

 

Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree Song For Children

Five little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Crocodile “you can’t catch me”
along came Mr. Crocodile quiet as can be and SNAP!!

Four little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Crocodile “you can’t catch me”
along came Mr. Crocodile quiet as can be and SNAP!!

Three little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Crocodile “you can’t catch me”
along came Mr. Crocodile quiet as can be and SNAP!!

Two little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Crocodile “you can’t catch me”
along came Mr. Crocodile quiet as can be and SNAP!!

One little monkeys swinging in the tree
teasing Mr. Crocodile “you can’t catch me”
along came Mr. Crocodile quiet as can be and SNAP!!

No more monkeys swinging in the tree!

Miranda’s Interpretation /Translation in Italian – dedicated to any bilingual parents out there:-)

Cinque Scimmiette si Dondolano Sull’Albero Canzone Per Bambini

Cinque scimmiette si dondolano sull’albero
prendono in giro il Mr. Coccodrillo
”Tanto non ci prendi! Tanto non ci prendi!”
Ecco che si avvicina Mr. Coccodrillo,  e piano, piano ….SNAP!!

Quattro scimmiette si dondolano sull’albero
prendono in giro il Mr. Coccodrillo
”Tanto non ci prendi! Tanto non ci prendi!”
Ecco che si avvicina Mr. Coccodrillo,  e piano, piano ….SNAP!!

Tre scimmiette si dondolano sull’albero
prendono in giro il Mr. Coccodrillo
”Tanto non ci prendi! Tanto non ci prendi!”
Ecco che si avvicina Mr. Coccodrillo,  e piano, piano ….SNAP!!

Due scimmiette si dondolano sull’albero
prendono in giro il Mr. Coccodrillo
”Tanto non ci prendi! Tanto non ci prendi!”
Ecco che si avvicina Mr. Coccodrillo,  e piano, piano ….SNAP!!

Una scimmietta si dondola sull’albero
prendono in giro il Mr. Coccodrillo
”Tanto non ci prendi! Tanto non ci prendi!”
Ecco che si avvicina Mr. Coccodrillo,  e piano, piano ….SNAP!!

Nessuna scimmietta si dondola sull’albero

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Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 30, 2010

How to Make a Shadow Puppet Theatre

 How to Make a Simple Shadow Puppet Theatre

View Make a simple shadow puppet theatre 

Today I have been preparing my first ever “Shadow Puppet Play” which I will perform with my class on Wednesday.

Shadow puppetry is a form of puppetry, in which you move puppets, cut out of paper, between a light source and a screen. The audience on the other side of the screen only sees the shadows. It is great for storytelling, a lot of fun to prepare and children love it. You can make it as ambitious as you like with moving body parts and different props and scenes.

Having very little previous experience with shadow puppets  I decided to keep it simple, play safe and chose a well known fairy tale…”Little Red Riding Hood”.

I am no great artist and I rely heavily on stencils from the internet for masks, paper puppets, flashcards etc. Today I came across a great website www.hvanrossum.com which really helped me out for stencils and how to stage a puppet play for young children. “Heleen Van Rossum“ will give you step by step advice on how to approach your first performance.

I recently purchased a cardboard puppet theatre from IKEA for about $7 which is simple to put up and very practical for transporting around as it folds flat. In the photos you can see I simply attached ,with masking tape, a piece of paper table cloth (just as Heleen van Rossum suggests) and I’m happy to go.

Start out by narrating the story slowly  animating your voice and using the puppets. (I suggest practice a few times at home in front of a mirror).You can stop during or at the end of each scene and ask the children what they understand. Don’t let the play last for more than 7 mins (keep it short and sweetJ)

Now invite the children to come “behind the scenes” and be the puppeteers themselves as you retell the story again.

To finish, prepare a simple shadow puppet character template (with little detail ) to give to each child and let them cut out and make their own.

Happy teaching

Miranda

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Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 29, 2010

Rusty the Puppet Tourist Tuscany

There are so many ways in which our character puppets can be used in education, whether it be teaching English , Maths or Science. A puppet brings instant joy and motivation to both young and old. Here we continue with Rusty the Puppet touring Italy introducing us to the wonders of Florence.

rusty_2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Here I am with my friend Thomas outside the Church Santa Maria Novella in the Centre of Florence, Italy . It’s all made of marble and is an important Gothic church in Tuscany. It was built between 1279 and 1357 …Wowww, that’s old! “

IMG_1657

“Hi, here I am outside the "Duomo"  cathedral in Florence, It’s  true name is "Santa Maria del Fiore" or "Our Lady of the Flower." It took nearly 140 years to build and was designed by  Filippo Brunelleschi , Amazing, isn’t it? Along with St Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London, the “Duomo” is considered the largest Christian Church in the world”

IMG_1658

“This is a replica of the “David” statue outside the Duomo. It is 5.17 metres high and was sculpted by the famous artist Michelangelo. It took 3 years to build and was made out of a marble block . It represents the Biblical hero David . He is very strong and dominating (bit like myself :-) ) and symbolized Florentine freedom.”

IMG_1662

“Great fresco inside the Duomo. I would have liked to have gone up to look closer but there’s no lift and Thomas refused to give me a piggy back. Oh well another time… Enough of culture  for the moment , is it pizza lunch time yet? :-) )”

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Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 18, 2010

Rusty in Tuscany. Substitute the teacher… with a puppet!

 

Hi I’m Rusty the Puppet. I’m from England and at the moment I’m visiting my friend Thomas in Florence, Italy. Thomas is bilingual which is a good job as my Italian is not up to scratch. The other day he took me on the new Tram to the centre of Florence where we visited Piazza Santa Maria Novella. In the background you can see the Duomo, Florence’s largest Cathedral… WOWWW ..it’s nearly as big as my mouth!.

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Posted in drama games, ESL-Drama- games, Puppets, puppets in education, Teaching tips, Uncategorized

Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 11, 2010

How to teach English when you don’t know a word!

Would you like to teach your children English even if you can’t speak it well yourself?

starfall

I use this fun interactive “learning to read site” with my bilingual Italo/English 6 year old. He speaks and comprehends English well but like many bilingual children his reading and writing skills are behind. Starfall is fun as it uses phonics, stories and plays to teach and motivate children to read aloud. For non-English speaking parents or teachers you can easily follow the simple stories yourselves and click on words to reveal their correct pronunciation. My son particularly enjoys clicking on unsure words using “Mr Mouse”. (also useful hand eye coordination and early computer skills :-) )

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Posted in ESL-Drama- games, Teach Children English, Teaching tips, Uncategorized | Tags: , ,

Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 10, 2010

Ricky (the puppet) Explores Antarctica

Antarticapuppet

Puppets can share joy or sadness; they can be naughty or good, cheeky or shy; and when a child is engaged by a puppet they can learn lessons and absorb messages without even realising they are.

For perfect example check out  http://antarcticapuppet.primaryblogger.co.uk/ .
A fabulous blog about how Ricky (the puppet) investigates science in the real world and “Explores Antarctica”.
www.puppetsproject.com  provide many ideas for science projects using puppets

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Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 9, 2010

Using ESL Drama with There was an old lady who swallowed a fly

There Was an Old lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Role-play

imageThis well-known rhyme lends itself well to using some really creative and interactive drama activities with children. It is also a great input for young ESL learners as there is a lot of repetition in it. Even though young children may only be able to join in on the first line introducing each animal, the repetition helps build memory and fluency.

Teacher Role play

1.      To introduce the story you could simply adapt a kitchen apron sewing/gluing or stapling on a transparent front pocket to represent the old lady’s tummy. You could then cut out and color the story animals and laminate them (so they can be used for future lessons!).

                                                                                   

2.       For extra fun add a surprise element , before your class arrives, dress yourself up as the old lady using a wig or head scarf , pair of eye glasses, walking stick and your apron of course!

 

3.      As the children walk into class you can delight them with your “old lady” saying things like “I’m hungry, I’m very very hungry- have you got something to eat?” Check down children’s jumpers, in their pockets, in their ears!!! Children love it!. Don’t forget to exaggerate with your character using a squeaky voice, limp and aching back!!

 

4.      Sit the children in a circle on the floor and set the animal flashcards in front of them. Start telling the story using lots of mime and animation as  you introduce the animals encourage the children to indicate the correct one before you swallow it loudly and put it in your transparent tummy!!

 

5.     For fun you could dress the children up  and get them walking and talking as if they were 100 years old! Or imagine how it would feel to have a spider wriggling inside!!  

 

6.      You could also provide them with their own zip-lock bags and get them to make their own animals to put inside. Repeat the story again with everyone acting as the “old lady “this time and choosing the correct animal to eat.

 Here is a great animated version of the story.

 

The following shadow puppet play that I found on youtube may give you some creative ideas on how to stage the story

More details on how to create your own shadow puppets coming soon

 

 

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Posted in Roleplays, Stories | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 8, 2010

Have no fear! Puppets are positive creatures that bring about positive responses.

We are extremely happy to finally go live with our new website GoGoGenius

gogogenius_home

My husband and I decided to set up GoGoGenius as we wanted to create a special place where parents, teachers and educators could find products, tips and suggestions to help their children learn English through fun and creativity .

We are based in Florence, Italy, and we sell puppets and educational products primarily, but not exclusively, dedicated to teaching English, using fun, unconventional methods and theatre techniques.

Over the next few weeks we will be adding many more products and resources and we would love to receive any feedback from you.

Check out our puppet range as I believe they are a fantastic resource for any parent or teacher for use in educational activities such as storytelling, phonics, mathematics, and foreign language teaching.

As an English teacher, I use puppets in class on a regular basis because I have seen for myself that they work very successfully . Puppets are positive creatures that bring about positive responses. They fascinate and engage both children and adults in a special way. They capture a child’s attention and make learning fun!

Many educators shy away from using puppets not knowing really what to do with them apart from using them as a simple “doll”.

Fear not!!!!!!

I will try and give you some fundamental puppet tips and convey to you what wonderful teaching tools they really are.

Stay tuned!! Miranda’s back!!!

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Posted in ESL-Drama- games, Puppets, Teaching tips | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 10, 2009

The object game

The object game

Many traditional drama games for adults can be easily adapted for teaching children English. The following game is simple and great fun and all my students adore it! It encourages team work , self expression, independence, and quick thinking. Suitable from ages 5 upwards.

Call out the name of an object and all the group has to make the shape of that object out of their own bodies, joining together in different ways while you count down slowly from ten to zero. Usually the group will find a different way of forming the object. Examples could be: a car, a number, a letter, a clock, a washing machine, a fire, a happy machine, a sausage machine. Encourage the children to make a sound to accompany their machine or object. One of my children’s favorites is a birthday cake. Some children act as candles we sing Happy Birthday and I blow out the giant “body” candles and the children fall to the ground. Great fun and makes the language memorable.

(A peacock created in ten seconds )

peacock

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Posted by: Miranda Flynn Legge | November 4, 2009

Teaching colors with 2 year olds

Colored buttons 

You can use anything “multi colored”you like for this game — buttons, crayons, colored balls, colored pom poms. Have available a container to match each color button you have. Sit on the floor and pour out the colored buttons and invite your toddler to pick up all the “red buttons” she can find and put them in the appropriate container.Then pick up together all the “green” buttons and put also those in the appropriate container. Make sure that you continue to repeat “where’s the green button” Ahh there’s the green one”  “Fantastic , you found a green button” etc. Remember lots of praise!

A simple but very motivating game.

 

 

You can then evolve the game by giving your toddler a small pile of buttons and asking  “him to share them out — ‘one for you, one for me’ — onto some small  plates. Invite your partner, a little friend or his favorite teddy to join in, too, so he can practice sharing things out three ways. Your toddler will love being in charge — and this game will help introduce him to numbers as well.” Check out http://www.babycentre.co.uk/toddler/development/stimulating/gamestwoyearold/ to develop more games.

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