Teachers to use puppets in govt schools of Tamil Nadu
Teachers in more than 35,000 government primary and middle schools will be trained to design puppets and also on how to tell stories using them.
Chennai: In about a month, teachers from government primary and middle schools will be using puppets to teach all subjects and impart values among students in primary classes.
Teachers in more than 35,000 government primary and middle schools will be trained to design puppets and also on how to tell stories using them.
“The teachers will get training to make 12 different puppets including finger puppet, shadow puppet, string puppet, stick puppet, skin puppet and glow puppets,” said D. Suganthy Daisy Rani, state level trainer, puppetry and headmistress, T.E.L.C. Primary School, Tiruchy.
“Teachers will also get training on how to use the puppets to teach subjects. For example, they can teach the difference between wild and domestic animals, uses of vitamins and important events and tell stories about leaders by using different puppets,” she said.
It is also believed that it will enhance the creativity and problem-solving skills of children. “Students from classes 1 to 5 will remember the subjects well as they learn it through the visuals and stories,” she added.
Puppets can be made from recycled materials such as newspaper, paper cups and scrap cloth and use and throw plates. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’s (SSA) state directorate and State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) are providing the training and training manuals to all the teachers for puppetry based story telling.
For the first time, the subjects are integrated with puppetry story telling. “More than 100 values have been identified in the curriculum for classes 1 to 5. The teachers can create their own stories and share them with the students,” SCERT officials said.
The state level training on puppetry based storytelling to teachers, block resource trainers was held in Chennai on Tuesday. “Teachers will be trained at four levels including the state, district and block levels. Later there will also be cluster level training for the teachers,” they added. The officials are planning to train teachers across the state in puppetry before the end of November.