LESSON 9 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
by Nomi J. Waldman
Fountas-Pinnell Level K
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
The selection gives a brief history of puppets and discusses types of
puppets: hand, string, and rod puppets. The text notes that puppets
today teach lessons on television and in classrooms. Then readers
are urged to put on puppet shows of their own.
Number of Words: 537
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Nonfiction
• Mix of expository and narrative text arranged under headings
• Text pattern varies: sequence (history), classification (puppet types), how-to
• Puppet shows
• Kinds of puppets
• Puppetry has been popular for thousands of years—to entertain and to teach.
• Puppets have changed over time—how they look, are handled, and function.
• Some puppets are easier to make/manipulate than others.
• Many passages are in the present tense (p. 2, captions, pp. 6–10) but many are not.
• Point-of-view is most third-person but occasionally second person you.
• Vary from short to medium-length, with none over 11 words
• Sentence types include statements, commands, and one exclamation (p. 10)
• Commas used to set off words/clauses (pp. 5, 10), in series (p. 6); bulleted list introduced
with colon (p. 6); one contraction (Let’s); a few possessives (puppet’s, its)
• Puppetry terms that may be unfamiliar: puppeteer, marionettes, rod puppets
• Many multisyllabic words with two 4-syllable words: marionette and television
• A proper adjective used: Chinese
• Decoding challenges: popular, figures, thousands, husband, puppeteer
• Color photographs support and supplement the text.
• Nine pages of text, each half-text and half-photo
• Most photos with single-sentence caption; one in-text phonetic respelling (p. 7)
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
by Nomi J. Waldman
Build Background
Use students’ knowledge of puppets to build interest by asking questions such as these:
Have you ever played with puppets or seen a puppet show? What did the puppets look like
and how did they move? Read the title and author and talk about the cover.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and nonfiction features. Help with
unfamiliar language so they can read the text successfully. Give special attention to target
vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this book is about puppets.
Suggested language: The book says: Everyone loves puppet shows. Look at the
photo. How does this audience feel about this show? How can you tell?
Page 3: Read the heading and discuss it. This part tells the history of puppets. The
Chinese put on puppet shows long, long ago. Their puppets were like the one in
the photo. How is that puppet different from puppets you’ve seen?
Page 4: Draw attention to the heading and photo. Turn to page 4. Punch and Judy
are husband and wife puppets. Their show was started hundreds of years ago in
Europe. These puppets are very rude to each other. What is one way they might
be rude to each other? How do you think the audience reacts when they are acting
rude?
Pages 6–7: Have students read the headings on these pages. How are these
kinds of puppets different from each other? Point out the word marionette and
its respelling. This is another word for a string puppet. The respelling helps you
pronounce the word. It takes skill to make a marionette move smoothly rather than
in a jerky way.
Pages 9–10: Draw attention to the photo. These days, viewers can see puppets on
television. Name some puppets that are familiar characters on television shows.
On page 10, the book describes how to put on a puppet show, suggesting you use
a table that is not rickety. Why is that good advice?
Now turn back to the beginning and read to find out about puppet shows.
Target Vocabulary
applause — clapping, p. 10
blasted — made a sudden, loud
sound or movement, p. 5
blurry — unclear, p. 2
familiar — something or
someone that is known, p. 9
rude — not being polite, or
having bad manners, p. 4
jerky — moving in sudden,
uneven, or awkward ways, p. 7
vacant — empty, p. 10
rickety — shaky or likely to fall
apart, p. 10
Grade 3
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Lesson 9: Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
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Read
Have students read Puppets, Puppets, Puppets silently while you listen to individual
students read. Support their problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind students to use the Monitor/Clarify Strategy
clear up what doesn’t make sense to them.
, finding ways to
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Encourage students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: Would you want to put on a puppet show? Why or why not?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Puppet shows began long ago
in China.
• Puppet shows have been a form
of artistic entertainment for
thousands of years.
• Headings organize the text.
• Punch-and-Judy shows were
and still are popular.
• Types of puppets include hand,
string, and rod puppets.
• Today, puppets are used on
TV and in classrooms to teach
lessons.
• Puppets are universal in their
appeal.
• Some puppets are easier to
make and handle than others.
• Captions explain most photos.
• The author sometimes uses a
second-person point of view to
make readers part of the text.
• The author shows readers how
to pronounce a long, unfamiliar
word—marionette.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite pairs of students to choose a passage to practice reading aloud to each
other. Remind pairs to listen carefully to one another and to give suggestions to their
partners for improving the reading so it is smoother and more accurate.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts,
using examples from the text. Review open- and closed-syllable division in vowelconsonant-vowel (VCV) words. Use ov/en (closed) and o/ver (open) as examples,
comparing the o sound. Provide practice with these text words: silent, finish, even,
shadow, figure, vacant. Divide and have students say each word, identifying the first
vowel sound as short or long.
Grade 3
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Lesson 9: Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
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Writing about Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 9.1.
Responding
Have students complete the vocabulary activities on page 11. Remind them to answer the
Word Teaser on p. 12. (Answer: blasted)
Reading Nonfiction
Nonfiction Features: Headings and Text Clues Remind students that authors may arrange
the information in a nonfiction book under headings to help readers understand and
remember what they read. Use the heading on p. 3 (Puppet Tales) as an example, pointing
out that this section tells about the history of puppets. Have students use the other
headings to recall and tell what each of the other sections is about.
Also point out that when authors are talking about the present and past, they often include
clue words to help the reader know when something is happening. Point out the words
still and today in the caption on p. 3, and have students decide whether this caption tells
about the present or the past. Make two columns on the board with the labels In the Past
and In the Present. Then have students search through pages 3, 4, 5, and 9 to find words
or phrases that answer the question When? Have students decide into which columns on
the board should each word or phrase be placed. Entries should include: thousands of
years ago, hundreds of years ago, today, and still.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6.
Assessment Prompts
• How does the word rude on page 4 help readers know how the puppets treat
each other?
• In the paragraph on page 10, what word means almost the same as empty?
• What is the paragraph on page 7 mainly about?
Grade 3
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English Language Development
Reading Support Help students compose a group summary of Puppets, Puppets,
Puppets that mentions the history of puppets (Chinese shadow puppets, Punch and Judy),
kinds of puppets, how puppets are used today, and how to put on a puppet show.
Cognates Some of the target vocabulary can be linked to their Spanish counterparts:
applause/aplausos, familiar/familiar, and rude/rudo.
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: What is the book about?
Speaker 1: Tell about Punch and Judy.
Speaker 2: puppets
Speaker 2: The puppets are rude and act
silly. They make people laugh.
Speaker 1: Tell two interesting
facts you learned about puppets.
Speaker 1: What do people do when
they watch Punch and Judy?
Speaker 2: laugh
Speaker 1: Today, where can children
watch puppets every day?
Speaker 2: on television
Speaker 1: How does a puppeteer hold
and handle a string puppet?
Speaker 2: He stands above the puppet
and pulls its strings to make it move.
Speaker 1: How are puppets used on
television and in classrooms?
Speaker 2: (Answers will vary, but
could include something about
early Chinese shadow puppets,
Punch and Judy, different kinds
of puppets, how puppets are
used today, and how to put on a
puppet show.)
Speaker 2: to teach lessons
Lesson 9
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Puppets, Puppets,
Puppets
Target Vocabulary
Fill in two more Examples and Non-examples for familiar. Then
create your own Four-Square Maps for two of the remaining
Target Vocabulary words. Possible responses shown.
Vocabulary
blasted
applause
rickety
blurry
rude
familiar
jerky
vacant
Definition
well-known
Example
• your best friend
Sentence
Pinocchio is a familiar puppet
to many children.
Read directions to students.
Target Vocabulary
•
your classroom
•
your neighborhood
familiar
Non-example
• streets of a new city
3
•
a food you’ve never tried before
•
a language you haven’t learned
Grade 3, Unit 2: Express Yourself
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Lesson 9: Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
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First Pass
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Name
Date
Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
Thinking Beyond the Text
Read the paragraph. Then write your letter below.
Imagine that your school is going to invite a group to put on a puppet show.
Write a letter to the principal. Tell which kind of puppet show you think
would be the most fun for students at your school. Use details from the
book to support your opinion.
Grade 3
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Lesson 9: Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
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Lesson 9
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Puppets, Puppets,
Puppets
Target Vocabulary
Fill in two more Examples and Non-examples for familiar. Then
create your own Four-Square Maps for two of the remaining
Target Vocabulary words.
Vocabulary
familiar
jerky
vacant
blasted
applause
rickety
blurry
rude
Definition
well known
Example
• your best friend
•
•
Sentence
Pinocchio is a familiar puppet
to many children.
familiar
Non-example
• streets of a new city
•
•
Grade 3
7
Lesson 9: Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
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Student
Lesson 9
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.23
Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
• LEVEL K
page
Puppets, Puppets,
Puppets
Running Record Form
Selection Text
2
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Self-Correction
Rate
The room goes dark and silent. Then suddenly, puppets
appear. The audience sits up. They listen to the story. They
laugh. Then their eyes turn blurry as the story becomes sad.
The show ends, and the people stand and cheer. Everyone
loves puppet shows.
3
Puppet shows have been popular for many years. People
in caves may have used their hands to make shadow figures.
These were the first puppet shows.
The Chinese put on puppet shows thousands of years ago.
They used shadow puppets made from dried animal skins.
They placed the puppets in front of a light.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/98 × 100)
(# errors + #
Self-Corrections/
Self-Correction)
%
1:
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 3
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414179
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
Lesson 9: Puppets, Puppets, Puppets
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