Senin, 13 Januari 2014

Hand Puppet, the Most Engrossed Teaching Aid for Kids




The things that are required in learning process are the equipments which support learning process in order to be better, more effective and more creative. As the time passes, the teachers are demanded to be more creative in teaching so that the students are interested in learning English. Therefore, in English teaching, the teacher can use hand puppet as the teaching aid for elementary school students because the students are more attracted in enjoyable and pleasant learning process; as the result, they will be more focus on the subject. Thus, to create an effective learning environment in English subject, there are some procedures of using hand puppet for the elementary school students.

First, the teacher determines the theme for puppet show. The theme must be appropriate with students’ necessity, or lesson that will be taught in the class. The theme refers to storytelling, speaking, conversation, and vocabulary. For instance, the theme is about introduction, which contains telling greetings, names, ages, and hobbies. Another example, the theme is about storytelling that discusses about children stories; moreover, it contains an implicit message, such as the story of Pinocchio, and Kancil Mencuri Mentimun. Overall, the teacher is demanded to be able to recite the story theme properly so that students can be excited to learn English subject.

       Second, the teacher selects and gives names for puppets that he/she is going to show in front of the student. Selecting and giving puppets’ name must be appropriate with its theme. For instance, the theme is about introduction; consequently, the hand puppets are a girl and boy. The teacher can give “Aisyah and Ahmad” as the name of puppets. For storytelling theme, it can be Kancil Mencuri Mentimun story; therefore, the hand puppets are Kancil, farmer, crocodile, and dog. Another storytelling theme can be Pinocchio; consequently, the hand puppets are Pinocchio, Gepetto Grandfather, fairy, fox, cat, and whale. Moreover, the teacher can use many kinds of puppets, such as hand puppet, which can only be used with one figure for one hand; on the other hand, finger puppet can be used with different figures simultaneously in each finger. In addition, stick puppet is attached by a stick; therefore, the teacher does not need to play it as the hand puppet, but he / she just has to hold its stick. The last, string puppet; also called marionettes, can move the head, hands, and feet of puppet naturally by its string since it more resembles to the human movement than the other puppets.


       Third, if the theme and hand puppets have already been prepared, the teacher makes the design for background and stage. The teacher can make an interesting background by using a projector screen, cardboard, and fabric; moreover, he / she can make a stage with the table that is covered by fabric. For introduction theme, the teacher makes a house picture as the background and grass as the stage; moreover, for story telling theme, the teacher makes forest or trees pictures as the background and grass as the stage. Creating the background and stage should be made ​​as attractive as possible so that the students enjoy the learning process in the classroom. As an illustration the teacher can provide many colors in every aspect, such as the colors of background, stage, and hand puppet; also, he / she can conduct to sing along with students during the puppet show. Besides, there are question and answer sessions among students during and at the end of puppet show which make the students involved in a plot of puppet show story; moreover, they can understand English subject and the implicit message of the story.
Fourth, the teacher can perform the puppet show by following these steps below. Before starting the puppet show, the teacher gives an overview or a question in a glance about a subject or story that will be shown to the students. As an illustration, the teacher may ask the students about who want to speak English language fluently, or how to ask the name in English language. After giving an overview of the subject, the teacher may start the performance of puppet show. He / she enters the stage with a squatting position while displaying the puppets in their hands in front of the students; then, the puppets may introduce their names to the students and start to perform the storyline until the end. After the show ended, the puppets can close the performance by saying parting sentences, such as see you next time, bye, we will meet again on the next performance and many more. Furthermore, to make students more understand, the teacher restates the subject, or implicit message in puppet show. For example, the teacher asks students to repeat of what the puppets have said in the puppet show, such as telling greetings, names, ages, and hobbies. Thus, the most important thing of learning process from using hand puppet is to train the students’ understanding by listening to every dialogue in the puppet show and imitating it by using hand puppet.

In summary, the explanation above shows that the hand puppet can be one of effective teaching aids for the elementary school students; hence, the students will be more interested in learning English subject, particularly in listening and speaking skills. If the teacher wants to use hand puppet as the teaching aid in English subject, he / she should determine the theme for puppet show that will be taught in the class; after that, he / she selects and gives name of puppets according to its theme. Then, the teacher makes an interesting design for background and stage in order to support the puppet show. If the equipment of hand puppet has already been prepared, the teacher can perform the puppet show and the students may imitate the puppets’ dialogue by using hand puppet. Hopefully, all of the teachers can be inspired by using hand puppet in learning process, particularly for English teachers so that they are able to teach English subject in pleasant and exciting ways.
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