Social Studies Test Tomorrow Thursday, Nov.8th!

COYOTE SINGS

In keeping with our first trimester curriculum learning about Native Americans, we went to te Northwest Puppet theater to see their performance of The Coyote Sings. It was done in a modified Japanese Bunraku puppet theatre motif with the puppeteer being viewed as part of the puppet performance. Students were able to see the similarities in the production of this Native American folktale with last year's Thistle Theater production of the Japanese folktale "The Peach Boy" along with the performance we saw at the Pantagus Theater last spring of "Out of the Mist the Dragon". I was very proud of my students for their attentiveness and their ability to make the cultural connections with today's performance.

Here's a little background information on The Northwest Puppet Theater which is run by the Carters. Their website states that, "The Carters have been professional puppeteers since 1976. They trained with master puppeteers of Romania, Sicily, and China. Stephen Carter received the Fulbright Award for puppetry studies in 1984 and holds a postgraduate degree from the Institute of Theater and Cinema in Bucharest. The Carter Family Marionettes have been featured performers at National and World Puppet Festivals from Scotland to Uzbekistan. They have presented their plays in five different languages and have also been invited as guest director/designers internationally. The company has been awarded the "UNIMA/USA Citation of Excellence" (the highest award in American puppet theater) for three of their productions. Chris and Stephen Carter were the Directors of the 1999 Puppeteers of America Festival of the Millennium held at the University of Washington August 1999. The Carters are especially known for their mastery and preservation of the traditional Sicilian marionette theater known as Opera dei Pupi.
Chris and Stephen Carter founded the Northwest Puppet Center in 1986. In 1993 they purchased and renovated a charming church in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle. The center presents a family season of puppetry by the Carters and selected guest artists with over 250 performances each year. The Northwest Puppet Center provides a valuable resource and fascinating entertainment for children and families." It was a fun , informative, and very educational field trip today.

Social Studies test tomorrow. Students received yesterday the study sheets. All will do very well if they study and think through each question.

Mrs. Gellert's Math Class: Page 6 questions 10-13 of the Continental Math League (CML) sheet. Only 20 minutes is required homework. Students who want to continue on may do so; but it is not required.