Pinocchio Study Guide BCT

8/18/2019 Pinocchio Study Guide BCT

1/21

Original story by:

Carlo Collodi

P I NOC C H IO


2/21

A Note to Teachers........................................ 2So You’re Going to the Theatre.................. 3

Plot Summary................................................... 4

A Chat with the Playwrights......................... 5

About the Author............................................ 6Setting.................................................................. 7

Characters.......................................................... 8

Vocabulary......................................................... 9

Suggested activity: Marionettes & Me.. 10-11

Suggested activity: Sticky Situations....... 12-13

Suggested activity: Funland Frenzy............ 14

Worksheet: Measure the Nose.............. 15-16Worksheet: Living or Nonliving?.............. 17

Discussion Questions..................................... 18

Teacher resources..................................... 19-20

Table of Contents


3/21

A Note to Teachers

Dear Educators,

Greetings! We are excited for you and your students to attend the

Birmingham Children’s Theatre’s rendition of Pinocchio! To prepare fo

your upcoming visit we invite you to use this packet as a resource in your

classroom.

This packet is designed to assist you in introducing the play’s plot,

characters, settings, language, and themes to your students. We hope you

find the material in this packet both educationally enriching as well as funWe encourage you to use these provided activities prior to the day of the

event in order to guide your students to a better understanding and

enjoyment of what they will see.

We hope your students let their imaginations soar as the curtains open

and they are invited to enter the magical world of Pinocchio atBirmingham Children’s Theatre. Just as importantly, we hope you find th

packet full of helpful curriculum that cultivates a rich classroom

environment.

Thank you for helping to extend the learning process beyond our theatre

walls, and for instilling an appreciation of the arts in lives of theBirmingham youths.

Kindly,

Birmingham Child’s Theatre, City of Birmingham

2


4/21

Dear Theatre-goer,

Get excited! You are about to enter into a world of imagination and fu

where the impossible comes to life. Before you attend the Birmingham

Children’s Theatre’s performance of Pinocchio there are a few guidelines

we would like to share with you about theatre etiquette.

3

So You’re Going to the Theatre...

Theatre Etiquette:

Theatre etiquette is the proper and expected behavior for the audience (you!) when watching a performance. Here is a list of the proper and expected behavio

at Birmingham Children’s Theatre:

• Arrive on time

• Have all electronics turned completely off and put away

• Be respectful: keep your hands and feet to yourself; avoid talking, waving,

shouting during the performance; no eating or drinking; only exit in thecase of an emergency

• Sit in your assigned seating

• Throw any garbage in the proper receptacles

Play YOUR Part:A live performance is different than watching a movie or a TV show. During a

play, the actors can see your reaction. Your responses help fuel the performance

Don’t be afraid to laugh, gasp, and applaud! The actors will feed off your energy

and both you and they will experience a magical theatrical adventure.


5/21

In a small Italian village lives Geppetto, a

kindly woodcarver, who longs to have a son.Geppetto creates puppet after puppet, hoping

that one might come to life and fulfill hisdream of fatherhood.

With the help of the Blue Fairy,

Geppetto’s dream comes true! The BlueFairy makes the puppet, Pinocchio, come

to life.

Pinocchio quickly realizes that being a puppet in a world of realboys and girls can be very difficult. He must discover what it mean

to be a good person, including: working hard, going to school, beina good friend and putting others’ before yourself. Pinocchio must

learn how to be a truthful, brave,

and unselfish boy if the Blue Fairyis to make him a real boy.

Ultimately, Pinocchio does learnthese life lessons and is

transformed into a real boy.

4

Plot Summary


6/21

A Chat with the Playwrights, Leah Luker and Jean Pierce:

When did you write the play and was it a commissioned piece; if so, for whom?

“The Play was written in January, 2009, exclusively for Birmingham Children's Theatre by Leah Lukerand Jean Pierce.”

When/where did it receive it premiere?

“The world premier will be on March 31st, 2009, at Birmingham Children's Theatre.”

What prompted you to write this particular story about Pinocchio? What was/is your hope audiences will take away from the play?

Ms. Luker: “Jean and I were inspired to write the play after reading the original story by Carlo Collodi

We saw so many wonderful things in the book that we felt needed to be shown on stage. More than just lying- Pinocchio is called on to be brave, selfless and work hard. We just wanted to give people amore well rounded view of the character rather than an innocent, but dishonest puppet.”

Mrs. Pierce: “A good script was needed, one that would allow Pinocchio, through hard work anddetermination, to earn the right to be a real boy. This was my co-writer’s vision for the play. I hope ouraudiences will remember the lessons Pinocchio learned about truth, loyalty, responsibility and makingwise choices.”

Pinocchio is based on story written by Carlo Collodi... how was the original inspirational and in what ways did you make changes to the original to suit the needs of your script? What

excited you about the original to make an adapted play about it?

Ms. Luker: “Well, Jean and I made changes to the original story because it is a very long story to fitinto an hour. We did not want to loose the author's intention, so we kept the themes of the story in tacby combining Pinocchio's lessons into five main story lines (The Puppet Master, The Fox and Cat, ThLand of Fun, The Whale, and the Medicine Woman). The Medicine Woman was invented by Jean andI to help keep the Blue Fairy actively involved in the story, and to help Pinocchio learn the act ofselflessness. There are many times in the Pinocchio story when he helps someone who is in need atthe cost of his own happiness... we wanted to show that in one great action. Also, we knew that theBlue Fairy and Cricket (though small parts of Collodi's story) are important teaching characters andpersonify conscience and discipline, whichPinocchio lacks at first. Personification is one of the best

tools of a playwright. Especially when writing for young audience. [Personification is] making an ideainto a character trait of a person (The Blue Fairy=Conscience. The Cricket=discipline). Any time youcan replace an explanation of an idea with action or a character is always a good idea.”

Mrs. Pierce: “The story, originally published as a magazine serial, is filled with enough appealingcharacters and fantastic adventures to inspire any playwright. It was necessary to choose only themost stage-worthy episodes and to compress the whole into an hour-long play that would appeal totoday’s young audience. I can imagine the eagerness of those children long ago as they waited toread the next exciting chapter. I hope our audience will be just as eager to follow Pinocchio’s amazingadventures as they unfold on stage.”

A Chat with the Playwrights

5


7/21

Carlo Collodi was born November 24, 1836 in Florence, Italy. Carlo’s

mother was the daughter of a farmer and his father was a cook. Carlo had te

(yes, TEN!) brothers and sisters. Carlo was lucky enough to go to school wher

he discovered his love for writing. Here’s a fun fact about the writer Carlo

Collodi: the last name “Collodi” was actually Carlo’s pseudonym (sue-do-

nim: a fake name). Carlo’s real last name was Lorenzini. Carlo chose the last

name Collodi to honor his mother who was from the tiny Italian city ofCollodi.

Collodi was interested in telling stories, both true and fictitious ( fik-tish-es

not true). Before deciding to write stories for children, Collodi wrote for

newspapers. As he developed as a writer, Collodi realized he liked writing for

children most of all. The most successful story Collodi wrote was The

Adventures of Pinocchio. Since it’s publication, the story of Pinocchio has been

adapted (changed or adjusted) to entertain and delight audiences all over th

world. One of the most popular adaptations is the Disney movie Pinocchio.

Today, it is estimated that the story of Pinocchio has been translated in over

240 languages worldwide, fantastico!

About

theAuthor

6


8/21

Geppetto’s Home: A simple, small, one bedroom apartment that i

also used as Gepetto’s workshop.

An Italian Village: Busy, crowded streets surround

Gepetto’s home.

A Marionette Theatre: A crowded, cramped theatre with astage that Maestro runs. Some of theperforming puppets there are Punch and

Judy.

The Land of Fun: A place where boys and girls go toescape school and responsibility, they are

promised eternal fun. Really, the Land of Fun a trick and eventually the children who staythere turn into donkeys because of a curse.

The Ocean: Vast and wet, the ocean is a scary place whensome of our characters are lost without a boat.

Inside a Whale: Inside the whale is so dark our characters needlanterns just to see each other!

7

Setting(s)


9/21

Narrators- the storytellers of the play

Geppetto- a kind, elderly woodcarver who desperately wants a son

Cricket- a magical talking cricket who is 127 years old; Cricket representsdiscipline in the play, a trait that young Pinocchio must learn

Pinocchio- one of Geppetto’s wooden puppets that comes to life and wants tbe a real boy

Blue Fairy- a magical being who helps Pinocchio become real; Blue Fairy

represents conscience; a trait Pinocchio must prove to have beforehe can be turned into a real boy

Crow- a character the Blue Fairy becomes to teach Pinocchio

Medicine Woman- a character the Blue Fairy becomes to teach Pinocch

Lampwick- an orphan who befriends Pinocchio

Maestro- the owner of the puppet show

Punch- one of Maestro’s puppets

Judy- one of Maestro’s puppets

Fox- a trickster

Cat- the Fox’s partner

Coachman- a greedy man

Donkey Driver- one of the coachman’s workers

Characters

8

Pre-Show:What do you imagine these

characters to look like?

Based on the descriptions,which characters do youpredict will be good, and

which will be evil?

Post-Show:

Which character did you likethe most? Why?

Have you ever hadexperiences similar to a

character in the play? Whatwere they?


10/21

VOCABULARY

Maestro- noun ; a title of respect for a person who is an expert in an art form

Marionette - noun ; a puppet controlled from above by strings attached to its limbs

Mischievous - adjective ; when a person or animal causes annoyance, harm, or trouble

Misfortunate - adjective ; having bad luck

Exercise 1.1Directions: Using each word once, label each picture with the vocabulary word that best describeswhat is being portrayed.

1. _______________ 2. _______________ 3. _______________ 4. ______________

Exercise 1.2Directions: Create a story using all of the following words in the order they appear in the list below

Here are four new “m” words to learn before you watch our

Magnificent, Magic-filled, Masterpiece!

9

Example:

flowerchild

eternal

Once upon a time there grew a special,

rare FLOWER. One day as a small

CHILD was walking along, she spotted

the flower and decided to pick it. Not

knowing the flower had special powers,

the girl picked the flower and at once

was iven the ift of ETERNAL life.

tiny

magical

strangemisfortunate

house

expensive

marionette

happy

love

mischievous

castle

sleeping

maestro

Remember to

have fun and

use your

imagination!


11/21

Marionettes

&

Me!

There are many types of puppets. Pinocchio is a marionette puppet;marionettes are controlled by strings that are attached to thepuppet’s limbs. In the play you will be asked to think about whatmakes human beings unique from all other creatures. In some wayspeople are similar to puppets, but what qualities make a humanbeing a human being and a puppet just a puppet? Read thestatements below and circle if the statement is true for REAL

eo le or MARIONETTES or BOTH. Discuss our answers.

1) Has arms and legs

2) Has the ability to love

3) Does what other people want them to do

4) Can distinguish right from wrong

5) Can express emotions

6) Can teach others

7) Can learn

8) Is valuable

9) Is unique

10 Has hobbies, interests, habits

R M B

R M B

R M B

R M B

R M B

R M B

R M B

R M B

R M B

R M B

10


12/21

Marionettes

&

Me!

Make your own

bird Marionette!

Materials:

- Colored Paper- Glue- Scissors

- Popsicle Sticks

- String

- Hole puncher

- Colored Marking Pens, crayons, glitter, etc...

STEP ONE:

Using strong glue, attach two popsicle-sticks into

a capital “T” shape.

STEP TWO:

While the glue is drying, assemble and decorate

your marionette bird. Older students may cut outthe silhouette on their own, while younger

students should have pre-cut silhouettes to

assemble. Have students decorate one or both

sides of the silhouette. Attach the wings to either

side of the bird with glue (or tape if desired) by

making a small fold along the edge where the

wings will be attached to the bird.

STEP THREE:

Using a hold punch make two holes: one at the

top of the head and one at the back end of the

bird. It is important to have two points with

which to suspend the bird. Tie string through

both holes and then ties the other end of the

strong to the popsicle-stick “T”; tada! your bird

is ready to take flight!

11


13/21

Throughout the play Pinocchio finds himself in sticky situations. Pinocchimust decide what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes, in the moment, itcan be tricky to know what your first reaction should be. Let’s practice byplaying “Good Choice, Bad Choice”.

Sticky Situations

RIGHT

WRONG

HOW TO PLAY:!Divide the class into two equal

teams and have each team in adesignated area.

!Place the bell in the center of a flatsurface.

!Each team will select one memberto go up to the bell. The teacher willread a statement from the “GoodChoice/Bad Choice” activity sheet.The first student to press the bellanswer “good choice” or “badchoice”. Have students switch eachround.

Scoring: If a student pushes the bellbefore the end of the statement thepoint goes to the opposite team. If astudent answers incorrectly theopposite team gets the point. The firstanswer verbalized is final, a studentcannot change their vote.

Preparation/Materials Needed:

- bell or some sort of buzzer

- blackboard to keep score

What is right is right, even if not one

is doing it.

What is wrong, is wrong, even if

everyone is doing it.

-Unknown

12


14/21

Start each sentence with “You make a choice to...” and then read of eachstatement, one statement per round. Feel free to make the situations more orless challenging based on your students level of understanding. For older

students, have a challenge round where the students create the stickysituations. Teacher may decide to allow students to debate their answerchoices and award points based on “why” explanations.

“You make a choice to...”1. Take your classmate’s pencil without asking so you can complete an

assignment.2. Tell your teacher if you notice she dropped her wallet, but look through it

first.3. Go outside to exercise.4. Go outside to play without permission, but leave a note saying where you

are.5. Tell your friend a secret that another friend asked you not to tell.6. Play with matches with your friends.7. Walk away when someone starts to fight with you.

8. Get mad at your mother because she wont buy you a new toy.9. Skip class to help a friend who is upset.10. Tell your parents a lie so the wont ground you.11. Stand up for yourself.12. Stay up past bedtime to continue reading a book you are interested in.13. Kick the dog because he chewed your shoes.14. Tell your friends and family you love them.15. Lie to a friend so you wont hurt their feelings.

16. Use your sister’s toys because your guest asked to play with them.17. Choose to do your math homework instead of your science homework

because it is worth more points.18. Watch a movie your parents didn’t let you watch at home while you are a

your friends house.19. Tell a joke about someone that makes lots of people laugh.20. Check your cellphone during class because you think your parent is

texting you.

Sticky Situations: Teacher Activity Sheet

13


15/21

FUNLAND

FRENZY

Why donkeys?

The donkey is a symbol in Italy forlaziness and stupidity. Carlo

Collodi is suggesting that when wehave too much fun and noresponsibility such as school, webecome lazy both physically andmentally.

In Pinocchio TheLand of Fun is a placewhere cotton candy, toys,and games are

everywhere! There are noadults and there is no

school, sounds wonderful,doesn’t it? Well, don’t get

too excited. The Land ofFun is actually a cursed

land, over time the

children who go thereturn in to donkeys andare forced to do hard

ACTIVITY:

Divide into groups of 3-5. Each group is to have a poster paper and markers/crayons.

As a group decide how your own version of Fun Land operates. What are the rules? Whathappens on a daily basis? Are there jobs? What do people eat? Are there parents? Write downthese decisions on your poster.

Also on your paper, draw a visual of what your group’s Fun Land looks like. Present your posterto the class.

MATERIALS:

- Poster paper- markers or crayons

14


16/21

Measure Pinocchio’s NoseThroughout the play, Pinocchio must learn to be honest. Pinocchio struggles, just like the rest ofus, to tell the truth. Unlike us though, when Pinocchio lies his nose grows!

Directions: Using a ruler, measure Pinocchio’s nose and write down how long it is for each unitof measurement. For an extra challenge, use your imagination to decide what lie(s) Pinocchiotold that made his nose grow!

Inches _________

Centimeters _________

Inches _________


What did Pinocchio lie about?


15


17/21

Inches _________


Inches _________


Inches _________





16


18/21

Living or Nonliving?The story of Pinocchio touches on what it means to be a living, active part of a society. How do we affectour surroundings and everything and everyone in our surroundings? Also, what does it mean to behuman? How are humans unique from other living things?

Pinocchio makes us think about the differences between living and nonliving things. For example, a treeis alive. Puppets, are made from wood which comes from tree, but they are not alive...that is, unless amagic blue fairy helps them out! What distinguishes living things from nonliving things?

LIVING NONLIVING

• Moves by itself

• Grows and changes

• Breathes

• Needs food and water to survive

• Reproduces

• Cannot move by itself

• Stays the same

• Is not breathing

• Does not need any type of foodor water

• Does not reproduce

Directions: Cut out the pictures below and place them on the side of living or nonliving.


19/21

Discussion Questions

Here are a list of discussion questions that you may wish to incorporate into yourlessons. Pick and choose which ones you would like to pair with the activities. You ma

want to revisit some of these questions after seeing the performance to see if yourstudents perspective change at all.

QUESTIONS:

1.What qualities do you think define a human?

2.What is peer pressure?3.How do we counteract peer pressure?

4.What does it mean to learn from your mistakes?

5.Do you think we are born with a sense of what is right and what is wrong?

6.If you never studied and only ate candy, what do you think would happen

7.How do you choose your friends?

8.How do your friends affect you?9.Why is education important to our success in life?

10. Have you ever wished for something and your wish came true? Was it

what you expected?

11. What does it mean to be selfless?

12. Pinocchio’s nose grew when he lied, how do real people physically

change when they lie?13. Why do people lie?

14. Is there ever a good reason to lie?

15. Is love necessary to be a real person? Is it possible to NOT experience

love?

18


20/21

Teacher Resources:

Alabama State Standards

Grade K:

• With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. [RL.K.3]• Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. [RL.K.4]

• With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling

the story. [RL.K.6]

• Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader

the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic

or book (e.g., My favorite book is …). [W.K.1]

• Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative or explanatory texts in which

they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic. [W.K.2]

• With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to

strengthen writing as needed. [W.K.5]• Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing

a count of no objects). [K-CC3]

• Describe measurable attributes of objects such as length or weight. Describe several measurable attributes

of a single object. [K-MD1]

• Pantomime a variety of roles in real-life and make-believe through guided dramatic play.

• Identify appropriate audience behavior in a variety of settings.

• Compare size, shape, structure, and basic needs of living things.

Grade 1:• Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. [RI.1.4]

• Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarifysomething that is not understood. [SL.1.3]

• Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, andfeelings. [SL.1.5]

• Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object. [1-MD1]

• Arts education: Relate a personal experience to an incident in a dramatic production.

• Arts education: Demonstrate behavior appropriate to specific types of performances.

• Describe survival traits of living things, including color, shape, size, texture, and covering.

Grade 2:• Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

[W.2.8]

• Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, metersticks, and measuring tapes. [2-MD1]

• Measure to determine how much longer one object is than another, expressing the length difference interms of a standard length unit. [2-MD4]

• Arts education: Describe different elements in a dramatization.

19


21/21

Grade 4:• Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing

inferences from the text. [RI.4.1]

• Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to aGrade 4 topic or subject area. [RI.4.4]

• Arts education: Identify the elements of a scripted drama, including dialogue, character, plot, and setting.

• Arts education: Identify ways in which theatre reflects the social values and accomplishments of a culture.

• Arts education: Identify possible connections between theatre concepts and concepts from other contentareas.

Grade 3:• Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to

a Grade 3 topic or subject area. [RI.3.4]

• Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant toa given topic efficiently. [RI.3.5]

• Arts education: Create ideas for alternate settings, characters, and endings for a dramatic production.

• Arts education: Identify different elements in a theatrical performance.

• Arts education: Identify ways in which the arts are used for personal pleasure and enrichment.

20

Pinocchio Study Guide BCT

Documents

Transcript of Pinocchio Study Guide BCT