Rose 1st Grade Lesson on Shadow Puppets, Storytelling and Phases of the Moon

In the play, the Crew makes their first stop at Earth’s Moon, where they encounter “Space Bears” and make some decisions about how they want to engage with other planetary bodies in the solar system. Throughout other parts of the play, we use shadow puppets as a central storytelling device to help students make connections between mythology and astronomy.

Because South Carolina 1st grade science standards cover light and shadows and moon phases, I created a pre-show first grade lesson that teaches students how to create moon-phase shadow puppets. In the first lesson, students begin by brainstorming about what they know about light and shadows and the changing appearance of the moon. Students then learn about what shadow puppets are, create their shadow puppets, and explore their puppets in action. In the next lesson, students are introduced to the concept of mythology as a storytelling method to explain things in the natural world, like phases of the moon and eclipses.Then students create their own story about why the moon changes.

Enjoy these lessons!

Vivian and Emily