Why Puppets?
Puppets are a great tool for learning a language. In my years of experience, I found that students (yes, even high schoolers!) find it less intimidating to speak to a puppet than to an adult. Puppets can be used to introduce, reinforce, review, and even assess vocabulary.
In my experience, the foundation of successful puppetry isn't ventriloquism, it's consistency. If a teacher is convincing enough (through consistency) with the puppet, the students aren't looking at you anyway; they're looking at the puppet.
Pablo has a very rich background story based loosely off of my own life and that of my children. My students find his personality believable and relatable, thus reinforcing the personal connection that each child makes with the puppet. The puppet evolves over time (although he is still two years old!) as the children's language fluency and vocabulary expand. This adds to Pablo's believability as well as scaffolds language and grammar concepts.
Since Pablo is only two years old, he is expected to make mistakes. The children love to correct his mistakes! When Pablo accidentally makes a mistake on purpose, usually to indirectly teach a grammar point, the kids think that it's Pablo being silly, not a premeditated mini grammar lesson!
In my experience, the foundation of successful puppetry isn't ventriloquism, it's consistency. If a teacher is convincing enough (through consistency) with the puppet, the students aren't looking at you anyway; they're looking at the puppet.
Pablo has a very rich background story based loosely off of my own life and that of my children. My students find his personality believable and relatable, thus reinforcing the personal connection that each child makes with the puppet. The puppet evolves over time (although he is still two years old!) as the children's language fluency and vocabulary expand. This adds to Pablo's believability as well as scaffolds language and grammar concepts.
Since Pablo is only two years old, he is expected to make mistakes. The children love to correct his mistakes! When Pablo accidentally makes a mistake on purpose, usually to indirectly teach a grammar point, the kids think that it's Pablo being silly, not a premeditated mini grammar lesson!
External resources
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/puppets-will-change-your-classroom-sam-patterson-cheryl-morris
http://www.teachmag.com/archives/5618
https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/may/15/primary-language-lesson-ideas
https://gse.gmu.edu/assets/docs/lmtip/vol1/A.Lepley.doc
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-preschool/109274-using-puppets-in-teaching/
puppetools.com/Reidmillerresearch.pdf