The Velveteen Rabbit - Center for Puppetry Arts

The Velveteen Rabbit
Performance Sponsors:
Education Sponsors:
Study Guide
Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation • Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities • AT & T • Equifax Inc. • Gary W. and Ruth M. Rollins
Foundation • Gertrude and William C. Wardlaw Fund • The Goizueta Foundation • The Jim Cox, Jr. Foundation • Junior League of Atlanta
The Livingston Foundation • Mary Alice and Bennett Brown Foundation • Pittulloch Foundation
Publix Super Markets Charities • The Rich Foundation • Thomas and Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation • Wachovia Foundation
A Note From the Education Director
Dear Educator,
Welcome to the Center for Puppetry Arts and our production of The Velveteen Rabbit.
The Center has been a cherished educational and cultural resource in Atlanta since 1978.
We value your patronage and look forward to serving you during the 2002-2003 school year.
The Velveteen Rabbit study guide was designed to enhance student learning before and
after your visit to the Center for Puppetry Arts. This poignant and heartwarming puppet play
is the perfect accompaniment to a thematic unit on rabbits or children’s literature and folklore.
All three areas of programming here at the Center for Puppetry Arts (Performance, Puppet Making and
Museum) meet GA K-12 Quality Core Curriculum Standards (GA QCCs). Listed below are corresponding GA
QCCs for Kindergarten (as an example) in Language Arts, Character Education and Fine Arts for all three of
our programming areas. A complete list of GA QCC Standards is available at http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/.
Performance: Here are the GA QCC (Grade K) Standards met when you bring your class to a 50-minute
performance of The Velveteen Rabbit, performed with hand, rod and string puppets:
Subject: Language Arts
Strand: Oral Communication
#2 – Topic: Listening/Speaking
Standard: Listens to a variety of literary forms including stories and poems.
Subject: Language Arts
Strand: Written Communication
#38 – Topic: Literature
Standard: Experiences traditional and contemporary literature through a variety of media.
Subject: Character Education
Strand: Respect for Others
#11 – Topic: Respect for Others
Standard: Altruism: concern for and motivation to act for the welfare of others.
11.3 – Courtesy and Cooperation: recognition of mutual interdependence with
others resulting in polite treatment and respect for them (as related to audience etiquette).
Subject: Fine Arts
Strand: Theatre Arts
#15 – Topic: Connections
Standard: Recognizes art forms of drama, music, dance and visual arts.
#19 – Topic: Critical Analysis and Aesthetic Understanding
Standard: States personal reactions to dramatic presentations.
#20 – Topic: Critical Analysis and Aesthetic Understanding
Standard: Names the role of the audience.
#21 – Topic: Critical Analysis and Aesthetic Understanding
Standard: Demonstrates awareness of and uses school, community and professional
resources for theatre experiences.
Puppet-Making: Here are the GA QCC (Grade K) Standards met when you bring your class to one of our
exciting Create-A-Puppet Workshops where students will construct their very own Velveteen Rabbit Rod
Puppet and experience a mini-lesson where they will compare and contrast other rabbits in children’s literature:
Subject: Character Education
Strand: Respect for Self
#15 – Topic: Respect for Self
Standard: Work Ethic: belief that work is good and that everyone who can, should work.
15.2 – Accomplishment: appreciation for completing a task.
Subject: Fine Arts
Strand: Visual Arts
#3 – Topic: Artistic Skills and Knowledge: Creating, Performing, Producing
Standard: Uses a variety of art materials and techniques to model, construct, and compose original
artworks.
#4 – Topic: Artistic Skills and Knowledge: Creating, Performing, Producing
Standard: Demonstrates proper care and safe use of art materials and tools.
#5 – Topic: Connections
Standard: Applies concepts and ideas from another discipline and its topics as sources of ideas for own
artworks.
Museum: Here are the GA QCC (Grade K) Standards met by taking your students through Puppets: The
Power of Wonder, our international puppetry museum with over 300 puppets from around the world:
Subject: Character Education
Strand: Citizenship
#7 – Topic: Citizenship
Standard: Tolerance: the allowable deviation from a standard. Indulgence for beliefs or practices
differing from or conflicting with one’s own.
Subject: Social Studies
Strand: History
#18 – Topic: Culture
Standard: Recognizes that different cultural groups have different characteristics.
Subject: Social Studies
Strand: Civics
#2 – Topic: People
Standard: States ways in which people are alike and different.
Subject: Fine Arts
Strand: Visual Arts
#12 – Topic: Connections
Standard: Describes and compares subjects and themes of artworks.
#15 – Topic: Critical Analysis and Aesthetic Understanding
Standard: Offers ideas about what art is and who artists are.
#16 – Topic: Historical and Cultural Context
Standard: Points out clues in selected artworks that determine time and place.
Thank you for choosing the Center for Puppetry Arts for your study trip. We hope that your students’
experience here will live on in their memories for many years to come.
Sincerely,
Alan Louis
Education Director
About the Author
Margery Williams Bianco (1881-1944) was born in London but spent much of her life in Greenwich Village,
New York. In 1902, after little formal schooling, she published her first novel, The Late Returning, which
she had written at age 17. Although she authored 30 children’s books, The Velveteen Rabbit or
How Toys Become Real (1922) is her best known. Two of the characters in The Velveteen Rabbit are based
on toys that the author loved as a child: her stuffed rabbit, Tubby, and her brother’s suede horse, Dobbin.
Margery Williams once said, “Imagination is only another word for the interpretation of life. It is through
imagination that a child makes his most significant contacts with the world about him, that he learns
tolerance, pity, understanding and the love for all created things.”
Synopsis
Our story begins when a small boy receives a toy rabbit made of soft velveteen as a gift. Ignored by the boy
at first, the rabbit is soon rediscovered and the two become close companions. The boy and the rabbit play
together every day until the rabbit is old and worn. One day, the boy becomes ill. The rabbit stays faithfully
by his side the entire time. When the boy recovers, the old worn out rabbit, suspected to be full of germs, is
thrown on the trash heap to be burned. Sad and lonely, the toy rabbit sheds a tear. From the tear a flower
grows and from the flower emerges a fairy who transforms the stuffed rabbit into a real rabbit - made real by
the boy’s love. The rabbit then goes to live with the other rabbits in the boy’s backyard. Each time the boy
sees the familiar brown spotted rabbit he is reminded of his dear old friend from the nursery.
Style of Puppetry
The puppet stage for our show resembles a Victorian toy theater. The two puppeteers performing the play
are seated on low rolling carts behind the stage. They are able to propel themselves around backstage using
just their feet. With arms stretched above their heads, they manipulate their puppets in the lighted playing
area, or proscenium opening of the stage. The puppeteers wear cordless microphones to amplify their voices
while performing.
Our production combines several different styles of puppetry to tell the story. Certain types of puppets
work best for certain characters. The Velveteen Rabbit and the Skin Horse are two examples of soft sculpted
hand puppets. A puppeteer places his or her hand directly inside the head of the puppet to control the
character’s head and body movement. The boy is an example of a rod puppet. Rod puppets have a main
control rod that supports the puppet’s body and turns the puppet’s head from side to side. The fairy that
appears at the end of our show is a string puppet, or marionette. Marionettes are graceful – always a good
choice for characters that fly.
The script for The Velveteen Rabbit requires there to be more than one version of the same character to
allow for a costume change or a change in appearance over time. If you were to go backstage, you would
notice that there are two different boy puppets: one in pajamas and one fully dressed. Because puppeteers
need to keep up with the pace of the show and because most puppets have strings or long control rods, it is
nearly impossible to change a puppet’s costume during a performance. To illustrate how the Velveteen
Rabbit changes over time, there are actually four versions of this puppet: one brand new, one slightly worn,
one completely worn and finally, one “real life” bunny.
Selected Bibliography
Aardema, Verna. Who’s in Rabbit’s House?: A Masai Tale. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1990.
Adler, Naomi. The Barefoot Book of Animal Tales From Around the World. Barefoot Books, 1996.
Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight Moon. Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1947.
Fleming, Candace. Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002.
Freeman, Don. Corduroy. Puffin Books, 1968.
Gendron, Karen. The Rabbit Handbook. Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 2000.
Parker, Steve. Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Books: Mammal. Dorling Kindersley, 1989.
Potter, Beatrix. The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit. Puffin Books, 1984.
Rylant, Cynthia. Bunny Bungalow. Voyager Books – Harcourt, Inc., 1999.
Williams, Margery. The Velveteen Rabbit. (Adapted by Lou Fancher) Atheneum Books
for Young Readers, 2002.
Waddell, Martin. Tom Rabbit. Candlewick Press, 2001.
Recommended Web Sites
http://www.writepage.com/velvet.htm
Read the original text of The Velveteen Rabbit, or How Toys Become Real by Margery Williams Bianco here.
http://www.rabbitweb.net
Wanted: real rabbits! Here’s where rabbit owners meet and share information.
http://www.rabbit.org
Visit The House Rabbit Society’s homepage for lots of information about rabbits plus America’s funniest
bunny photos!
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/toys/
Check out The History Channel’s online History of Toys and Games. Use a timeline to trace the history of
your favorite toy.
http://www.umkc.edu/tmm/
Take a virtual trip to the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City.
http://www.bearmuseum.co.uk/
Learn about the history of Teddy Bears at the Bear Museum in Petersfield, England.
http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/
Visit The Puppetry Homepage, the most comprehensive website on the magical art of puppetry.
Learning Activities
Velveteen Rabbit Math Game
Preschool and Kindergarten: GA QCC Standards covered: Kindergarten, Mathematics, Number Sense &
Numeration (Counting): 15, 16; (Sets): 19.
Objective: Students will recognize and selects the numerals (0 through 10) and number words to name the
number of elements in a set. Students will illustrate the numerals 0 – 10 by creating sets with Velveteen
Rabbit cut-outs. (This activity may work well in a self-directed learning center or small group activity in the
classroom).
Materials: Velveteen Rabbit cut-outs (patterns provided below), white or colored card stock, index cards,
paper, pencils or markers.
Velveteen Rabbit Math Game Pieces
Procedure:
1. Teacher should photocopy the Velveteen Rabbit template on white or colored card stock
for a total of 10 rabbits per student playing game. Cut out all 10 rabbits and laminate if desired.
Prepare a set of 11 index cards with the number words zero through ten written on them.
2. Distribute 11 index cards per student playing game. Have students number their cards 0 – 10.
3. Ask students to match each number word index card with the corresponding numeral index card.
4. Next, ask students to shuffle all of their index cards into a pile. Have students take turns selecting a
card and illustrating the number using the Velveteen Rabbit cut-outs. Students
should record each number they illustrate on a tally sheet.
5. Finally, ask students to create two different sets to compare and describe:
unequal, equal, more than, fewer than, etc.
Comparing Rabbit Tales
First and Second Grade: GA QCC Standards covered: First Grade, Language Arts,
Oral Communication (Listening/Speaking): 2, 4, 5; Written Communication (Writing): 31, 34; (Literature): 39, 40, 42, 43. Second Grade, Language Arts, Oral
Communication (Listening/Speaking): 2, 4, 6; Written Communication (Writing):
35, 40; (Literature): 46, 47, 49, 50.
Objective: Students will compare and contrast two rabbit picture books and
then write and illustrate their own stories about rabbits.
Materials: Copies of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (adapted by
Lou Fancher) and Tom Rabbit by Martin Waddell, paper, pencils, crayons and/or markers.
Procedure:
1. Teacher should read the picture books The Velveteen Rabbit and Tom Rabbit asking students to
remember ways in which the stories are alike and different.
2. Teacher should write the title and author as a heading for each book on the board or chart paper (use
a Venn diagram if desired).
3. Ask students to list similarities and differences between both books. List students’ input on board or
chart paper.
4. Ask students to write and illustrate their own rabbit stories to share with class. Have students share
the inspiration for their stories (favorite rabbit book, toy rabbit, pet rabbit, etc.).
Animal Research: Discovering the Difference Between Rabbits and Hares
Third and Fourth Grade: GA QCC Standards covered: Third Grade, Social Studies, Core Social Studies Skills
(Information Processing): 24, 25, 38; Language Arts, Written Communication (Reading): 14, 17, 18;
(Writing): 39, 41, 43, 44. Fourth Grade, Social Studies, Core Social Studies Skills (Information Processing):
29, 30, 31, 38; Language Arts, Written Communication (Reading): 13, 16, 17; (Writing): 39, 41, 43.
Objective: Students will consult a variety of sources to report on the similarities and differences between
rabbits and hares.
Materials: Public Library, Media Center, computers with Internet access, pencils and paper.
Procedure:
1. Many people use the words “rabbit” and “hare” interchangeably, but there are important biological
differences between the two. Survey your students to find out their prior knowledge of rabbits and
hares. View a summary here: http://www.alienexplorer.com/ecology/m101.html.
2. Ask students to use any available reference material they can find to gather information on how
rabbits and hares are alike and different.
3. Have students employ the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing) to
compose a finished report with illustrations to share with the class.
The Year of the Rabbit: Understanding the Chinese Lunar Calendar
Fifth and Six Grade: GA QCC Standards covered: Fifth Grade, Character Education, (Citizenship): 7.
Language Arts, Oral Communication (Listening/Speaking): 11; Written Communication (Reading): 16, 19,
20. Sixth Grade, Character Education, (Citizenship): 7; Language Arts (Reading): 32, 34, 25, 36; (Reference
and Study Skills): 60.
Objective: Students will visit the web site of the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco, CA, to determine
their Chinese astrological sign and answer discussion questions about the Chinese lunar calendar.
Materials: Computers with Internet access, notebook paper and pens.
Procedure:
1. Have students go to http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/zodiac/zodiac.html and read the text
under the heading “Chinese Lunar Calendar” along the right side of the screen.
2. Ask students to consider these questions for discussion afterward:
-
How is the Chinese lunar calendar different from the Western calendar?
Why are there 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac?
Why is the Rat first?
What is your sign according to the Chinese zodiac? Do you agree with
what is says about your personality traits?
Do the Chinese take the zodiac very seriously?
Why would the Chinese Culture Center post this information on their
web site?
Using the information provided, calculate which animal in the cycle will
represent the year 2020.
Text: Alan Louis
Illustration: Bryan Wilson
Photo: David Zeiger
Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30309
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