We begin the residency with parts 1 and 3. We meet with the teachers, often in an in-service day to outline the entire plan. We read aloud an appropriate story to the teachers, as we would to the students, then involve them in the story boarding process. This is probably the most important part of the process because it is fundamental to reading, writing and basic comprehension. What must happen - in group process - is to distinguish the essential points of the story, the "bare-bones" elements that tells very basically what happens in the story - or, what the reader needs to understand.

In part 2 - (Optional)
we teach the teachers and the parent volunteers how to make puppets. This has two significant benefits; it costs a lot less than us making puppets with every classroom and it leaves the teachers with the hands-on experience of making a simple puppet. Then, at the convenience of each teacher, they can make the puppets in their own classroom, appropriate for the story they choose.

Part 4 is a visit to the classrooms by Debbie and Lenny once the children have made their puppets. We demonstrate puppet manipulation and voice for the children and have them all practice with us. We also provide simple scenes that include basic movement and phrases that pairs of the children can use for practice. If possible, a few lines of dialogue from their chosen story can be used to experiment with voices, movement and stage direction.

Part 5 is a final visit to the classroom, to watch scenes in progress and help with the rehearsal process. This should take place a week or two after the previous visit, allowing time for the class to rehearse scenes. Movement, voice, entrances and exits, gestures, etc., will be discussed and solutions offered to a particular problem that may have arisen.