MAR 21 2022

Tara Murphy, a Spanish Immersion kindergarten teacher at Groveland Elementary, likes to include unique and creative elements in her teaching. One of these is the use of puppets in the classroom to support students' social emotional learning.

Tara Murphy, a Spanish Immersion kindergarten teacher at Groveland Elementary, likes to include unique and creative elements in her teaching. One of these is the use of puppets in the classroom. With the support of the Minnetonka Public Schools Foundation, Murphy has recently been able to grow her classroom’s collection of puppets to further support her students' social emotional learning.

Murphy got the idea to use puppets to teach social emotional learning to the students while working in another school in Colorado. "I saw how quickly the students connected with the puppets and wanted to try this out in my classroom at Groveland,” explained Murphy. “Molly, the first puppet I introduced to the class, had an immediate response from the students. They loved when Molly would come out and were very receptive to whatever she had to teach!”

Even over distance learning in the spring of 2020, Murphy continued to engage students with her puppet Molly, along with another puppet to act as Molly’s “student,” which helped to create a connection between school and home. After coming back into the classroom in the fall, Murphy felt it was more important than ever to include a unique social emotional aspect to her students' learning.

“Molly and the other puppet I had were really bulky and were not well designed for kids to play with, so I decided to write the grant to include puppets that the students could interact with,” said Murphy. “Kindergartners love animals of all shapes and sizes, so I decided to put the funding toward lots of woodland creatures. They each have different personalities and the students love interacting with them."

Murphy also has puppets representing different parts of the body. "We have an eyeball, an ear, a brain, and a heart. Having something to touch, play pretend, and try out new vocabulary with has been wonderful for students’ social emotional learning this school year!”

“The main goal is that the students can practice their skills and know that it is okay to make mistakes, try again, apologize, forgive, and keep growing together. It is my hope that the social emotional learning the students get this year carries with them to next year and beyond as they navigate living in a social world,” Murphy concluded.

In finding unique ways to expand learning and encourage students' interests, the classroom's puppet theatre encourages students to become a community. Murphy would like to thank the Minnetonka Foundation for all that they do, and for the opportunity to include this puppet theater in her class!