Students create and perform a shadow-puppet theater piece that brings a Chinese folktale to life through character design, movement, narration, voice, and simple music. Across the two-week camp, they build literacy by reading and retelling folktales, identifying characters, setting, problem, and theme with text evidence, and adapting those elements into scripts with support for multilingual learners. They study how Chinese shadow puppetry uses light, silhouette, and movement to communicate story, then use gallery walks, critique circles, revision, and daily reflection to strengthen puppet craftsmanship, collaboration, and performance skills. The work culminates in a mini theater celebration and artist talk for peers, staff, guests, and a local Chinese cultural partner.

Students will read and discuss Chinese folktales, retell key events, and identify character, setting, problem, and theme using evidence from the text, with EML supports such as visuals, modeled language frames, and oral rehearsal. They will analyze how Chinese shadow puppetry uses light, silhouette, movement, and voice to bring stories to life, then design and revise jointed shadow puppets and a narrated 2-minute scene that communicates meaning through clear movement, dialogue, sound effects, or simple music. Students will collaborate in critique circles, gallery walks, and daily reflection routines to give and apply feedback on craftsmanship, clarity, collaboration, and performance choices. They will present a polished shadow-puppet performance and a brief artist talk that explains one folktale detail, one design decision, and one revision made after feedback.

Students create folktale annotation pages, character and setting storyboards, script drafts with narration, dialogue, and sound effects, shadow-test notes, and jointed puppet prototypes that are revised through gallery walks, sticky-note feedback, and critique circles. They also produce a simple cardboard shadow stage, artist statement drafts, rehearsal plans, and simple music or sound cues that show how movement, language, light, and silhouette work together. By the end, each group presents a polished 2-minute shadow-puppet scene or folktale performance with crafted puppets, a narrated script, and live or recorded accompaniment in the mini theater. Students also share a short artist talk and a display of final puppets, scripts, and revision evidence for classmates, camp staff, families, and community guests to view up close.

Start with a Lantern Shadows experience: students watch a short YouTube demo from a local Chinese cultural association showing how Chinese shadow puppetry uses light, silhouette, movement, voice, and music to tell a folktale, then name what they notice about character, setting, problem, and theme. In pairs, they try quick puppet moves with simple paper cutouts and flashlights, test how shadow size and sharpness change, and predict how characters, language, and movement could bring a Chinese folktale to life on screen. Add a fast retelling challenge for multilingual learners in which partners sequence key events from a folktale and practice one narrated line and one sound effect. Close with a whole-group discussion of the essential question, questions for the cultural partner, and one story idea they may want to explore in their own 2-minute scene.

Host a Shadow Stage Celebration that transforms the room into a mini theater with cardboard screens, white tissue-paper fronts, and flashlight or desk-lamp lighting for rotating 2-minute performances. Invite classmates, camp staff, families, and a local Chinese cultural association to watch groups bring Chinese folktales to life through narration, dialogue, puppet movement, silhouette, and simple music. Surround the stage with a gallery walk of puppets, storyboards, script pages, and shadow tests where guests can leave quick rubric-based notes on clarity, craftsmanship, and storytelling. Include a brief artist talk from each group explaining one folktale detail, one design choice, and one revision they made after peer feedback.