Attention Teachers Of Kids ages 3-8!
Did You Know...Some Experts Estimate THAT
NEARLY 50% OF TODAY’S NEW TEACHERS WILL
Quit THE CLASSROOM FOR GOOD
BEFORE THEIR 5TH YEAR OF TEACHING???!!!
Why would teachers like you who spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars preparing for classroom careers, QUIT so soon after they began?
Among other things, teachers today are expected to cover academic content while ALSO expertly meeting the intellectual, creative and social-emotional needs of individual students—often without
cutting-edge training, necessary support or relevant resources.
These expectations alone can prove daunting! But teachers don’t usually know about these things at first...
After all, when you were still in college,
did anyone ever tell you that as a
teacher you’d be expected to...
1. Meet a diverse array of student needs, including a wide range of student abilities, behaviors, learning styles and differences—some of which you weren't familiar with or never trained for?
2. Know how to instantly implement an assortment of teaching strategies designed to meet these individual needs?
3. Manage classroom behavior in ways that ensure a welcoming, safe, supportive, and productive learning environment—especially for those kids who are easily distracted or who experience social-emotional challenges?
4. Prepare children for testing requirements, with the secret worry that if your kids didn’t do well, you might have your professional skills and reputation called into question?
5. Work with limited resources—or with those that are outdated, ineffective or boring?
6. Cope with ongoing stress, fatigue and burnout?
OF COURSE NOT!
OF COURSE NOT!
After 30+ years as a teacher in brick-and-mortar classrooms, at home and online, I know how much you love kids AND I know how hard you work!
I see you doing ALL The Things, ALL At Once, ALL The Time!
I also see you…
√ FEELING OVERWHELMED, UNDER-SUPPORTED AND INADEQUATE as you struggle to serve the diverse needs of all the kids you teach—including those with behavioral and
social-emotional issues.
√ WASTING WAY TOO MUCH CLASS TIME getting your kids to pay attention, listen up and cooperate so they can learn and grow in positive ways.
√ SPENDING WAY TOO MUCH OF YOUR OWN MONEY to make class lessons and activities creative and interesting so your kids will be hooked on learning.
AND…even though you LOVE YOUR KIDS and want to do your ABSOLUTE BEST for them…
I know you sometimes secretly FEEL LIKE QUITTING ALTOGETHER.
If any or all of this sounds familiar,
Don’t Despair!
It’s NOT your fault, you’re NOT alone and
THERE IS A SOLUTION!
You really CAN feel relaxed, successful, and satisfied
in your work with young children—while STILL having
time AND energy left over for a life outside the classroom!
If you’re thinking, “That sounds IDEAL,
but I don’t know how to get there...“
You need to read EVERY WORD
of this exciting letter, because
it could change the quality
of your life as a teacher from
this day forward…
Let‘s Get REAL...Teaching Young Learners Is A Highly Demanding Job:
• You‘re center stage for hours a day with a group of kids who present a wide range of needs, challenges, interests and abilities.
• You must answer to administrators, family members and even to yourself.
• When you‘re not teaching, you‘re thinking, worrying, planning, organizing, decorating, shopping, reporting, meeting, training,
conferring...yadda, yadda, yadda! WHEW!
If you‘re like me, you‘ve had secret thoughts such as...
“No matter how hard I work, I’m never finished. I work all day and
take work home besides!”
“I spend too much time getting kids to listen and pay attention!
There are so many distractions. I can’t compete with screens!”
“I love my kids, but they come to school with so many different interests, needs and challenges. How can I help each of them?”
“Preparing kids for testing is SO FREAKING HARD!”
“Our curriculum isn't always interesting to ME; how can I hope
to make it interesting for THEM?”
“How can I fit fun and creativity into our day? I’m already swamped
with so many things we need to get done!”
Truth: I've Felt Your Pain!
Plenty of times I’ve had to be the “bad guy,” insisting my kids complete work they found to be too challenging, bland or irrelevant.
They wanted to do this and I had to insist they do that.
Some of my kids struggled with learning and behavioral issues
I felt unprepared to deal with.
My heart broke anytime I watched kids try and fail . . .
again and again.
And I knew if they were failing socially or academically, I was somehow failing them!
There comes a day when you must say,
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”
√ Enough with constantly struggling to get kids to LISTEN UP AND PAY ATTENTION!
√ Enough with trying a zillion different approaches to managing children’s behaviors and meeting their needs—along with customizing approaches for each child.
√ Enough with spending your own time and money trying to make dull curriculums and tedious test prep seem enticing to kids—especially when YOU YOURSELF ARE BORED TO TEARS!
√ Enough with constantly second-guessing yourself or with beating yourself up for so many factors you can't control.
It‘s time you discovered
an INSTANT and IRRESISTABLE
Teaching Resource that
EASILY and EFFORTLESSLY
CAPTURES AND HOLDS KIDS‘ ATTENTION!!!
And if you’re wondering...
What do MY KIDS’
ATTENTION SPANS
have to do with
MY CAREER
SATISFACTION?
It‘s because when kids are ALL IN—
When their behavior shows they‘re genuinely excited about school lessons and activities,
they eagerly participate in their own learning!
And When THAT Happens,Your
Tedious Teaching Job Magically Morphs Into
“The Career of Your Dreams!"
It makes sense that
if grabbing and holding
kids’ attention
is CRUCIAL for both
Their School Success
AND Your Job Satisfaction,
There can be no better teaching tool
to include in your day than. . .
PUPPETS !
PUPPETS !
Puppets are a guaranteed KID FAVORITE!
They’re a LOW-COST or NO-COST
teaching resource you can easily pair
with your existing lessons and activities —
Nothing extra to fit into your busy day!
Now, more than ever before, puppets are a powerful,
effective and fun teaching tool that can easily help you...
Fall in Love with Teaching Again!
Fall in Love with Teaching Again!
Puppets can brighten your days and lighten your load!
Once you begin including puppets in your teaching efforts,
you’ll wonder how you managed without them!
How Do I Know All Of This Is Truly POSSIBLE?
Because It’s Exactly What Happened to ME!
When I discovered how to use puppets to get kids to pay attention easily and effortlessly,
my job became so much easier!
I experienced far less stress and much more fun teaching! And my kids were more eager to learn and participate than ever before.
By developing simple puppet personalities that mirrored my kids’ struggles, aligned
with their frustrations, and embodied their interests, problems and perspectives,
I Unlocked the KEY to Teaching JOY!
I discovered that puppets provide a “seriously playful” approach to helping kids learn.
And why not? After all, puppets are warm and whimsical. And because they are so much fun to watch, touch and listen to, puppets hold gobs of sensory appeal
The power puppets have to get kids to listen, share, cooperate and complete schoolwork is astounding!
“Puppets Created DRAMATIC CHANGES In My Teaching Days!“
Thanks to puppets, my kids’ resistance to schoolwork plummeted to NEAR ZERO as our levels of learning fun SOARED!
Even kids with challenging learning issues and social-emotional challenges began to look forward to participating!
And the BEST PART? I could easily customize puppet interactions to instantly meet the intellectual and social-emotional needs of individual children! WOW!
I’m So Excited to Share These Resources with You!
I know what puppets did for me and my kids.
I know they can do the same for you and your kids.
I’m not kidding! Puppets changed everything!
All at once—
√ Kids who rarely listened paid close attention
√ Unfocused kids were zeroed instead of straying
√ Wiggle worms grew calm and centered!
Even better—
√ Kids with anger issues became puppet peacemakers
√ Kids with test jitters offered test-taking tips to the puppets, and
√ Kids who hated doing schoolwork suddenly loved helping our puppets do theirs!
And BEST of all...I looked forward to doing my job!
Each day, I arrived at school confident that I had at the ready a proven and positive play-based method for grabbing and holding my kids‘ attention.
And this method also worked to promote their social-emotional growth.
And now it’s YOUR TURN!
Now YOU can let puppets help transform your stressful job
into your DREAM CAREER!
Using puppets in the classroom
isn’t a new idea −
It’s a tried and true one that WORKS—
Once You Know What You're Doing!
But no worries! Even if you have ZERO IDEA how to put PUPPETS to work for you, I can help you EASILY and QUICKLY get up to speed with PUPPETS in NO TIME FLAT
—EVEN IF YOU’VE NEVER TRIED USING A PUPPET WITH KIDS—AND EVEN IF
YOU NEVER, EVER WANT TO!!!
Hi! I'm Mary Beth Spann Mank
I'm a devoted wife, mom, teacher, education writer and PUPPETEER!
I’ve always loved puppets so naturally I wanted to bring them to my classroom and incorporate them into our lessons and activities.
But I found out the hard way that using puppets as teaching tools without first knowing some simple how-to’s can result in a disaster!
My First Attempts at Using Puppets
in the Classroom Were
CRINGE-WORTHY!
Happily, I hung in there! In time, I developed simple strategies and techniques
that work every time to have kids interested and engaged in their own learning!
STICKING WITH IT PAID OFF!
Not only did I unlock effective ways to pair puppets with lessons and activities, but I became super-skilled at putting them to work to meet my children’s intellectual, creative, and social-emotional needs!
Puppets didn’t solve everything perfectly. (Nothing can do that.)
But they DID provide me with a creative, reliable tool I could use to deal thoughtfully and positively with whatever came my way--
and they can do the same for YOU--all without my steep learning curve!
Thanks to Using Puppets as Teaching Tools You Will:
√ Arrive at school each day prepared and ready to go.
√ Feel energized and refreshed throughout the day
√ Be ready with positive solutions for unexpected problems
√ Feel better about your skills and abilities as a teacher.
With Puppets On Hand (LOL!) Your Kids Will:
√ Cheerfully work alone or with others
√ Easily engage in lessons and activities
√ Feel understood and validated
√ Become kinder and more helpful.
Most importantly, with puppets in the mix,
my KIDS’ RESISTANCE to schoolwork and responsibilities
DROPPED TO AN ALL-TIME LOW—and yours can, too!
You can say "SO LONG!" to negative consequences
and "Hello!" to powerful, positive solutions that
work time and time again!
WHEEE!!!
After honing my puppetry skills in my own classroom,
I became passionate about sharing my discoveries with other teachers like YOU.
√ I wrote Learn-the-Alphabet Puppet Pals, published by Scholastic, Inc.
√ I presented my “Teaching with Puppets” workshops locally & nationally
√ I visited libraries and classrooms to spread the joy of puppets
with teachers, librarians, children and their families.
√ I even had the honor of interviewing legendary puppeteer, Shari Lewis,
for an article published in INSTRUCTOR, a national teaching magazine!
And now for my NEWEST Way to Share Puppet Fun...
Puppets images used with permission from Folkmanis® Puppets
Introducing. . .
The Learning with Puppets
Membership!
The Learning with Puppets
Membership!
FEATURING Puppet Resources for
BOTH Types of Puppet Teachers:
A Totally Affordable Treasure Trove of
Digital, Play-based, Puppet-inspired
Teaching Resources
for Use with Children Ages 3-8!
Eager to Use Puppets as
Powerful Teaching Tools
“Done-For-You“
Puppet Teachers!
“Do-It-Yourself”
Puppet Teachers
&
Hungry for Ready-to-Use
Puppet Videos & Printables!
Use EITHER or BOTH Types of Resources To Help You...
Fall in Love with Teaching Again!
Use EITHER or BOTH Types of Resources To Help You...
Fall in Love with Teaching Again!
Learning with Puppets Relies on an
INFORMAL APPROACH to Puppetry.
This means you will NOT need:
1.) Expensive
Professional Puppets
3.) Ventriloquism Skills
2.) Prior experience using puppets with kids
5.) An Elaborate Puppet Stage
4.) Prepared Puppet Scripts
Instead, the Informal Puppetry Resources in my LWP Membership
are designed to help you :
√ Manage your classroom with ease
√ Engage children in their own learning like never before
√ Creatively explore communication skills and concepts together
√ Easily pair puppet fun with lessons and activities
√ Expertly address your children’s strengths and challenges
√ Infuse your classroom with lightness and brightness
√ Establish a warm and welcoming classroom climate
√ Address your children’s challenges with sensitivity
√ Happily look forward to your school days together.
Squeak!
Hey, Mary Beth!
Hi, Mousie Mouse!
What “Do-It-Yourself“
Puppet Resources
Are Inside The
LWP Membership?
LWP Members Get Immediate Access To ALL the Incredible “Do-It-Yourself “
Puppet Resources Described BELOW!
• ONE 60-Minute Master Class: Watch it all in one sitting or start and stop to suit your schedule! (Printable Class Notes included.) Master Class Topics Include:
√ Research-based pedagogy supporting the practice of using puppets as teaching tools
√ Tips for choosing a puppet and bringing it to life with voice and movement.
√ Strategies for inviting children to help develop and expand a puppet's personality
√ How puppet personalities invite children to sit up, lean in, listen up and participate in their own learning as never before
√ Ways puppets can be used to effectively address the full range of interests and challenges children bring to learning situations
√ A host of practical start-up ideas so you can begin to incorporate play-based puppetry into your own teaching efforts with the children you care for.
My “Teaching with Puppets” Master Class promises to help you feel comfortable and confident picking up a puppet
and using it as a teaching tool with your kids!
“What Others Are Saying...”
“Thank you so much for this
great (Teaching with Puppets) workshop! I learned a lot that
I look forward to using with my students”
—Lea R., Student,
Molloy University Department of Education, Rockville Center, NY
"Thank you so very much, Mary Beth, for presenting your ‘Teaching with Puppets’ Workshop to our education students and preservice teachers! You were terrific in your ability to provide both a pedagogical and practical foundation for using
puppets as teaching and learning tools with children. Looking forward to future collaborations with you!"
— Francine Wisnewski, Ed.D, Director of Undergraduate and Dual Degree Programs, Molloy University, Rockville Centre, NY
“The passion Mary Beth has for helping teachers by showing them how to use puppets to teach is simply amazing!
The body of knowledge she was able to gather throughout her career is
unique!”
— Elie Castonguay, Author,
Living from Your Art: Practical Business Advice to Help Artists Get More Work
“This ebook is chock-full of every single thing I know from decades of using puppets effectively in school with kids!
“It includes all you need to know to easily create believable
puppet personalities your kids will respond to like magic!“
As Little Mouse likes to say...
When Puppets
Come to School,
Teaching & Learning
Come to Life!
Peek Inside this Terrific eBook!
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Why Use Puppets?
Chapter Two
Setting the Stage
Chapter Three
Exploring Puppet Models
Chapter Four
Experimenting with Voice & Movement
Chapter Five
Developing a Puppet’s Personality
Chapter Six
Management Tips & Techniques
Chapter Seven
Using Puppets as Problem Solvers
Chapter Eight
Enhancing Skills & Concepts Across the Curriculum
Chapter Nine
Helping Children Make and Use Puppets
Puppetry Resources
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Why Use Puppets?
Chapter Two
Setting the Stage
Chapter Three
Exploring Puppet Models
Chapter Four
Experimenting with Voice & Movement
Chapter Five
Developing a Puppet’s Personality
Chapter Six
Management Tips & Techniques
Chapter Seven
Using Puppets as Problem Solvers
Chapter Eight
Enhancing Skills & Concepts Across the Curriculum
Chapter Nine
Helping Children Make and Use Puppets
Puppetry Resources
Make Friends!
Have Fun!
Share Ideas!
Solve Problems!
Ask Questions!
Get Feedback!
Gain Support!
You’ll have fun meeting with me and other like-minded teachers eager to share experiences and learn more and better ways to use puppets with kids. Get all the ongoing support and guidance you need to create a meaningful, memorable teaching and learning experience
YOU WILL LOVE!
Hello again,
Mary Beth!
Hi, Mousie Mouse!
Thanks for the info about the
DIY Puppet Resources.
So What “Done-For-You“
Puppet Resources
Are Inside
The LWP Membership?
LWP Members Get Immediate Access to ALL The Incredible
“Done-For-You“
Puppet Resources Described
BELOW!
• The resources are designed to help you and your children, ages 3-8, happily explore English Language communication skills involving speaking, listening, reading, writing and thinking.
• With an average running time of 4 minutes, each amusing video is short enough to
hold kids’ attention (YAY!) while meaningful enough to make a lasting impact on their
young hearts and minds
• The full color, live-action videos star charming puppet characters you and your kids will fall in love with!
• Each short video presents a captivating storyline that invites children to explore themes,
skills and concepts essential to an effective, sensitive, and meaningful language arts curriculum.
• Detailed video summaries and guiding questions ensure you can select materials that are the perfect fit for your teaching goals and their interests.
Remember, we want to grab and hold your children’s attention, both for their viewing pleasure and for maximum learning value, and . . . TO HELP MAKE YOUR LIFE AS A TEACHER A JOY!
The PUPPET VIDEOS Focus on Early English Language Communication
SKILLS and CONCEPTS, Such As:
• Alphabet Awareness • Phonics • Spelling • Grammar • Rhyming Words
• Action Verbs • Homophones • Descriptive Language • Vocabulary Development
• Reading Fluency • Punctuation • Brainstorming • Problem Solving
...and Much More!
The PUPPET VIDEOS also Feature Fun, Familiar and Popular THEMES,
Such As:
Family & Friendship • Appreciation • Back to School • Seasons • Holidays
• Favorite Foods • Time • Weather • Dinosaurs • Favorite Books • Bedtime
...and Many More!
With
New Videos & Printables
Being Added
Continually!
Each Learning with Puppet Video comes complete
with its own set of Teacher Prep and Student Follow-up Printables.
As Little Mouse likes to say...
When the Video
Viewing Is Done,
the Fun’s
Just Begun!
The Printables Include pages designed to help you prepare, present,
follow-up, extend and enhance the video viewing experience, such as:
√ Video Summaries
√ Questions To Ask Before and After Viewing the Video
√ Video Scripts — for read alouds and letter/word identification
√ Collaborative Book Covers and Pages—for creating your own class library
√ Readers’ Theater Passages—to help foster fluency
√ Storytelling Passages and Patterns
√ Grammar and Vocabulary Skill Sheets
√ Alphabet, Phonics and Spelling Practice Pages
√ Word Play Activities
√ Poetry Pages
√ Listening Games
. . . And Many More!
Make Friends!
Have Fun!
Share Ideas!
Ask Questions!
Explore Solutions!
Get Feedback!
Gain Support!
You’ll have fun meeting with me and other like-minded teachers eager to share experiences and learn more and better ways to use puppets with kids. Get all the ongoing support and guidance you need to create a meaningful, memorable teaching and learning experience
YOU WILL LOVE!
Together, the Learning with Puppets Videos and Companion Printables
give you everything you need to provide your children with
AMAZING and ENGAGING LEARNING EXPERIENCES.
And REMEMBER. . .
When your kids HAPPILY AND MEANINGFULLY
ENGAGE IN THEIR OWN LEARNING,
they progress and grow in marvelous ways.
When that happens...DRUMROLL...
YOU’LL BE LIVING YOUR
TEACHER LIFE!
With puppets in the mix, you’ll look forward to each school day,
feeling happy, confident and energized in your role as a teacher.
Your kids will enthusiastically respond to the amazingly
creative, classroom-tested, play-based puppet resources you’ll find inside the
Learning with Puppets Membership!
You’ll soon see for yourself how much lighter and happier
you feel knowing you have a way to
EASILY HOLD YOUR KIDS’ ATTENTION
as you teach, support, engage, validate and serve them
WITH ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL FUN-FILLED, CREATIVE RESOURCES POSSIBLE!
“What Others Are Saying...”
“I love, love, love this Membership!
Kids and teachers alike are very lucky to have an experienced educator like Mary Beth Spann Mank teaching essential skills via this compelling cast of funny puppet friends.”
— Liza Charlesworth
Executive Editor, Acquisitions & Development, Scholastic Inc.
President, Lefty’s Editorial Services
“Learning with Puppets is an innovative way for young children to experience the joy of puppetry while exploring important language arts skills and concepts.
“It’s a wonderfully executed and comprehensive resource—and it's all keyed to the Common Core State Standards for Literacy. I highly recommend it to teachers and parents.”
— Jennifer Bova, Director, OWL Teacher Center, Lindenhurst, NY
“The lively Learning with Puppets videos are sure to captivate young minds making it much easier to help them master Language Arts skills and concepts!”
— Carolyn Savuto-Borrerro, Early Childhood Education Expert, Board of Cooperative Educational Services, Suffolk County, NY
But Mary Beth, what happens
in the unlikely event that
a teacher joins the Membership and then decides it’s not right
for them or their kids?
No worries, Mousie Mouse!
We want our Members to be HAPPY!
Members can join RISK FREE!
And they can leave at any time—with no questions asked
and no additional payments owed! .
Not only that, but any Member
who decides to say goodbye
can keep any and all of the fun resources they collected while
still a Member!
That’s My Gift and
My Guarantee!
Still Sitting On The Fence?
Take Another Look at ALL the Wonderfully Creative Resources Waiting for You Inside The Learning with Puppets Membership!
Remember: Members Get Instant Access to EVERYTHING!
The LWP Do-It-Yourself Resources Include:
• My Signature Online “Teaching with Puppets” 60-Minute Master Class which promises to have you feeling comfortable and confident with beginning to use a puppet as a powerful teaching tool with your kids. Printable class notes included.
• The Official Teaching with Puppets Manual, an eBook including all you need to know to easily create believable puppet personalities your kids will respond to like magic!
The LWP Done-For-You Resources Include:
• A Rich Collection of Fun and Funny Educational PUPPET VIDEOS designed to help you and your children, ages 3-8, happily explore English Language communication skills involving speaking, listening, reading, writing and thinking—with new videos and printables being added on a continuing basis!
• Puppet Videos Focusing on Important English Language SKILLS and CONCEPTS, such as:
• Alphabet Awareness • Phonics
• Spelling • Grammar
• Rhyming Words • Action Verbs
• Homophones • Descriptive Language
• Vocabulary Development • Reading Fluency
• Punctuation • Brainstorming
• Problem Solving...and Much More!
• Puppet Videos Featuring Fun, Familiar and Popular THEMES, such as:
• Family & Friendship • Appreciation
• Back to School • Seasons • Holidays
• Weather • Time
• Foods and Nutrition
• Dinosaurs • Favorite Books
• Bedtime...and Many More!
• Detailed Video Summaries, Read-Aloud Scripts and Guiding Questions so you can select materials that are the perfect fit for your teaching goals and your student’s needs and interests.
• Sets of Instant and Irresistible PRINTABLES Keyed to each Puppet Video and designed
to help you prepare, present, follow-up, extend and enhance the video viewing experience,
such as:
• Alphabet, Phonics Pages
• Spelling Practice Activities
• Readers’ Theater Selections to foster fluency and class comradely
• Storytelling Passages & Patterns
• Grammar & Vocabulary Skill Sheets
• Sequencing Activities
• Collaborative Book Covers & Pages for creating your own class library
• Word Play Activities
• Poetry Pages
• Listening Games...and Much More!
PLUS...as a Member in Good Standing, You’ll Be Able to
Join Other LWP Family Members and ME
for Our Monthly Online Meet-Ups!
No matter which type of Puppet Teacher you are—a “DYI-er” or a “Done-for-You-er” or BOTH—you’ll have fun meeting with me and other like-minded teachers all eager to share classroom experiences and excited to learn more and better ways to use puppets with kids.
You’ll appreciate making friends as you enjoy the ongoing support and guidance you’ll receive. Finally you’ll be able to create a meaningful, memorable teaching and learning experiences your kids will benefit from and that
YOU WILL LOVE!
Hey, Little Mouse!
You’re a poet and
don’t know it!
Hey Mary Beth!
Tell our friends how many COINS
they’ll need to JOIN
the LWP Membership!
For just $17 a month,
you can join the
Learning with Puppets Membership
& gain INSTANT ACCESS
to ALL the AMAZING Resources Inside !
To JOIN, just Click
the Button Below!
My puppet friends and
I will see you on the
Other Side!
I understand I will be billed
at the rate of $17 $7 USD each month after that for as long as I remain a member.
Your Satisfaction Is Guaranteed!
After joining the LWP Membership,
you’re welcome to stay for as long as you like
or opt-out at any time with
no questions asked and no additional payments due.
You’re invited to keep any resources
you enjoyed during your stay!
