"I come from... Clay!"
I taught an art workshop for 4th and 5th grade kids through my Practicum in Art Education class.
This workshop was the second in a series of three workshops with the same group of kids.
For their first workshop, they created poems where every line started with "I come from."
Our objective for the second workshop was to find something written in their poems that was tangible and create clay sculptures of those objects.
This workshop was the second in a series of three workshops with the same group of kids.
For their first workshop, they created poems where every line started with "I come from."
Our objective for the second workshop was to find something written in their poems that was tangible and create clay sculptures of those objects.
LESSON PLAN
TEACHERS: Laura Bubar and Janna Dewan
UNIT TITLE: I Come From…
ART LESSON TITLE: I Come From… Clay!
GRADE LEVEL: 4th and 5th graders
MATERIALS:
TEACHER PREP:
DAY-OF PREP:
INTRODUCTION (5 minutes)
ACTIVITY
CLEAN-UP (5 minutes)
ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY (10 minutes)
TEACHERS: Laura Bubar and Janna Dewan
UNIT TITLE: I Come From…
ART LESSON TITLE: I Come From… Clay!
GRADE LEVEL: 4th and 5th graders
MATERIALS:
- White paper
- Pencils
- (75lb) 20G clay
- Plastic cups for slip
- Canvas mats or towels
- Bamboo skewers and various other tools to make texture (plastic forks, knives, etc)
- (2) 5-gallon rinse buckets
- Slip
- Wire tools
TEACHER PREP:
- Make demo clay objects
- Mix slip
- Gather artist examples, print out
DAY-OF PREP:
- Arrange on students’ tables:
- Paper and pencils
- Canvas mat
- Set up clay materials and examples on teachers’ table.
INTRODUCTION (5 minutes)
- Refer to poem and last week’s workshop, “childhood item”
- What is clay? Has anyone ever played with clay before? What have you made?
- Artist examples
- Show demos, briefly mention clay technique: clay thickness, slab built vs. pinch pot
- Make sure they understand that although they may make more than one piece out of clay, that only ONE piece will be fired
- Point out that we are only sculpting the object, NOT glazing this week
ACTIVITY
- Quick sketch of childhood object from poem(5 minutes)
- Teacher talks to each student about idea, how to execute plan
- Student show and tell, answer any questions (5 minutes)
- Ask specific questions about their pieces, get them to say more than just what they decided to make
- Teach technique (10 minutes): Slabs/pinch pot, scratch & attach, wall thickness
- Keep examples of a slab and a pinch pot up front
- Pass out clay
- Clay rules/objectives: no throwing clay, clean up, keep to your own space
- Remind them about thickness of clay
- Remind them to scratch & attach
- Play with clay! (35 minutes)
- Practice making a slab (2 minutes)
- Practice making a pinch pot (3 minutes)
- Pick one technique and make your object (30 minutes)
- Teachers trouble-shoot with individual students
- Gallery walk (5 minutes)
- Have the students get up and walk around to look at each other's progress
- Ask each student to pick out one that they find interesting or have a question about
- Play with clay! (continued) (25 minutes)
- Encourage students that are “ finished” to add detail and texture
- Students may make a second piece with the understanding that only one piece will be fired
- Students who finish early can help clean up: extra clay, bamboo skewers, slip containers
- Make sure they rinse their hands in buckets
CLEAN-UP (5 minutes)
- Each student will be responsible for picking up their own materials, leaving their finished piece at their station
ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY (10 minutes)
- Show & tell - students will remain at their station
- Ask leading questions to facilitate a discussion (What did you like about this project? What was difficult? How does your piece relate to your poem? etc..)
- Remind the students that they will be glazing next week.
