Lesson: Clay Creatures
Goal:
Students will identify positive characteristics within themselves and others and recreate these characteristics in their clay creatures. As a result students will understand that clay can be used to represent their ideas.
- create works of art that articulate more sophisticated ideas, feelings, emotions, and points of view about art and design through an expanded use of media and technologies
- develop and build appropriate mastery in art-making skills, using traditional and new technologies and an understanding of the characteristics and expressive features of art and design
- make informed critical evaluations of visual and material culture, information, and technologies
Pre- Assessment:
- Can students explain their reasoning for attributes they demonstrate in their artistic decisions?
- Can students demonstrate techniques for texturing clay such as stamping, pushing, extruding, and modeling?
- Can students construct their ideal creature by building a pinch pot and scoring and slipping?
- Can students use texture and color to communicate intended artistic meaning of their clay creatures?
- Can students identify sculptures by Pablo Picasso and Bruce Metcalf?
Objectives/Standards:
- Students will be able to explain their reasoning for attributes they demonstrate in their artistic decisions.
- Students will be able to demonstrate techniques for texturing clay such as stamping, pushing, extruding, and modeling.
- Students will be able to construct their ideal creature by building a pinch pot and scoring and slipping.
- Students will be able to use texture and color to communicate intended artistic meaning of their clay creatures.
- Students will be able to identify sculptures by Pablo Picasso and Bruce Metcalf.
Accommodations:
For students who struggle working in a 3D medium you can accommodate them by asking them to roll out a slab and draw their creature on the slab using their needle tool like a pencil. This will offer students another possibility while still remaining in the clay process and creating an end product that can be fired.
Resources:
- Hombordy, Hanna. “Fantasy Creatures”. Pottery Making Illustrated July/Aug. 2004: 25-28. Print.
- Friesen, Christi. “Steampunk Polymer Clay Creatures.” Available at: tp://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/10/steampunk_polymer_clay_creatur.html.
- “Fantasy Play with Clay.” Available at: http://ooglyfun.blogspot.com/2011/07/fantasy-play-with-clay.html. 15 September 2011.
Materials:
- Clay
- Slip
- Heavy duty trash bags
- Duct tape
- Newspaper
- Rolling pin
- Canvas pieces 16’’x20’’
- 2’x2’ demonstration board
- Ceramics tools – needle tool, popsicles sticks, paper clips
- screen
- Materials for creating texture – forks, sticks, hard ware, etc.
- Bins for cleanup and storage
- Rags for clean up
- Paint brushes
- Acrylic paint
- Paper plates for palettes
- Water cups
- Hot glue gun
- Assemblage pieces – buttons, feathers, string, nuts and bolts, etc.
- epoxy
Preparation:
Day 1
- Tape edges of screen so students won’t poke themselves
- Tape heavy duty trash bags over all of the students desks
- Place a piece of canvas at each students desk for them to work on
- Hang the students drawings on the wall as a point of reference while creating their creatures
Day 2
- Fire ceramic sculptures in the kiln
- Epoxy wings, tails, and other appendages that did not survive firing process
- Place creatures on the shelf near the door
- Cover students desks with newsprint
- Place paper plates at students work place, put primary colors and white and black on each
Motivation:
Day 1
- Last week while the students were taking their assessments we asked them to write anything they were interested in or wanted to know more about on the back side of the paper. The majority of the students mentioned that they were interested in animals. The clay creature’s lesson plan is suited to the student’s interests and should therefore increase their motivation to engage in the activity.
- Working with a new material should also spark interest in the project.
- The demonstration is intended to be informational and inspirational. I want the demonstration to be quick and energetic in order to show them creative possibilities while motivating them to create their own.
Day 2
- Show the class images of CSU artists who have created ceramic creatures. By showing work of local CSU artists students will see that great art is created by lots of different people and not just famous artists. This will bring the art world closer to the students by showing them work that is accessible in their community.
- Relate to obstacles students faced during the lesson last week to obstacles we have also encountered.
-“When we work we have problems too, Jackie’s piece cracked in the kiln too but she was able to problem solve and create this work of art.” Jackie’s horse is a good example of persistence.
Procedure:
Day 1 Start the Day- 8:00 – 8:30
- Tamara will ask students to gather at the red rug
- Take attendance
- Other “start the day” activities such as me bags and Name, Number, Feeling
Introduction- 8:30 – 8:35
- Ask students if they remember what the lesson was last week
- Creating cities
- Possibilities of the world
- The word ideal
- Last week we created ideal cities, this week we will create the creatures that belong in the world we created.
- It is important that you give your creatures special characteristics that are ideal such as,
- Have students list some characteristics they could give to their creature
- Show students examples of clay creatures using the smart board
Demonstration- 8:35- 8:45
- Show students how to wedge clay
- Explain that this is necessary to remove air bubbles
- After clay is wedged roll out a slab on canvas using a rolling pin
- Cut out two squares with a needle tool to be used to create the body
- Join the two squares over a piece of crumpled newspaper to create the body
- Poke holes in the body with a needle tool to allow air to be released during firing
- Tell students that clay has to be hollow when it is fired so it won’t explode
- Attach a head and show students how to scratch and glue(score and slip) the pieces together
- Add texture and other objects to give the creature character
Activity- 8:45- 9:35
- After the demonstration have students return to their seats
- It is important that at this point that their workspaces are empty so there is nothing to distract them
- Before the activity begins talk about the importance of safety with the materials
- This is very important so make sure to take the time to hold the attention of everyone
- Make it very clear that the key to success for this lesson is respect for the materials and instruction from the teacher. And as the teacher let it be known that you will have no problem assigning the students a different assignment such as drawing their creatures after the first sign of behavior problems from anyone.
- Hand out supplies and ask students to begin creating their creatures.
- During the activity the teacher should address student needs on an individual level.
- While students are working be sure to ask lots of questions such as,
- What is the most important part of your creature? How can you represent that visually?
- What makes your creature different?
- Why does he have his unique features?
- Where does your creature live?
- Does your creature belong to a community?
Clean Up- 9:35 – 9:50
- Use the wind chime to gather students attention, assign three cleaning groups
- The first group will go to each work station and carefully place the finished creatures in a bin.
- Give this group three bins, six creatures for each bin
- After the first group has picked up the art work the second group will follow them to the work stations and pick up the extra clay and tools and place them into separate containers
- Give this group two bins, one for clay and one for tools
- The third group will follow the second and wipe down the work stations with a rag and remove the trash bags from the tables and place them in the trash
- After the first group finishes their cleaning task ask them to wash their hands. The groups will also take turns at the sink.
Day 2 Start the Day- 8:00-8:30
1. Tamara will ask students to gather at the red rug
2. Take attendance and ask students who is thumbs up and who is thumbs down
Introduction- 8:30-8:50
1. Today we will be giving our creatures their own unique personalities.
- Give you creature a name
- What makes your creature special?
- What kind of personality does your creature have?
- What characteristics does your creature have?
2. Have students return to their seats
3. Show power point of ceramics creatures.
- Explain that fine art does not just exist in art museums in New York and Paris; they can go just down the road to CSU to see art work in their local community.
- Discuss problems that students had with the ceramic process and relate that to work we have created ourselves.
4. Demonstration on color mixing
-discuss primary/secondary colors, warm/cool, shades/tints
-hand out paint brushes
-as you demonstrate color mixing ask students to mix colors along with you
-First mix primaries to make secondary colors
-ask questions such as, “If we mix yellow and blue we make green, what happens if we add more yellow? What is different about the new color?
-next demonstrate shading and tinting
-“Now that we have made green what happens if we add white?”
Activity- 8:50-9:40
1. Ask students to find their creatures they created last week
- One table at a time to get up and find their work.
2. Encourage students to mix their paint to create unique colors to suit their creature’s unique personalities
- What colors did you mix to create the color you are painting with now?
- Is that a warm or a cool color?
- Is this a primary or secondary color?
3. There will be a station for gluing assemblage pieces to their creatures.
- Safety is very important when working with the hot glue guns, before they begin using them explain how they are properly used
- put glue on ceramic piece and then attach assemblage piece, do not put glue directly on the assemblage piece because they will be more likely to burn their fingers
-only a tiny dot is necessary
-explain that careful use will be enforced, after the first problem their privilege to use hot glue will be removed
- Only 3-4 students will be allowed at the gluing station at one time
4. as students near completion hand out the creature bios
-ask students to write 2-3 sentences for each of the following questions; What special powers does your creature have? Where does your creature live? Does your creature have any friends or family? Who are they?
5. If students finish everything early have them draw their clay creatures and their special characteristics.
Clean Up- 9:40-9:50
1. Number students into groups of three
2. Group one will work with a partner
-each group of partners will be given a bin. One partner will carry the bin and the other partner will help them fill the bin with finished art work
-have the partners place their bins on the shelf by the door
-when group one finishes their task they can help group two with their task
3. Group two will be responsible for cleaning brushes, emptying water cups, and placing art materials in a cleanup bin
4. Group three will be responsible for cleaning up used palettes and newsprint and throwing away all the trash
Post Assessment:
1. Did students explain their reasoning for attributes they demonstrate in their artistic decisions?
2. Did students demonstrate techniques for texturing clay such as stamping, pushing, extruding, and modeling?
3. Did students construct their ideal creature by building a pinch pot and scoring and slipping?
4. Did students use texture and color to communicate intended artistic meaning of their clay creatures?
5. Did students identify sculptures by Pablo Picasso and Bruce Metcalf?
Reflection:
This lesson taught me to never underestimate the incredible potential of my students. Although I felt shaky during my introduction and demonstration the students created wonderful works of art. I think my classroom management was supplemented by the materials we used in class. Students responded well to working with clay and the extruder. I also learned the invaluable lesson never to bring balloons into the art room.