Clay Excitement

I can't wait to put these babies in the kiln!  These are 7th grade creations.  I ask that my 7th graders create hollow forms from pinch pots and transform them into their own works with a minimum of two attachments.  I remind them that I'm focused on them practicing their hand building skills, especially their score and slip techniques.  I want them to be creative in their art making while building on and practicing their clay skills.  I can't wait to get them glazed!  But for now, here is a sneak peak of a few greenware items:

 

Terra Cotta Warriors

Artwork inspired by the Chinese Terra Cotta Warriors:

The latest and greatest Terra Cotta Warriors!  For a detailed description of the lesson and process, check out previous posts here and here and here.  However, one thing I have changed about my teaching is due to some new technology I have at my disposal.  I have a SMART TV in my classroom--think giant television sized tablet.  The TV is amazing and I love that it has replaced my projector.  One of the main things I love about it is that I don't have to have the lights off to see what is on the screen.  This is my favorite feature because I can make demonstration videos and loop them so that they play non stop during work time.  This has been a tremendous help, because all teachers know that it is difficult being the one expert in a room of 25-30 curious, learning minds.  The looping videos allow me to work one on one with those struggling while a lot of those that simply forgot what step comes next or how to do something can glance up at the screen and watch to see what it was that they need to do.  I can't tell you how helpful this is!  Such a time saver and the kids love it so that they don't all have to wait for me to make it through the sea of raised hands to get to their "quick question."

Bisqueware:

Post Smoke Firing:

Checkout that crossbow!

This student had no idea who Charlie Chaplin is/was but he totally created a Charlie Chaplin Warrior!  Love that he even gave it a bowler hat and cane!

Clay Extravaganza!

Clay Clay Clay!

I've posted about my various art lessons in more detail in the past, so I'll just repost the links to those and share the photos of the great things my kiddos made this year

4th Grade-Pinch Pot Monsters

http://missartypants.blogspot.com/2014/02/pinch-pot-monsters.html

I had to get a close up so you could see this guy's tail!  Love the details these kids come up with!

Same group, just closer so you could see their details from a different angle

The green guy reminds me of a modern Gizmo!

The turquoise monster is holding fire in each hand...such a creative idea!

5th Grade- Clay Pinch Pot Characters

In 5th Grade, I allow for a lot more freedom with their clay creations, but I still want them working with pinch pots to get that basic clay technique down.  I love the range of ideas the kids have!

http://missartypants.blogspot.com/2014/03/pinch-pot-characters.html

6th Grade- Clay Terra Cotta Warrior Sculptures

http://missartypants.blogspot.com/2013/03/terra-cotta-warriors.html I actually have multiple links to this lesson for various examples and years that have made these, but this is the link that shares the bulk of the lesson

7th Grade- Hollow Form from Pinch Pots

Similar to the 5th grade lesson, I let the kids decide what they are going to make almost entirely.  I just ask that it be made from two pinch pots that create a hollow form and that they add attachments so that they can practice the slip and score methods for strong attachments and an awesome chance to show off their creativity and interests

8th Grade- Clay Boxes (slabs and cylinders)

http://missartypants.blogspot.com/2014/05/themed-clay-boxes.html

This year we still made slab boxes but they had to be cylindrical.  I originally said they had to use cylinders because it was a faster process than cutting a bunch of square/rectangular slabs, but I might stick with the cylinders in the future just because I really enjoyed seeing the kids work this way.

Pinch Pot Characters

Clay Characters!

For my fifth grade clay project, I taught a similar lesson to my pinch pot monsters with my fourth graders (lesson details found here), but I left it more open ended to their creativity.  I still reminded them of how to make a pinch pot and how to use "scratch and attach" when they were adding details to their character, but I let them choose what they wanted to make and how they wanted to create it...as long as it stemmed from a pinch pot.  They turned out AMAZING!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos (except a  few of them all waiting to be taken home by their owners on a metal cart) so I can't brag as much as I'd like.  But they did a great job, and I think the kiddos really appreciated that they could create their own thing and it didn't have to be one object/animal or another.    Sorry there aren't more photos and that these ones are a little on the blurry side...I still think it gives a good idea of the variety I had in my room.  And they still make me smile!

Pinch Pot Monsters

Monster Madness

My fourth graders were so excited to hear that we would finally be working with clay (as any art teacher can tell you, the kids go crazy for clay!  They start asking when they get to use it on the first day of school and after they finally get to, they start to ask when they can use it again!  I love their enthusiasm).  Since I only get to see my fourth graders once a week for an hour at a time, when we work with clay, we need to start and finish the building portion in one class.  This lesson is perfect for that!

I told my students we would be making clay monsters from pinch pots and asked them to recall what a pinch pot was and how they made one.  I let them walk me through the process of making one during my intro.  They were spot on; but I figured they would be, they don't forget anything when it comes to working with clay!  Then I told them how we would make our monsters.

First, I would give everyone a clay ball.  They would pull off pieces of clay from the ball to form whatever they wanted to attach to their monster (eyeballs, horns, teeth, tails, spikes, etc).  They would set these items to the side and roll up the rest of the clay, back into ball form.  They transformed their ball of clay into a pinch pot (stick thumb into middle, pinch upward and outward, depending on shape you want).  The pinch pot became the monster's body and head (for this project, the head and body are pretty synonymous).  They then used the "scratch and attach" method (slip and score) to add their eyeballs, tails, horns, teeth, etc that they had previously constructed.  I encouraged them to test out their scratch and attach abilities by giving their monster a little shake while he was upside down--if whatever you attached stayed on, it was attached well; if it fell off, try again!  

The kids did a great job!  Some of them used the entire hour to create their monster and others finished early.  Since they don't get to use clay very often, I let those who finished early play with a little bit of extra clay under the stipulation that whatever they made with the extra clay, they couldn't keep because it would later be used by other kids at our school.  They were very understanding of this and were just excited that they were able to keep playing with clay.  And as for my kiddos who don't like to get their hands dirty, they opted for free drawing when they finished early.  

I let the monsters dry out over the week before putting them in the kiln.  Once they were fired, I let the kids paint their monsters (again, this took the entire hour for some kids and only 40 minutes for others) and another week later, we added a gloss varnish over the top of them to give them the glazed look.  I love the look and use of actual glaze, but I find that the younger kids work better with paint since glazes don't often look like the color they will turn into once fired--but this lesson could easily be taught either way.   

End Results:

One full class of monsters

Mustachio-ed Monsters

Curly Haired Critter (front view)

Curly Haired Critter (back view)

Another one of my classes monsters

This guy makes me smile

somewhat fishy...

Last class of monsters