Face Pots, 5th Grade

 

Face pots are my favorite 5th grade clay lesson!  They turn out amazing every year. 

Students begin this lesson by creating clay pots using slabs. (I have my students make their own slabs. We do not have a slab roller).  Students then add details like eyes, nose and mouths. We also discuss the importance of scoring/slipping to make sure all the pieces stay connected.

These are amazing! There is also a great History Detectives episode that explains the history of face jugs.  I often show this video to my students at the beginning of this lesson.  

Clay Cupcakes, 3rd Grade

My 3rd graders created these beautiful clay cupcakes.  Students used the pinch pot technique to create the top and bottom of their cupcakes.  The bottom of the cupcake was placed in a silicone cupcake mold to create the ridges, and look more realistic.  Details were added later.  It is important students score and slip all details, otherwise many pieces fall off.  

 After it was out of the kiln, we painted them with tempera paint.  These could also be glazed, but we chose to paint since glaze is expensive. To make them shiny, we added a layer of shiny acrylic on top. 

These are amazing!  This is one of my favorite assignments every year. 

Face Pots, 5th Grade

This is one of my favorite lessons every year.  Students use the slab technique to create face pots.

To introduce this lesson, we always discuss the history of face pots in America.  PBS has a great episode of History Detectives, all about face jugs.  I always begin by having my students watch this video,  https://www.pbs.org/video/history-detectives-face-jug/

Students then create their own face pots by using slabs and coils.  I always emphasize the importance of scoring and slipping.  This is the first year that I have not had a single eye ball fall off the pots.  I guess they listened well this year.

After firing, students glaze the pots.  I always tell them to use at least 3 coats of glaze.  I love these this year!

Coil Pots, 4th Grade

My fourth graders have been creating coil pots.  Students learned to create coils, and attach using the score and slip method. Since this is their first experience with coils, I also give them the option to create a pinch pot for the base.  I do this because many students struggle to create a strong enough base with only coils.  

 So far, these look wonderful. We still need to fire and glaze them.  I will post more pictures when they are finished.

Clay Cupcakes, 3rd Grade

My school has been doing clay for weeks now.  These are the clay cupcakes made by my third graders.  Students used the pinch pot method to create the top and bottom of the cupcake.  Students also used a silicone cupcake liner to create a realistic look to the bottom of the cupcake.  Instead of glaze, they used tempera paint to add color.  Overall, these were a huge success! 

Pinch Pot Monsters, 2nd Grade

My second graders made pinch pot monsters. 

First, they created pinch pots with clay. Then students added eyes, mouths, and other details to create a monster.  All added pieces were scored and slip.  Hint: If you add vinegar to the slip, it attaches better.

After they were out of the kiln, we painted with watercolors.  I then put a clear acrylic sealer over it, to add a shine.

Clay Fish, 1st Grade

I teach on a cart at one of my schools.  This is a simple clay lesson that I did with first graders, and it worked very well on a cart.  I found the idea for this lesson on Cassie Stephen's blog.  I made a few changes to the original lesson though, since I teach from a cart. 

 I brought small pieces of cardboard to the classroom, for students to work on .  This helped keep the clay from sticking to their desks.  Students created the texture by stepping on the clay with their shoes. One hint: make sure the clay is not too wet.  If the clay is really wet, it gets stuck to their shoes.  Details were added and everything was scored and slipped. 

After the clay was dry and fired in the kiln, students added color using oil pastels.  Then we brushed over everything with watered down India Ink.  This created a resist.  

Clay Faces, 5th Grade

A few weeks back, I posted about my students' clay pots, but at that point the pots had not been glazed.  Here are the final results.

 As I mentioned in my previous post, these pots were made using the slab technique. All details were added using the score and slip method.   Before creating these pots, my students watched this History Detectives video.  It really is a great introduction to the history of face pots. 

Clay Faces, 5th Grade

In the last few weeks, I have been doing a variety of clay projects with my 3-5th graders.  My fifth graders finished their clay faces this week.

 Students created this in 2 (35 minute) art classes.  The first class, they created the clay face.  The second class, they painted it with tempera paint.  Unfortunately, I do not have enough glaze this year, but the tempera paint turned out nice anyway.

 I love the creativity in these!

Clay Cupcakes, 3rd Grade

 My students finally painted their clay cupcakes.  We didn't have enough glaze this year, so we used tempera paint. I think the tempera paint turned out nice.

 These turned out very well considering we only had two (30 minute) classes to create and paint these beauties.

3rd Grade, Clay Cupcakes

 It's my favorite time of the year, clay time!  My 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will be working on ceramic lessons for the next few weeks.  Here are clay cupcakes made by my 3rd graders.  This is what they look like right out of the kiln.  We will be painting this soon!  I do not have enough glaze this year, so we will be painting them and then adding a clear sealer on top.  I will post the final results, when they are finished.

 My students are so excited about these! I love them too!

Ceramics Club

I have been teaching a ceramics club every Thursday after school.  This week they finished making boxes in the shape of cake slices.  Here are the results.

Ceramics Club

This year I decided to start a ceramics club after school.  Every Thursday I have ten 4th and 5th graders meet in the art room to learn ceramics.  Here are a few pictures of what we have been creating so far.

 The students have really been enjoying this club, and I have really like having time to build the student's ceramics skills.

Clay Faces, 5th Grade

 I love teaching ceramics, but it is difficult to do when you teach short 30 minute art lessons.  This year, I think I finally came up with a ceramics lesson that could be taught in that amount of time.  It also allowed for a variety of results and encouraged student creativity, which is also sometimes difficult when teaching clay lessons in a short amount of time.

  Students used simple handbuilding techniques to create these. They first created a slab of clay.  Then,  students added details by using the score and slip method.  Once fired in the kiln, students glazed their creations.

Clay Cupcakes, 4th Grade

 My students always love this art lesson.  This lesson uses the basic pinch pot method to create a cupcake.  The bottom is made in a silicone cupcake liner to create the ridges in the bottom of the cupcake.

I think these are beautiful, and my students are proud of them.

Clay Masks, Art Club

 I am having so much fun teaching my Thursday afternoon art club.  It is so nice having a group of students who have chosen to be in art club, and are willing to put forth a lot of effort.  These clay masks are our most recent creations.

This lesson focused on creating slabs, and using scoring and slipping to add details.

I just love their creativity!

Cupcakes, 3rd grade

 This week my third graders created these beautiful clay cupcakes. To begin, my students looked at the artwork of Wayne Thiebaud.  My students then used the pinch pot method and silicone cupcake molds to create these awesome cupcakes.  After these cupcakes were bisque fired, students used tempera paint to add color to their creation.  Of course if you have the time and resources, these could easily be glazed instead.

 These are beautiful, and my students are very proud of them!

Mini Clay Masks, 4th Grade

 I found the idea for this lesson on, http://www.johnpost.us/clay-lessons/clay-mask/clay-masks.html. He has a lot of really great clay ideas on his website. 

 To begin, I made plaster molds out of apple containers.  Using a slab of clay, students used these plaster molds to form the mask. Then, students added details to their mask.  Some students made animals, some made monsters, and some made aliens. 

Lastly, students glazed their artwork. 

These are wonderful! and the students are very proud of them.