Pre-K Fossils - Two Ways

This is a great clay lesson perfect for the younger crowd - these clay fossils and necklaces were made with Pre-K students during one class period. For prep, each student will need two chunks of clay - one about 3-4" in diameter and the other about an inch in diameter. To warm up, we talk about fossils and I share a book called, Fossil by Bill Thomson. To make the charm, I teach the kids how to gently roll the bottom of their shoe on top of a small piece of clay that we place on the floor. When we are done with the shoe fossils, I pass out fossil tool kits - boxes with shells and an assortment of plastic dinos and bugs. First, they use the palm of their hand to press the larger chunk of clay into a pancake and then we have fun pressing the tools into the clay and experimenting to make the larger fossils. 

Tip: Make name tags to stay organized! I use small pieces of paper with the kids names already pre-written. To keep track of everyone's work, I placed the charm on top of the large fossil and sandwich the name tag in between. At the end of the day, I used a toothpick to write names on the underside of both pieces. 

After these were bisque fired, the kids used underglazes to add color to both of their fossils. I painted on clear coat so they would come out nice and shiny after the second firing. 

Practicing fine motor skills and adding beads to each side of the shoe charms! 

5th grade Face Pots

The ceramic face pot project is a staple for my 5th graders! They look forward to it each year. I'm always happy to see their creations, plus it's a great Georgia folk art tradition and a perfect tie in to the requirements of our curriculum. To begin, students sketch two ideas for their pots, thinking about the shape of the vessel and what type of face they want to create - I allow them to be totally creative on this part and I give them a two-sided handout with tons of face pot ideas to get their creative juices flowing (for instance, it can be an animal face, cartoon face, etc.). Some kids even make two faces - one on each side of the pot! After the sketching phase, we build the pots over 2 class periods then add colored glazes. They are always a hoot! 

4th grade Mexico Unit

4th graders wrapped up their unit on Mexico a few weeks ago. We made ceramic clay suns, Mexican folk art mirrors and even practiced drawing some Mexican Indian designs. The clay lesson is a winner and I've taught it for several years now. I figured out the secret to controlling the size of the sun is to limit the space during the planning phase, so I hand out a planning sheet with a circle that they draw sun rays around. I added a square around that circle so they have to stay within that space (you don't want those rays to get too long or skinny). It truly helps. I allow my students to show any emotion they would like and we look at a handout I made with lots of ceramic suns to generate ideas. During the time when we are waiting for the suns to be fired, students designed a folk art mirror (inspiration from Painted Paper). I bought silver wrapping paper for them to use for the shiny center. While the mirrors were being designed students who finished early took a look at some Mexican Indian designs and used them as a starting point to create a drawn composition.

1st grade Sunflower Pots

Vincent van Gogh's sunflowers were the inspiration for this awesome twist on the usual pinch pot project. The pieces were glazed for the finishing touch and I will continue this great tradition - the brilliant inspiration came from my colleague at Mrs. Knight's Smartest Artists!!

Here is a group all bagged up and ready to go home.....I secretly love this part even though it takes about 20 minutes of my time during the art class to prepare. After each kiddo decorates a bag with line patterns using construction paper crayons, I scrunch a piece of tissue paper into the bottom and then pop in the sunflower pot with an art statement about the project for parents to read. The bags are tied with yarn. 

2nd grade Clay Fish......blub....blub...

The magic of clay -  brought to you by my 2nd graders. Last year, we made clay cats and the year before that little slab houses, but the fish, by far have been my favorite! The kids learned about clay processing techniques (a fancy word for scratch and attach) to make the eyes and fins stay put. The final touch was the glazed surface design. Next year, I will definitely incorporate some Paul Klee!!!! 

Paul Klee