Kelly Narowitz art educator/artist
High School Ceramics Project:
A Vessel Inspired By Nature
Teaching Intern: Kelly Narowitz
School: Garden City High School
Grade Level: 9-12th
Content Area: Ceramics
Title: Nature Inspired Vessel & Empty Bowls
Time Needed: 5-7 Hours (Class Periods)
1. LEARNERS & THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
A. Engaging Diverse Learners: The class is all teenagers and they are at the second level of artistic education. This means that they have been introduced to the basic principles of design, such as line, shape, color and texture. They have also been introduced to the basics of working with clay. They know the classroom procedures for working and clean-up.
This lesson will connect with students by allowing them to choose their subject matter and by giving them an opportunity to experiment with the medium learning in their own way. Giving high school students freedom of choice and the ability to experiment makes it easier to get them to buy in to the project as well as creates personal stakes for them. They create the meaning for the project and ideas are not forced upon them.
B. Materials Needed:
Class Materials: Enough clay for each student to do 1-2 pinch pots and their vessel project. Clay working tools for the class: sponges, wire cutter, loop tools, pen tools, kidneys, plastic bags, paper towel, ware boards and canvas boards.
Student Materials: Students should bring in a reference photo of their inspiration for their vessel piece.
This lesson was created to connect students to the natural world around them. At this school there is a trip that many of my students go on to a place called SeaCamp in Florida. There they learn about and explore the wetlands, sea and other natural environments in the area. This lesson gets them to think about the natural world and use a natural element (clay) to create their own artistic interpretation of their favorite part of that environment.
Students are given an opportunity to explore and discover what speaks to them from the natural world. These opportunities are important to High School students so that they may develop a strong sense of their own identity.
C. Outcomes & Assessment:
1. Standards:
Standard 1: Intentionally use art materials and tools when applying techniques and skills to communicate ideas.
Standard 2: Apply knowledge and skill to symbolize the essence of an idea.
Standard 3: Critically observe a work of art to evaluate and respond to the artist’s intent using art vocabulary and terminology
2. Student Outcomes:
- The student will develop ideas from their inspiration by using artistic methods such as sketching.
- The student will create a ceramic vessel using ceramic tools in an appropriate way.
- The student will apply learned techniques to create a vessel that clearly represents their inspiration.
- The student will evaluate their final piece and discuss how effectively their project represents their inspiration.
D. Assessment & Evaluation
i. Assessment: There will be one small pop quiz to check for understanding of vocabulary. Students will fill out a self-assessment rubric/worksheet once their project is completed. They will turn it in with their work. I will assess the students use of materials and understanding of techniques as we work through the project, stopping and reiterating anything that has been misunderstood.
ii. Evaluation: I will fill out a rubric to evaluate the student’s use of materials and fulfillment of project requirements. We will also do a critique to evaluate the student’s works as a class.
2. INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES:
A. Introduction:
i. Teaser/Hook: (Done at the end of the previous project) What is a vessel? How do you connect with nature?
ii. Stated Objective: (Day 1) Today we are going to start our next project. You are all going to make a vessel inspired by nature.
iii. Introduction: I will work through a PowerPoint presentation about handbuilding vessels with coils and pinch pot techniques. We will also discuss examples of the project and generate ideas.
iv. Motivation: For the rest of the class period you brainstorm some ideas for your project, once you have your idea you will draw five thumbnail sketches to figure out how to use your inspiration to create your vessel. What will be the best way to build your vessel? What is the best way to start?
v. Student Work Period: Students will work on brainstorming and drawing their sketches. I will I will walk around the room and support when needed and make announcements on proper practices and use of tools when I see fit.
B. Instructional Procedures:
i. Stated Objective: (Day 2) Today I am going to demonstrate how to do some pinch pots and how to build a vessel using the coil techniques. I will gather the students around a table to watch the demo. Remember how we talked about the empty bowls fundraiser? Your practice pinch pots will be used for this.
ii. Modeling: First you start with a ball of clay. The bigger the ball the bigger the pinch pot. I find it is easiest to work with a medium sized piece of clay. To start the pot stick one finger in the center of the ball. Slowly work your finger around to make the hole bigger. Be careful to leave enough clay at the bottom of the pot, DO NOT POKE ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE BALL. When the hole is big enough stick a thumb in there and start to gently pinch the clay with the thumb on the inside and pointer finger on the outside. Slowly work the clay opening the center of the pinch pot. Here is where it can be the most difficult.
Once you have a good opening you have to start shaping your bowl. If you pinch more on the bottom of your pot it will become a wide bowl. Adding a foot to the bottom makes your pinch pot look a little nicer and raise it off the table. This helps when glaze is applied. To add a foot you must roll a small coil then attach it to the highest point of the bottom. If you pinch more on the top of your pot it will become skinnier like a vase. It is important to always be aware of how thick your pot is. If the walls are skinny it will collapse, too thick and your pot will look clunky and sloppy. When the clay dries a little bit and gets to the leather hard stage you can smooth it a little bit or you can apply some surface decorations. A pen tool works really well to draw lines or make marks like dots or hash marks.
iii. Student Work Period: Now it’s your turn to make some pinch pots. Remember to work slowly and keep an eye on the thickness of the walls. Students will practice creating some pinch pots that will be bowls as an empty bowls fundraiser. I will walk around the room and support when needed and make announcements on proper practices and use of tools when I see fit. When they are done with their pinch pots they will begin working on their vessel.
iv. Stated Objective: (Day 3) Today everyone should be working on building their vessel. First I am going to show you some techniques that you can use to decorate your vessel and make it look more like it is inspired from nature.
v. Modeling: Coil building isn’t the hardest building technique, but there are some areas where it can get tricky. It helps to start off with a pinch pot and then build up the coils on top of it. The easiest way to build with coils is to wrap them up like a snake. Roll out your coils first so you can apply them all at the same time. This makes sure that everything has the same moisture content. And why does the moisture content matter? Of course just like the foot of our pinch pot you want to slip and score everything. This method is good for building tall things, or skinny things. You can slowly make the coils smaller to create a smaller opening or vise versa. Now here is where it gets interesting. You can use coils vertically, you can create spirals, circles etc. When you are attaching coils like this it is even more important to slip and score well. Why do you think that is? In the presentation I talked about blended coils versus exposed ones. If I left these coils the way they look now, they would be exposed coils. To blend them I am going to smooth them together. It is best to do this when the coils are still wet. Who remembers the important things to get right when blending coils? It was on the power point. Does anyone have any idea what their inspiration might be yet? What method do you think you’ll use?
vi. Student Work Period: (Day 4) Students will work on developing their vessels inspired by nature. By the end of this class period they should have the basic structure finished. I will walk around the room and support when needed and make announcements on proper practices and use of tools when I see fit.
vii. Modeling: There are a lot of tools that you can use to create texture in clay. I urge you to experiment a little. A pen tool is pretty versatile for decorating. You can basically draw with it, creating lines, dots, hash marks etc. Also, you can use a loop to shave off parts of your vessel to develop the shape into something more refined. Graters can create a rough texture, like unkempt fur. To smooth your piece using a wooden kidney wait until it is between wet and leather hard. Then pull it across the clay to smooth it out. Like I said, try some tools out and see what you can create. The great thing about working with wet clay is that to a point you can erase most of what you try.
viii. Student Work Period: (Day 5) Students will work independently to finish their vessels. At this point they should be starting on decorating and putting the finishing touches on their piece. I will walk around the room and support when needed and make announcements on proper practices and use of tools when I see fit. Students who have finished will place their pieces in the clay room to dry then do their self-evaluation and turn in their completed project.
3. TECHNOLOGY:
Students will use the internet to find inspirational pictures for their piece.
4. CLOSURE:
A. Review: We will have a class critique to examine and discuss our work. Students will go around the room and share their final projects. They will answer the questions: What experiment yielded the most interesting results? Did planning out your project result in a better final project? What was the most challenging part of the project? Is there anything you would change about your final project?
B. Dismissal: Students will clean up each class period 5-8 minutes before the bell. Supplies are available for them to use independently and they know where to return them. Work will be labeled with the student's name and hour and be kept in the appropriate folder or drawer.
5. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY:
A. Teacher reflection can be found here:
