Media Arts Lesson Plan, BSAFE Spring 2012 Will Whelan
Unit: Clothing Country of Origin
Lesson Title: China and Vietnam, Ceramics (part 1)
Week 9, 3-5 Groups
Lesson Summary: Students will be introduced to coil-building technique, and make a small clay vessel in the style or Chinese and Vietnamese ceramics.
Essential Questions:
- What characterizes East Asian ceramics?
- How can one construct a sturdy clay vessel?
Learning Objectives (SWBAT):
- Demonstrate basic knowledge about China and Vietnam
- Sketch and choose a design for a ceramic vessel
- Utilize the coil pot technique to build a small vessel
Leads and Teen Involvement: Leads and Teens will be crucial to keeping this activity contained at the table, as we will not be using the computers at all today due to the clay. It would be great to have adults space themselves out across the table, help kids to use the clay in an appropriate manner, as well as help them understand the idea of the glyph we will be attempting to copy.
Materials:
- Red air-dry Clay
- Clay tools
- White board with China and Vietnam facts, and instructions
- Cups and water
- Spray bottle
- Paper table covers
- Dry cleaner wrap
- East Asian ceramics examples
Vocabulary: Vietnam, China, ceramics, coil pot
Class Format:
5 min Intro: Students will enter and sit at the table. I will explain that we are using clay today, and not the computers under any circumstances.
- Recap: Since we introduced clay last class, I will ask for a recap of proper clay procedure: asking before taking more; making clay thick enough to not break; “slip and score” before attaching two pieces; not using too much water; safety with sharp tools; proper cleanup.
- Examples: I will show both pictures and my own example of coil pots and East Asian vessels, emphasizing the shapes.
- Demonstration: I will model making a good base and coil, slipping and scoring to attach them. I will then ask students:
how would you change your coils to make the vessel get larger or smaller as you build the sides?
30 min Main Activity: Students will be able to sketch on the table cloth the basic shape of the vessel they wish to make: bowl, vase, etc.
- When they have a drawing students will receive clay.
- They will fashion a ‘pancake’ for the base, and a number of coils to start building sides.
- While constructing I will place emphasis on: creating a solid structure, using thick enough coils and always slipping and scoring (this is the technique of roughing up and wetting two surfaces if they are to be adjoined).
- I will encourage students to create decorative elements with coils as well, such as rolling them into spirals or zig-zags to attach.
- I will have my own example to show to make these techniques and the final product more clear.
2 min Wrap-Up: I will give students a two minute time check before we stop, and then ask everyone to stop. We will do a popcorn-style share of problems we encountered and solutions, and discoveries and innovations people made while working.
5 min Clean-Up. Finished vessels will dry up on shelf near window. All tools return to bin, clay returned to bag. Hand-washing in soapy warm water in basin, not in sink (it will clog).