Clay Week 2015!!!

Fifth Grade Slump Bowls

Every year, right before the holiday break, I have a week of clay making for my students.  We discuss functional art and how ceramics has a HUGE impact on our lives.  I tell them, "we all come into contact with ceramics every single day... we all take a seat on a ceramic throne... the toilet!" It always gets them giggling. In fact, several parents have shared with me that their child could not wait to tell them that toilets were ceramic works of art! 

Here are some pictures of my very busy week.  Tomorrow is the last day.  Then a few days of firing and then the finishing of pieces.  I will post more on how I finish the pieces in a couple weeks.

Fifth Grade Made Long Plate/Bowls. The clay is slumped in styrofoam trays I bought online. $35.00 for 500 of these babies! They are for packaging lemons!  They are the perfect size!  We rolled the clay and used a bunch of clay stamps I made years ago for texturing. Some students used rubber stamps too. This is what it looked like...

Fourth Grade made Decorative Plates. These can be made as holiday plates, winter plates or all year round plates.  It was up to the individual! I have lots of cookie cutters, big and small.  Winter is a favorite theme...

Third Grade made Drape Textured Bowls.  We use the rubber texture mats and rubber stamps.  These are a favorite!  They love making something so functional! We slump them over the short plastic cocktail cups you get at the grocery store.  I cover them with paper towel so the clay does not stick.  Works just great!

Second Grade makes Luminaries!  We roll out clay, cut out some stars and roll the slab onto a pop can.  Then the stars we cut get glued on!  Super simple!

First Grade made Clay Owls...a simple one I have seen online, but have been making for over 20 years.  I have an old ceramics book from the 1960's that has this project in it.  An oldie but goodie!

After firing all 500+ clay projects, on to finishing! Stay tuned... :)

4th Grade - Day of the Dead Skeletons!

This lesson is an all time favorite of mine! I have taught it many times, students LOVE it!  They love learning about Day of the Dead and working with an air dry clay. These skeletons and flowers were made from Amaco Cloud Clay, however, I now use Crayola Model Magic since Cloud Clay is not sold anymore... bummer, I did like it!

 We first painted the cardboard backgrounds with tempera and Modge Podge, then created the skeletons and flower decorations.  I have a cheep foam skeleton I hang on the board for the students to reference.  Lastly, we painted the whole thing with another layer of Modge Podge.  These skeletons are attached forever!  
Such a fun lesson to teach!!!

4th Grade - Sugar Skulls

Dia de los Muertos is a time to remember and honor family members who have passed.  In Mexico it is a national holiday.  Families participate in parades and set up their own offerendas, (offering tables) with food and wine which are adorned with sugar skulls and calacas, (skeletons dressed as loved ones).  All to take time to honor loved ones who have passed.  Here in the states, we do not take time as a nation to stop and remember all family members who have passed.  It is something we do within our own families.  Instead... this time of year we dress up in costumes and play tricks and collect treats.  Still fun and festive.

I love teaching my students about Day of the Dead.  It is one of my favorite times of the year.  Halloween... Day of the Dead... I love October! We spend some time comparing and contrasting the two holidays.  I made these Sugar Skulls from molds I purchased from... yes... sugarskulls.com! The molds are worth the money.  The skulls made with my students were created with Amaco's Cloud Clay. We powdered the molds with a little baby powder first, pressed in the white Cloud Clay.  Every student made their own skull, (I bought one mold for each table).  Then we used the Cloud Clay in colors to decorate the skulls.  I showed my classes many examples of authentic sugar skulls and how they look sitting on offering tables. There are lots of photos on Flickr to borrow for the Smartboard. In fact, I am a member of the group Dia de los Muertos.  LOTS of great ideas for Day of the Dead.

Additionally, we painted colorful backgrounds on cardboard, attached a square piece of scrap painted paper in the center with some marigold like flowers cut from more scrap painted paper.  Jewels were glued in the eyes for a little sparkle and then the skulls were glued on the cardboard backgrounds with tacky glue.  I must do these again this next year. I loved teaching it! Look this fall for a new approach to this favorite!