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| Fifth Grade Ladybug Rattle |
When I was twenty-two, I spent a summer at Camp Hillcroft in upstate New York as the assistant ceramics teacher, and though I learned a great deal from the experience, I was very hesitant to use clay with students on my own for the first few years. Each year built on the next, however, and I became more confident, let go of fears (of messes, projects breaking etc.), and finally in the past two years I have felt that there is ample time, space, and freedom for my young artists to work with clay.
The clay center opened two weeks ago for grades 3-5, and almost every single artist wanted to try it. I asked my students to demonstrate a variety of techniques for their first project as a review, and then they were given more freedom to chose their method of working with the clay.
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| 4th Grade Pinch Pot Creatures |
An issue that comes up frequently in the Choice-Based studio is abandoned projects. Before the clay came out I told my students that the time for large sculptures was coming to a close because I didn't have space for both. The artists had two weeks to claim/finish projects, and yet the pile of discarded cardboard and found object sculpture did not diminish. This week the sculpture center was open for the first time to my second grade artists, and I encouraged them to take pieces from the abandoned artwork pile, which turned out to be a very popular idea. One student expertly pieced together the following, using about six or seven separate sculptures, in the span of about twenty minutes:
The artist was very pleased with her creation, and it was a relief to have the abandoned projects not go to waste. The cardboard sculpture center is still open, but I am limiting the size of the sculptures to about an 8 x 8 x 10 size until the clay center closes, which will likely be in late March or April.
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| Here a second grader flies his airplane sculpture around his friend's block construction |
More second grade sculpture:
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| Practicing joining techniques with cereal box cardboard |
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| Church |
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| This sculpture was really neat. The bunny is on a popsicle stick so that it can actually pop out of (or through, rather) the hat. I was impressed with how willing the artists were to share about their work, and how eloquently they spoke about it. |
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| Third Grade Angry Bird Sculpture |
P.S. It has been far to long, but I have finally threaded the table loom, and a fifth grade artist is making a scarf. She chose a pattern of plain weave and twill, and plans to give it to a close family member.
