ART LESSON PLAN

SUBJECT: CERAMICS

GRADE: FIFTH

OBJECTIVES:

1. Create a ceramic bowl.
2. Learn to use the coil building method.
3. Build upon previous knowledge and skill.
4. Reinforce basic ceramic terminology:

• Score and Slip
• Leather-hard
• Green ware
• Bisque
• Engobe
• Glaze
• Kiln
• Pyrometric Cone

See attached vocabulary sheet

MATERIALS:

Clay, clay tools, kiln, water containers, glazes, engobes, brushes.

MOTIVATION:

Pottery was one of the first art forms explored by mankind. There are many extinct cultures throughout the world who did not leave behind any written record of their existence. For some of these civilizations the only evidence of their daily lives comes in the form of pottery. Some pots were for daily use and some were for ceremonial purposes. Some cultures buried their pots with their dead, and some had huge garbage dumps where broken pots ended up. Pottery and other forms of ceramics have left behind an important archeological record.

PROCEDURE:

After discussing ceramics and pottery the teacher will demonstrate coil building with clay.

• Wedge clay - demonstrate rose rolling method.
• Make the bottom for the bowl by flattening a ball into a circle about the size and thickness of an oreo cookie.
• Take a piece of clay and roll it onto the table using both hands to create a coil about half an inch thick and a foot long.
• Flatten one end of the coil.
• Score one side of the coil down the entire length.
• Score the top edge of the bottom piece of clay around the entire circumfrence.
• Use a paint brush to apple water to the scored side of the coil and the bottom.
• Attach the coil to the bottom, scored side to scored side.
• Continue scoring and adding coils, pressing them firmly together as you go around the pot.
• After the pot is about four coils high it should be carefully shaped and the adherence of the coils checked.
• Begin fusing the coils together by using fingers to blend clay over the cracks between the coils.
• Unfinished work is wrapped in moist paper towels and saved in plastic bags until next class.
• Students continue working until projects are finished.

Decoration

• Discuss the use of engobes. When engobes are painted onto a clay pot, the engobes stay where you put them. This means that you will be able to create more detailed designs. Students will be using two colors on their pots: black and white. Areas of the pot left unpainted will be a reddish orange color. Finally the pots will be given a clear glaze.
• Discuss a variety of historical examples with the students including pots created by Native Americans.
• Have students begin drawing ideas for designs and symbols on paper before they begin painting the pots.
• Demonstrate applying engobes to pots using paintbrushes.
• Engobes can be applied over top of one another.
• Demonstrate the scrafitto technique of scratching through the engobe to reveal the color underneath and add details.
• Pots are bisque fired after drying.

GLAZING:

• Show and discuss glaze.
• Dampen bisque ware prior to glazing.
• Mix glaze thoroughly
• Paint even coat with a brush making sure that the bottom is free of glaze.

EVALUATION:

see attached rubric.

CERAMICS RUBRIC	NOVICE	IN PROGRESS	MEETS EXPECTATIONS	EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
JOINING	NO SCORING, JOINTS CRACK, FAILURE IN JOINTS	LITTLE OR NO EVIDENCE OF REINFORCEMENT, EDGES EXPOSED AND NOT CLEANED, FEW CRACKS BUT NO FAILURES	MOST JOINTS REINFORCED AND CLEANED, NO CRACKS	EXTRA CARE TAKEN TO CLEAN EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR, ALL JOINTS CONSISTENT WITH REINFORCEMENT
LID	SIMPLE SLAB, NO ATTEMPT TO DESIGN INTEGRAL LID	LID WITH FLANGE, GAPS BETWEEN LID AND BOX	INTEGRAL LID WITH FITTED FLANGE, LID FITS WITH FITTED FLANGE	EMBELLISHED INTEGRAL LID WITH FITTED FLANGE, NO GAPS
SHAPE OF POT	ASSYMETRICAL SHAPE	SIMPLE CYLINDER, NO ATTEMPT TO CREATE SHOULDER OR NECK	WELL DEVELOPED SHAPE WITH PROPERLY EXECUTED DETAILS	COMPLEX SYMMETRICAL SHAPE, STRONG, FLUENT LINES DEMONSTRATING ABOVE AVERAGE UNDERSTANDING OF PROPORTION
GLAZE	THIN GLAZE WITH POOR COVERAGE, MISPLACED GLAZE	SOME GAPS IN COVERAGE, GOOD THICKNESS, ATTEMPT MADE TO CLEAN MISPLACED GLAZE	SOME GAPS IN COVERAGE, GOOD THICKNESS, ATTEMPT MADE TO CLEAN MISPLACED GLAZE	NO GAPS IN COVERAGE, USE OF COMPLEX AND CREATIVE GLAZING TECHNIQUES
CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION	FAILURE TO FOLLOW CLASSROOM PROCEDURES	SOME MISBEHAVIOR AND STUDENT IS OFTEN OFF TASK	STUDENT FOLLOWS CLASS PROCEDURES AND REMAINS ON TASK THROUGHOUT LESSON	STUDENT SETS GOOD EXAMPLE OF GOOD CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR

CERAMIC VOCABULARY

CERAMICS

Pots or sculpture made from earth clay. They are usually glazed and fired in a kiln.

POTS

Have a function (use) like a pot or a bowl.

SCULPTURE

To look at, decoration only

WEDGING

Kneeding clay to get the air bubbles out and make it easier to work with.

SLAB

Clay which has been made flat by rolling.

VIRTUAL CERAMICS EXHIBIT

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