Third graders are completing an extensive investigation into clay. They built ceramic boxes with lids using slab, coil, and pinch techniques and applied surface treatments inspired by prehistoric art. Girls will use these vessels as imaginary time capsules into which they will place personally meaningful objects.
Our boxes and lids waiting to go into the kiln:
Third graders looked at works of art from various locations in the world and used visual clues to figure out how they were made. They noticed one image seemed to be scratched and one seemed to be made using hands as a stencil or stamp. Girls used two clay techniques related to these methods of mark-making to personalize the surface of their box. Ask your third grader if she can recall the names or process involved in these techniques (stencil and sgraffito). They created a pattern or design using their own initials.
Third graders had a choice of how to construct the handles for their lids, as long as they used slab, coil, or pinch techniques.
Here are some of the tools third graders have used to construct their slab boxes. Ask your third grader about the most important thing she practiced doing clay construction.
Finally, we will be creating small clay sculptures to symbolically represent things that are important to us.
