day 2: fEeling it out!
Lesson 2: Feeling it out
Project/Unit description: This semester in art class, students will be exploring the concept of functional design, the research/planning process, and exploration of artistic materials while they collaboratively build a zoo. Over the course of this unit students will have the opportunity to explore a variety of 3-D and 2-D art materials while they focus on creating an animal conscious habitat for the animal they chose to contribute to the class zoo. With an emphasis on sequential and informed planning, students will explore their own creativity while collaborating to create an animal friendly zoo full of mystical creatures. In today’s learning experience students were introduced to clay. After being shown slides of work by artists Nuala O’Donovan, Jeannine Marchland, and Heather Knight, we discussed the different textures seen, as well as how those textures effect the way the viewer thinks about a piece of art. Once the class finished discussing, students were let loose to explore how they could use different materials to make different textures with their clay.
Essential understanding: During this class session, the main goal was for the students to begin to see how much their clay was capable of communicating. Through looking at different textures and their importance within a piece of art work students were able to think more deeply about the connections between the animal they want to create and what they need to consciously include in their creation. Also, by gaining a better understanding of how the clay can be worked with students will be better able to work creatively with the 3-D material of clay
Inquiry/ Learning Target:
Todays learning objectives…
-Showing images of radical textures, students will be able to describe radical textures in artwork by Heather Knight, Nuala O’Donovan, and Jeannine Marchand (Historical/Multicultural Content)
-Using found objects, students will create a creature incorporating radical texture. (Conceptual/Ideation/Personal Grounding)
- Considering their work, students will write down their observations/experimentation/discoveries that are important and transferable to their art making. (Assessment/Evaluation)
-Using their artwork, students will be able to define artistic decisions based on stated criteria.
Key Concepts:
- patterns
- influence
- expression
- observation
- experimentation
- prior knowledge
- artistic intention
- choice
Skills:
- exploration
- collaborative discovery
- transferring observation to visual production
- innovative use of materials
- categorizing
Art Focus:
Art focus for the day is exploring 3-D visual communication of texture with clay.
Literacy Focus:
Students are encouraged to record their discoveries about clay and texture in their sketchbooks. Also, they recorded adjectives about the textures they created as well as where they could incorporate these textures into their project. With every texture a student created and added to the discovery table they were required to explain to the teachers the process behind how they created that specific texture.
Essential understanding: During this class session, the main goal was for the students to begin to see how much their clay was capable of communicating. Through looking at different textures and their importance within a piece of art work students were able to think more deeply about the connections between the animal they want to create and what they need to consciously include in their creation. Also, by gaining a better understanding of how the clay can be worked with students will be better able to work creatively with the 3-D material of clay
Inquiry/ Learning Target:
Todays learning objectives…
-Showing images of radical textures, students will be able to describe radical textures in artwork by Heather Knight, Nuala O’Donovan, and Jeannine Marchand (Historical/Multicultural Content)
-Using found objects, students will create a creature incorporating radical texture. (Conceptual/Ideation/Personal Grounding)
- Considering their work, students will write down their observations/experimentation/discoveries that are important and transferable to their art making. (Assessment/Evaluation)
-Using their artwork, students will be able to define artistic decisions based on stated criteria.
Key Concepts:
- patterns
- influence
- expression
- observation
- experimentation
- prior knowledge
- artistic intention
- choice
Skills:
- exploration
- collaborative discovery
- transferring observation to visual production
- innovative use of materials
- categorizing
Art Focus:
Art focus for the day is exploring 3-D visual communication of texture with clay.
Literacy Focus:
Students are encouraged to record their discoveries about clay and texture in their sketchbooks. Also, they recorded adjectives about the textures they created as well as where they could incorporate these textures into their project. With every texture a student created and added to the discovery table they were required to explain to the teachers the process behind how they created that specific texture.
Pictured above is the "Discovery Table" made during class to display all the different textures students were able to find while working with their clay. On the table were pieces of paper labeled with different categories of texture. Every time a student discovered how to make a new texture, they were to make a sample of that texture that was roughly the size of a quarter. Next they were to come to the Discovery Table and place that texture in the category they felt best described their texture. By working to discover new ways to create textures students were able to teach themselves about what they clay was capable of and how they could manipulate it to their advantage. By setting all of the examples in one place students were excited and inspired by what they saw their peers discovering.
Above is an example of the connection made between the texture samples we made and how they can be intentionally used in relation to this project. This particular student is experimenting with how to make an ice cave. He is employing his understanding of clay to intentionally manipulate the material so that his product will visually communicate a sense of ice and rock. As you can see he has attached icicles to the top and given the floor of the cave a texture that resembles slippery ice.
The picture above shows a students ability to mimic texture. The green object is a soft surface the students were asked to recreate with clay to get the lesson started. Below the green object is a students replication of texture that they were ready to contribute to the discovery board. You can see how the student was able put individual pieces of clay close together to recreate the same feeling of texture experienced by the viewer when closely observing the example object.
Day 3: Work time!
One of the things we focused on with this lesson was how students could compose their environment to make it interesting for viewers to look at. Many students did a great job of considering the "zoo visitors" experience while making their environments. This student added a structural element that would allow her to make things look like they are moving in the enclosure.
Another thing we focused on in this lesson was how to make the enclosure most suitable for the creature they created. As a class we discussed different factors that all students would need to include in their enclosures like food, water, and shelter. The example above shows how this particular student has gone about considering the needs of his animal while designing his enclosure. He made sure to first include food and water before anything else. Keeping with the requirements we came up with as a class, the next component he wants to build is a shelter for his animal.