Teapot Tea Party

I'm a little tea pot,

round, tall, short, wide, crooked, smooth, 

and totally UNIQUE. . . 

Getting ready to be fired!

You know that feeling before you pilot a new lesson? It's that same feeling I get before jumping off the diving board. Since the beginning of this lesson, I held my breath and hoped that we would surface. Five weeks later we did and now I can breath again!

Kiln full of teapots.

Hassle Alert! We had to wrap the teapots every week and try to keep the clay at the right consistency. Keeping the clay moist between classes was a hassle and a few dried out. The students had to remake them! 

MORAL:Invest in some huge gallon bags for each student instead of plastic wrap. 

Basically we created two pinch pots and combined them together. We made a "taquito"for the spout and slip and scored it on. Handles could were coils that were slip and scored. Lids were an experiment in themselves.

After five long weeks of making them, I threw the kids a tea party so we could USE our teapots.

Is this not amazing?

Another beautiful work.
This student accidentely spilled the glaze on her  teapot.
Her classroom teacher suggested she "go for it"and spill more.
It turned out the most uniquely beautiful work I've seen from a 5th grader!

We put a coffee filter over the top with a rubber band
so the loose leaf tea wouldn't
get in their cup.

As I was pouring the hot tea on this 80 degree day,
 I thought, "I  have NO IDEA why I didn't make a bunch of iced tea and call it a day!"
SPOILERALERT:
NEXT YEAR'S  5th grade is having an ICED TEA party!

Enjoying our "naturally decaf"tea
(just in case you were wondering!)

I am in love with this one too!
For some reason the student doesn't like this one. . .

An elephant. . . how clever:)

Some even made tea cups.
This tea pot was perfection.

After a LONG day in the office (hahaha)
Stella and I put on our play clothes and went to the dog park.

As Alice would say, "I shall think nothing of falling down stairs after this!" It's good to take that step into the unknown. . . scary but good. I think they won't soon forget their 5th grade teapots.

I know two things for sure,
1. I learn as much as the students I teach.
2. I am as "mad" as they come!

CHEERS!

not so UGLY JUGS!

This was my all time favorite project of the school year. Mainly because it surprised me how engaged the students were and how awesome the final project looked.

Ugly Jugs or Face Jugs are an African American tradition that dates back to the days of slavery. There is not  a lot of writing about the history of these jugs as most slaves could not read or write but there are many speculations on why these jugs were made. Ugly Jugs were found among grave sites and are said to scare away evil spirits. Another reason they might have been made ugly is to scare away children from drinking what was inside (moonshine). I, of course, don't tell my 5th graders this theory but I thought it was an interesting one to share!

We start by making two pinch pots. Then we build the face. Finally we connected them, using slip and score, and made a spout.

These are the fourth graders Ugly Jugs.

By the way I got the idea from my husband. I asked him "what art project was your absolutely favorite when you were in school." Without hesitation he said "My UGLY JUG!" 

Ask a person who is not an art teacher what their favorite art project was and do tell! I love art projects that have impact.

P.S. If you happen to have the PBS video about face jugs please let me know how you got it! I have been trying to get one but PBS told me they are out of print.

LINES, LINES, LINES

It's the end of the school year and I find myself wanting to review the elements of art before graduating my Kindergarteners to first grade. I drew lines on manilla paper before students came to class. We identified these lines (most of my students are E.L.L. and special education) but I can imagine finding these lines in a painting with a high level class. Next students were asked to make these lines with CLAY. Most made coils. . . 

Some students broke their clay into pieces and placed it on the lines. . . 

Then I asked the students to make their lines come OFF the page.

Finally the art mentors (5th graders) helped with clean up. Wedging the clay back together and putting it in a plastic bag with a wet sponge keeps the clay pliable for our next project.