The League of Extraordinary Toymakers Day 3
Project/Unit Description/Expedition
For the next couple of weeks, students will be moving from 2-dimensional materials to 3-dimensional. In doing so, they will be assuming the roles of toymakers looking to create a toy that has never existed. These will take the form through found object sculptures utilizing a variety of supplies (plates, cardboard tubes, foam, paper, etc.) and be included in a final illustration of their toy to help with understanding the shift in dimensions.
Essential Understanding
Students will be able to utilize shapes and composition with found objects to create their toy through experimentation.
Students will be able to recognize a found object sculpture or assemblage.
Students will be able to recognize a found object sculpture or assemblage.
Inquiry/Learning Target
"Today we are budding toymakers and we are seeking the next big thing! The only way we can achieve this, though, is by making a toy that has never existed before!"
- What kinds of toys do you play with?
- How do they work or function?
- How do toys vary or look different compared to others? How do they play differently?
Key Concept(s)
- Space
- Shape
- 3-D
- Composition
Skill(s)
- Defining what a found object sculpture/assemblage is and how to identify one.
- Explaining the purpose and creative process behind the creation of their toy.
- Ability to discover, ideate, and problem solve through experimenting with found objects.
Art Focus
We will be creating sculptures utilizing found objects that are toys that have never existed. Students will be asked, throughout this process, about what choices they are making and what problems they've solved along the way.
Literary Focus
Most literary focus will come from when we review 2-D materials and their properties while comparing them to the way 3-D materials work. This will occur on the first day and touched upon at the beginning of other classes when we review some of the terms we introduce and use through this lesson.
- Composition
- Space
- Assemblage
- Sculpture
- 3-D
This week, we extended our Toymaker lesson to include an illustration of their toy performing its purpose. Students who didn't finish their toy last week were given the opportunity to work on it this week. Students who had finished spent our entire work time on their illustrations. This week was fun for the students because it combined two-dimensional and three-dimensional art and allowed them to make connections between the two different art forms.
Our reflective activity was also a bit different today. Instead of having a discussion, students were allowed to present their toys while their peer's guessed the purpose of it. This gave students the opportunity to participate throughout the activity and allowed them to demonstrate connections they were able to make between an art piece and it's intention. This lesson was fun and engaging and students enjoyed creating and presenting their work. |
Students were given black paper and white pencils/oil pastels to create their illustrations (as seen above). Some students, however, chose to use colored paper for their illustrations. Rather than reprimand them, we asked why they chose this path in their creative process.
This particular student used blue construction paper to create her illustration. When asked why she said, "blue is the color of the sky, where I want my spaceship to be flying". In response to this, I asked why she didn't just color her black paper blue to which she replied; "That would be a waste of black paper". Through this conversation, the student was able to explain the purpose of their creative choice as well as demonstrate an understanding of materials and the best use of materials. Because she was able to explain her choice, we were more than happy to let her use colored paper. |
The illustrations that were made by our class today were very interesting and diverse. Students were supposed to create an illustration featuring their toy in action. This led to a lot of cool additions that the students couldn't add to their actual toy. For example, the student above created a "stick horse" because that's one of her favorite toys that she owns. In her illustration, she added legs and color to her piece that she wasn't able to add to her actual project. Because she incorporated color in her illustration that wasn't on her actual piece, it prompted us to ask why she included orange and why she didn't include it in the sculpture to which she replied; "My horse is orange! I wanted to color my toy but I didn't like how the markers or pastels looked on the cardboard tubes". This student explained her creative choices and exemplified how she used her problem-solving skills. Instead of not incorporating the color at all, this student found a way to incorporate it without ruining the aesthetic of her original project.
Some students chose to use most of their work time to add on to their projects from last week. This student, for example, wasn't completely happy with how his project came out. Because of this, he continued to work on it and add onto it. This resulted in a much more dynamic piece with more intentional choices.
Originally, this students piece could not stand up on it's own. Because of this, he added two plates and a bowl to the bottom of his piece. When he asked me to help him glue the attachments, he told me he needed the attachments "for stability". This was a very sophisticated comment that shows his understanding of assemblage and the problems that may arise with assemblage. He also improved his piece by adding straws to either side of his top plate. His original idea was to have a "tower to watch out and protect us from aliens". He added the straws because "they spin really fast so if an alien got past the initial defenses, they couldn't get past these spin-y things". This student used the time given to improve his original concept, and was able to explain the choices he made. He displayed problem-solving skills and created a stronger piece in doing so. |
This student exemplified his skills in a very creative way. He created three separate toys, each with their own purpose. The flower drawing is not part of his project. From left to right his three toys were a racetrack, binoculars, and a UFO. Although these pieces weren't as technically strong as others, he showed his skills by creating multiple pieces with unique meanings.
When asked why he chose to create three separate pieces, he replied; "I had many ideas but they were all too good to pick one!". This was an interesting thought as it shows how he ideates and problem-solves when he has too many ideas. He was able to explain his creative choices and the processes he used for his three separate toys. |
During our reflective activity, students were excited and engaged. Our students got a chance to share their toy with their classmate, which they have been working hard on for three weeks. Students in the audience were also excited to be presented a toy because they were given the opportunity to guess what the purpose of it is. It seemed to be very exciting for students to be right so they participated the entire time to snag that chance.
Giving the students the opportunity to guess showed several skills as well. Most students were able to guess accurately what the purpose was on visual cues alone. This tells us our students have been learning about how to decipher art they may see. It also tells us whether a student was successful during their project building based on whether or not their peers could guess the purpose. This reflective activity was fun and rewarding for both the students and the teachers. We are excited to guide our students into our next project! |