Secrets of the Treasure Box Day 1
Project/Unit Description/Expedition
In the coming weeks, students will be working on creating a reliquary using clay and decorating them with acrylic paints. The purpose and intent for this project is to have them think about how a vessel/container can either reflect an idea or how it can mimic an object that its holding relating it back to how art reflects the real world.
Essential Understanding
Students will create a three-dimensional treasure box to express an emotion and/or hold an important item.
Students will use shape to convey meaning while making their treasure boxes.
Students will utilize three-dimensions to convey a meaning, express an emotion and/or hold something meaningful.
Students will use shape to convey meaning while making their treasure boxes.
Students will utilize three-dimensions to convey a meaning, express an emotion and/or hold something meaningful.
Inquiry/Learning Target
"For the next two weeks, we will be working as explorers of lost lands and mysterious places. We all have things that are important to us and we want to make sure they remain safe, so we will be working on making special containers to house these objects."
"When thinking about the reliquaries we saw, how could you apply color to your own? The importance of sketching your ideas allows you to experiment with color so that it best represents the message you want it to have: whether it's like the object it holds or if it's something happy then maybe you'll want to paint it with bright colors. It is important for your reliquary to match the object's purpose and meaning to you."
"When thinking about the reliquaries we saw, how could you apply color to your own? The importance of sketching your ideas allows you to experiment with color so that it best represents the message you want it to have: whether it's like the object it holds or if it's something happy then maybe you'll want to paint it with bright colors. It is important for your reliquary to match the object's purpose and meaning to you."
- Students will create a treasure box to express and emotion and/or hold an important item.
- Students will be able to express what their emotion was and/or how their treasure box will hold their important item.
Key Concept(s)
- Three-dimensional
- Treasure
- Reliquary
- Shape
- Expression
- Emotion
- Meaning
Skill(s)
- Recognizing and being able to explain what a reliquary is.
- Ability to create a vessel/box utilizing different ways to handle and use clay.
- Explaining the purpose in the designs of their own reliquary/treasure box.
Art Focus
For this project series, we will be creating personalized reliquaries designed with an emotion in mind and/or an important object to the student. This will allow the students to become familiar with using clay and adding color through various processes of planning and experimenting with the material.
Literary Focus
Literacy will be applied in beginning instructions, one-on-one discussions during work time, and during the final exhibition display of their reliquaries/treasure boxes. During these moments we will be using set vocabulary and other forms of art critiquing utilizing various aspects of the broad language of art.
- Reliquary
- Scoring
- Dimensional
- Shape
- Expression
This week, we decided to push our students' understanding of three-dimensional further. We asked our students to create treasure boxes out of clay. Part of our scaffolding for this project involved introducing our students to the word "reliquary". Once we defined reliquary, we showed our students several examples of reliquaries. In order to solidify the definition, we had students guess what each reliquary might have held, based on artistic elements alone.
After our presentation on reliquaries, we taught students a few essential clay-building techniques to assist them in their exploration of clay. We taught them how to make coils and how to slip and scour because those are the most effective basic techniques for clay building. Once we went through our presentation and demonstration, we had our students explore with plasticine clay before building their actual treasure box with the real clay. |
Students were allowed to explore with the material through plasticine clay. This was to allow students the chance to practice building techniques without worrying about making mistakes. While exploring with the plasticine clay, many students demonstrated their ability to coil build and slip and scour.
This student can be seeing practicing the coil building technique. This is done by creating coils out of the clay. This student has shown the ability to utilize the clay in different ways, before we even got to the real clay! When asked how she felt about coil building, she replied, "it's fun and easy to make big [structures]". |
Both of the students above are practicing their coil building as well. Students here can also be seen making balls of clay, flattening the clay, and morphing it into what they envision for their piece.
The student to the left is being handed her real clay. In this picture, the teacher is explaining to this student that when the clay gets too dry, they'll need to spritz it. When talking to this student, it was clear she was excited to begin building with the real clay. While the teacher was talking to her, the student was fully engaged and listening. She then expressed her excitement when the clay was given to her. When asked what her idea was for her treasure box, she said, "I want to make a box for my necklace my mom gave me because it's very important and pretty". The student was clearly excited and able to express her artistic intentions. |
These students can be seen building their treasure boxes with the real clay we provided. The student on the right can be seen looking for his sketch of his original idea. After building with the plasticine clay, students created sketches of their finalized ideas. Many students referenced their sketches while building their final pieces.
These students had very clear ideas of what they wanted to achieve for their treasure boxes. The student on the left said he wanted to make a treasure box for "my stuffed animals because they keep me safe". The student on the right was also able to explain the purpose of their treasure box by saying, "I'm building mine for my favorite rock!". Both students were able to express their purpose and demonstrated multiple techniques while building. |
Students utilized all of the tools given to them, as well as many clay building techniques. Students above are shown rolling the clay in their hands, building coils, and slipping and scouring their clay. These students utilized these techniques to build their boxes, which is one of the skills we were looking for.
The student on the right is one of the many who utilized almost every tool given to her. She used the fork for slipping and scouring and used a loop tool to get rid of excess clay. She also used the knife and chopstick to decorate her piece once it was nearing it's final form. When asked why she added the decorations, she expressed how they related to the idea she had for her treasure box. She said, "I wanted to build a box for the sun because it makes me so happy so I decided to add suns to the sides". The student was able to clearly explain the purpose of her design. |
This student is building up his piece in this photo. In order to do this, he utilized both the coil building and slip and scour technique. These techniques were very useful for him to build a taller box. When asked how he felt about working with the clay he replied, "I love it! It's easy to mold and the clay feels cool on my hands". He was also able to explain the purpose of his box, saying it was being made to hold his favorite action figure.
The student utilized several techniques and explained their purpose, which are two of the skills we were looking for this lesson. |
Our students had a lot of fun experimenting and playing with the clay for this project. Although some students had trouble building, they all had fun exploring the new material. The students were able to define "reliquary" again at the end of class, which made it clear that they were able to learn the new term.
Although we wish we could keep building, we don't have much time left in the semester. Because of that, we are going to fire whatever our students were able to create. Next week, the students will use acrylic paint to paint their pieces. We will also bring more clay for them to continue to explore once done painting. This lesson was fun and engaging and students expressed how excited they were for next week! |