CC Class #4
Project Description:
In this lesson, students learned about how artists and designers use their imaginations to create something that has not existed before. Students observed examples of how artists combined unfamiliar things and ideas to create an imaginary creature. This lesson focused on imagination and play, through which students created a clay sculpture representing their own imaginary creature.
Essential Understanding:
Artists and designers draw inspiration from their imagination and outside sources to create original works of art.
Objectives/Outcomes:
Students will be able to...
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Imagine their own imaginary friend
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Experiment with clay and others materials
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Reflect on their design
Skills:
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Envision ideas in a lesson menu
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Create a 3D sculpture that represents an imaginary creation
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Manipulate and transform clay
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Reflection
Lesson plan can be found here.
What worked well for this art experience? Why?
There were a few things that work well for this art experience. Using white model magic clay worked well because it was easy to mold and the students seemed to enjoy playing with the clay. I also think that showing goofy creatures that I made worked well too because it showed students that they can also make any kind of creature from their imagination. Providing lesson menus helped too especially with the students who need more help creating. With lesson menus, the aides were able to ask the students what features they wanted their creature to have, that way they got more creative say in how their creature would turn out. I am also glad we got extra model magic because some students finished their creature quickly and wanted to create more.
What didn’t work well for this art experience? Why?
I don't think showing videos at the beginning of class worked as well as I hoped. We played the videos and the students didn't seem very engaged. We also tried asking open ended questions which I didn't think worked well because most of the students that were there that day don't respond verbally. I also hoped that creating the creature would take more time, then students could paint their creature at the beginning of next time when their clay is completely dry. Some students became restless after they quickly finished their creation, so we decided to just get out the paint to give them more to do even though it's harder to paint on model magic that isn't completely dry.
What would you do differently? Why?
Instead of showing a video, I would include a short activity that is more interactive. When teaching about imaginary creations, I think it would be a fun beginning activity to have one of the teachers draw on the white board and ask students questions to create a collaborative creature. Since a lot of my students have a harder time with verbal communication, I could ask specific questions like, "Should our creature have purple hair? Pink hair? Blue hair?" and students could nod yes or no to respond. I think this activity to start with would engage students more because they would actually experience the process of creating something from imagination, then they could do it on their own. This activity would also keep students engaged longer because we could create more than one creature and that would prepare them to start thinking about what they would want their own creature to be like.