Clay Aliens: 2nd Grade

In this unit, students are to create clay pinch pots which they will then transform into
aliens. Accompanying this first lesson is a group discussion covering what an “alien” is and how
we can expand that definition to fit into our everyday lives. The second graders caught on to
this concept more than I thought but it seemed to follow an odd pattern; some classes
understood and were able to think more abstractly about this than other classes. Because some
of the classes did not understand, I had to adjust on a class by class basis and help coax or
guide the students more in those classes. The other part of the first lesson was to follow a
worksheet to plan out their aliens. This actually went much better than planned. I was afraid that
the worksheet might be too simple and not take up the entire period like I would want it to, but
surprisingly, it was just the right amount of work. The students were engaged, and thoughtful in
their planning. They were excited anticipating creating this into a 3 dimensional object, and it
made them think about how they could turn a 2 dimensional object into that 3 dimensional
figure. This was probably the most successful, age appropriate lesson I had planned by this
point.
In lesson two, they were to form the alien and sculpt it. This lesson also went
swimmingly. The students watched on the floor as I demonstrated how to form the pot and
score, slip and attach pieces. Sitting on the floor worked well as they did not have access to
distractions on the tables since all of the materials were set out for them. They then went back
to their table and I did a step by step with them once again. This helped to solidify the concept
of how to form and attach and the importance of smoothing down the piece for aesthetic
purposes.
The final lesson for these students is how to paint bisque fired clay with tempera paint.
We did a small demo of where to hold the paintbrush, how to paint by dragging the brush rather
than creating “sketchy” movements and how to mix paints. They understood the majority of this
information but I still caught multiple students either holding the brush incorrectly or creating
“sketchy” movements.
Overall I feel this was my most age appropriate unit and was impressed with the
student’s abilities to comprehend these more abstract concepts about acceptance and empathy
as well as their technical abilities and pushing themselves in the creation of their artworks. This
is one unit that I wouldn't reduce or refine anything but in the future may push the students to
accomplish even more.