It is challenging, with our shortened time frame, to create a clay experience that gives students a chance to be truly engaged in creating something personal. This lesson has given me the best of both worlds: a template-based structure (an envelope) for students to start with and the freedom to express themselves through embellished small-scale sculptures.
A student refers to a photo to capture the details of a dragonfly.This piece uses honeycombs and bees to represent community.This student chose a dragon to represent wisdom and knowledge in his Asian culture.A student creating a leaf and flower motif.This piece uses a red rose to symbolize love.
Clay can be difficult at the middle-school level, especially when you only see your students every other day for one semester. I am constantly reinventing the wheel with my lessons and projects, trying to create experiences for my eighth-grade students that will give them skills they’ll need at the upper levels, a final product based on practice and experimentation, and a deeper, more meaningful approach to art-making.
It is challenging, with our shortened time frame, to create a clay experience that gives students a chance to be truly engaged in creating something personal. This lesson has given me the best of both worlds: a template-based structure (an envelope) for students to start with and the freedom to express themselves through embellished small-scale sculptures.
Discussing Symbolism
I begin this lesson by engaging students in a discussion about symbolism. We talk about the use of symbols in literature and in the real world, then we focus specifically on the visual arts. I give a presentation where we deconstruct artists’ work and break down symbols to better understand their intentions and ideas. I frequently share the work of Frida Kahlo and René Magritte for symbolism because their work is easily recognized by middle-school students.
Choosing a Message
Next, I ask students, “What message would you send to yourself in the future?” This question could have many answers at the middle-school level, but students usually narrow their ideas to the essentials—love, happiness, peace, prosperity, or some combination of those concepts. I encourage them to research symbols in literature or art that represent their ideas, or they can create their own personal symbols.
Working with Clay
The main clay objective for this lesson is to create a slab-based sculpture related to students’ chosen symbols. The slab envelope is a template I made out of paper. After rolling out a thin slab of clay, students cut out the template and fold, slip, and score the bottom flaps together. We spend an entire class focusing on artisanship, smoothing, and perfecting the envelopes before moving on to the sculptural aspect of the work. Students also use a small straw to poke a hole in the top of their envelope so their finished pieces can be hung.
Students have complete freedom when adding their symbols, but I encourage them to think about how the symbol and the envelope interact with one another.
Glazing and Painting
After sculpting, students apply a clear glaze to their envelopes. They use a color glaze on the symbolic objects, making sure not to get color glaze on the clear-coated envelope.
Students can add color to their envelope if they can convince me that the color would enhance their piece in a symbolic way. For example, one student chose to paint his envelope red because a red envelope in Chinese culture represents good luck, and he had chosen symbols of Chinese culture as his focus. His artistic intent was to send a message to his future self to remind him not to forget his roots and rich family heritage.
Written or Spoken Reflection
In the last part of this lesson, students talk or write about their symbol and how it represents their idea, whether it is a literary symbol, a symbol seen in visual arts, or a self-generated symbol that is even more personal. This gives me insight into students’ choices, feelings, hopes, dreams, and goals for their future. The reflection also enables me to understand the struggles and triumphs students experienced while constructing their clay pieces.
My eighth-grade students look forward to this project each year, and I recommend it for any middle-school teacher who needs a clay project in which their students will feel invested and self-aware.
Katie Brown is an art teacher at Barker Road Middle School and Calkins Road Middle School in Pittsford, New York. Kmarsjanik@Gmail.com Instagram: @MrsBrownsArtRoom
National Standard
Connecting: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experience to make art.
Art teachers develop lessons that encourage students to explore their emotions, develop empathy, and nurture positive relationships. Young students use paper shapes to create scenes that interpret their feelings about a special place, elementary students share personal stories through clay and shrink-film treasures, middle-school students express a chosen emotion through paper and cardboard masks, high-school students connect to the Indigenous histories of their community, and more.
