SWBAT create two pinch pots and to join them together.

SWBAT use the pinch method to create features of the monster.

Clay tools:
Canvas, fettling knife, needle tool, metal rib

Optional:
Leather stamps for texture

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I am going to be breaking this down by days. For students that have missed the lesson, I always re-demo the lesson again after the new lesson demo. It is a very intense few demo days, but it is worth it.

Day 1: Pinch Pot practice
The students will be given a class period to learn how to make a pinch pot. I normally have them do this step by step with me as it is not a long lesson. Below is a brief break down of my lesson.

-Students wedge 3 lbs of clay.
- Cut wedge clay in 4ths.
- Take one of the 4ths and pat it into a ball.
- Press thumb into ball to open. Press more than half way.
- Pressing thumb and fingers on clay, press the bottom side and turn.
- Once bottom is pressed evenly, move to the middle section and repeat.
- Once middle section is pressed evenly move to the rim/lip of pinch pot. Do not press thin.
-Using fingers, feel the sides of the pinch pot to ensure even clay.
-Turn clay upside down on to the canvas, and slice the clay in half. This is to assess evenness of clay.
-Cracking will occur while pinching, have cups of water at tables to smooth cracks away.

Have them make one more pinch pot to ensure even clay.

Pinch pots tend to harbor air pockets easily, stress that air must not be in clay as it will blow up.

Day 2: Monster Body Session 1

Today the students will be joining two pinch pots together. They will learn scoring and sliping.

-Students wedge 3lbs of clay.
-Cut into 4ths
-Make two similar spheres.
-Make two pinch pots, rims of clay must fit together.
- Score (lines/cuts in clay) and slip (clay/water glue) the two lids together.
- With the two pinch pots together, roll a thin coil. Place it along the seam of the two pinch pots. Press it away.
- Use water to smooth cracks while building.

Optional - Using a fork and metal rib, have the students smooth the body until they have an "egg" shape. This can be saved for later.

Wrap the clay in two plastic grocery bags to ensure they do not dry out.

Day 3: Monster creation and body shaping.

Drill - Students make a circle map (a circle map is where you write the word monster, circle the word and draw a lager circle around it. It is like a ven diagram but not.) where they will write the features of what makes a monster.

As a class I review what makes a monster. I then give them a sketch paper with the criteria on it (attached). The body and the head are the same part like Mike from Monsters Inc or Kirby from Nintendo. This is not the end all be all.

I explain that the clay has some limits. Circles, cylinders, ovals, tear drops, bean and square/rectangle shapes are the easiest ones to do. There are other shapes the students can create but you can be the judge if they are do-able.

Day 4: Shaping the Body
I give this day as a catch up day for those that are absent and to ensure the student have a good base.

I go over the shapes listed above and demo the shaping process of the "egg". This is a hard thing to verbally explain. You pat/roll/pinch the clay into shape. It's very easy as long as the clay is very damp and flexible.

By gluing the two pinch pots together, there is an air pocket. That will help to manipulate the clay into many different shapes.

The students then take a fork and metal rib to smooth out any imperfections to keep the base nice and clean to start.

Day 5: Features Eyes and Mouths

I show them how to place eyes and to carve/cut the mouth.

I have two demos for the eyes. "Bug out eyes" or "inset eyes". Bug out eyes, are eyes that rest on top of the body. Inset eyes are pressed in. I show them how the eyes create a lot of emotion demoing happy and angry eyes.

The mouths I demo 3 mouths. Closed, grinning and gapping mouths. The closes are simple smiles or "kissy lips". Grinning is a :D smile. and the gapping mouth are mouths you cut out with gaps in between the teeth.

Day 6: Features
This day I show how to add a variety of things.

Horns, bows, hats, noses, arms and other requests. This can change year to year due to requests, but from my years of teaching the list above is what I show to the group and then I can do an individual demo at a students table.

Day 7: Opening the body/creation of lid and additional details

This is optional, I prefer to do this as it makes it gives a function to the monsters.

Using the fettling knife or needle tool the students will cut the monster open either through the mouth or around the eyes. They cut "notches" into the monster to create a locking piece so the lids don't slide off. It'll look something like this:

__/\_____/\____/\

Triangles or half circles work best. As you can lock the lid by having squares/rectangles.

Day 8: Creating the Legs
The legs can be a lot of fun. It's a requirement of 2 or more. They are coils with "stubs" that the students put on the end like an L. The students also have the option of tentacles in which they make a circle base and build coils off of the base/body.

Day 9: Texture
The texture will hide the imperfections of handling the clay. You could have the students smooth the clay, but I have found this add that extra "something" to the projects. I normally require the texture to cover the whole body, unless a student would like to do something different.

The texture can be as simple as using the needle tool and poking the monster for the texture. Or they may use stamps. You can also have the students make stamps.

Texture is the last demo day. The students may need another day to do last touch ups.

It is a long lesson, but from the results I get with the students normally I have to beg to keep examples as most want to take them home.

Some of the steps can be combined, but the demos can take a while. The longest demo is the eyes/mouth day. Depending on your class day you can combine or shorten this as much as you like. For my 90min periods, this is what works best for me.

At the end of this lesson I do a vocabulary quiz and a procedure short answer question. I ask a step by step process of making a pinch pot and putting them together.

https://www.facebook.com/claymonsterpottery

Feel free to contact me with questions.
egschwengATaacpsDOTorg

Form, Proportion/Size, Texture

Ceramics

Clay Monster Pinch Pot21.pptx
claymonsterDesignsheet11.pdf
Monstereyes11.pdf
MonsterMouth11.pdf