Slab Fish in Clay

 Elementary School Lesson: Slab Fish in Clay

In 2019,  I was given the opportunity to design and teach a clay lesson in Fox Prairie Elementary School in Stoughton, WI.  The 2nd and 3rd grade students were tasked with planning, creating, and responding to the lesson's major objective: the mastery of physical texture and simulated texture definitions and concepts.  Simulated texture is often referred to as "visual texture," a more relatable subject-specific vocabulary term which I intentionally chose for this lesson.

The lesson lasted four days, each day having a specific objective in mind.  Day one, we had a discussion about fish and introduced some terminology.    I researched the fish that populated a lake that borders Stoughton, Lake Kegonsa.  We began talking about those fish both as a class and in a small "turn and talk."  We had a good time describing exactly what a fish texture was, as some students felt that fish were "slimy," while some other students drew upon their own knowledge and talked about the spines on the back of a walleye, or the particular smell of a northern pike.  

Images are selected slides from the daily presentations, which were shown on a large "Clevertouch" screen.  At times, students were asked to stand and interact with the screen, circle key vocabulary, or draw lines between the word and the concept pictures.

A slide shown where we discussed the different types of fish.

After talking about fish we discussed what we were going to be doing in the unit: making a clay sculpture that uses slab clay techniques, score and slip joinery, and the creation of physical texture.

Building upon their previous knowledge and projects we defined Visual Texture.  Physical texture was presented as something that you could feel, like the texture of scales, much like mosaics or sculptures.  Students were asked to describe how these would feel, and how that might compare to the feeling of fish scales.

After this we introduced the terminology through the process of making slab clay.  This didn't offer a ton of choice, admittedly, but it gave the students a clear path toward success.  I wanted the choice to be centered around how they created their textures, and the successful creation of a slab fish was a necessary step.  These procedures were introduced with large pictures on the Clevertouch screen.  This would allow the students to recall familiar concepts during the demo.  Key vocabulary used for assessment was displayed in large colorful letters.

After this discussion, students were tasked with planning in their sketchbooks by using a fish stencil and adding visual texture to their fish.  Each table had pictures of the fish to use as visual references.

This exercise in their sketchbooks tasked the students with predicting what kind of tool they would use to create textures in clay.   Writing their predictions helped solidify what they would be doing to their clay, as some students wouldn't be back in the art classroom until the next week.  To further help reinforce key concepts, I'm a big fan of making my own "coloring book" pages.  I hope to expand upon these in the future.  

The "coloring page" of Slab Clay and an example of the templates students would trace for their fish.

Day Two- Demo and Do it!

The second day I did a quick demo of the covered techniques.  After a quick visual review of key concepts we got to work.  Students were excited to get going, and I tried to give them every opportunity to explore the materials.  Students were provided with clay, mats, rollers, slats and clay of course, but were also provided with a handful of found-object clay tools that had not been talked about before in class: varieties of noodles, shells, straws, and other assorted items from the junk drawer.  Students were encouraged to "try it and see what happens."  The day was a whirlwind of activity, as students finished cutting out their fish, creating texture on them, signing their names and cleaning up.

Day Three - Catch-Ups, Rubbings, and Reflections.

Day three was reserved for students who were absent on the clay day.  A separate table was set up in the back of the classroom.  The main body of students were given a handout that tasked them with finding a physical texture in the classroom and making a rubbing with a crayon.  This occupied the students as they engaged in a "treasure hunt" of textures, transforming physical textures into visual textures as they went.  These handouts also asked several questions about their textures, and asked them to predict what kind of tool they might use to make these textures in clay.  Some students offered answers that recalled some of the experiments they had done when they were working on clay.  While the students did this, I got the students who still needed to make their clay slabs going on the back table.

Students were also given a second worksheet that asked them to respond to a slide showing four works found at a local gallery.  The class was started by introducing the locale of the gallery (one actually in their city) and asking them to write about different textures they saw on the sculptures.  

The worksheets.  These were used to assess the student's understanding of key vocabulary.  There were multiple entrances to display mastery.  I enjoy making "coloring books" for major lessons.

Day Four - Painting Day

After the fish were fired, students were given a good selection of oil pastels.  Earlier in the semester we had covered the technique of "crayon resist" when making watercolors.  This was revisited as we explained how we were to create color upon our fired fish and have the "oil pastel crayons" resist a different kind of paint: this time it was to be black tempera paint.

Building upon what we had learned in the past.

Again, students were asked to predict the result.

In the review, we introduced a new term, "medium," which would be expanded upon throughout the rest of the semester.

Again, the picture references of the local species of fish from day one were provided upon the tables (these had been conveniently laminated) so students could use them for references, however students were also encouraged to make up their own color schemes.  "You're the artist and this is your trophy fish," I would remind them.  Holes had been installed in the tops of the fish before they had been fired, so that a ribbon could be tied so the fish could be hung on the wall like their own "trophy fish."  In fact, some students mentioned that someone in their family had trophy fish hanging on the walls of their residence, and that this fish was similar to that one.  

Student Examples

At the end of the project, strings were attached and individualized rubrics were included in the wrapped-up fish.  This was a major project, taking an entire month to finish.  The students were enthusiastic about the assignment.  During lunch duty, students from other classes would ask when it would be their turn to take part in the clay fish assignment.  

State Standards: 

Create: Investigate, Plan, and Make.

Present: Develop Meaning, and Communicate.

Respond: Describe.  

I've also had 4th grade students do this same project.  This translates well after watercolor and oil pastel skill-building days, as contemporary methods of mixed media are stressed and experimentation is encouraged.

I had the 4th grade class paint large blue backdrops as a way to create an underwater scene for the fish, a highlight during one of our fine arts nights.