The Authentic Arts Lesson

This lesson theme was inspired by Koalas seen at my son's school which is situated in a known koala corridor.   A mother and baby koala were observed moving between trees by the students/parents and teachers.  

 

The art activity is broken into three lessons - focused on the prep to year 2 learners allowing for better engagement and understanding. 

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LESSON ONE

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My 'pretend' class brainstormed ideas, responding to the question of 'what are some other Australian animals?', and discussed their habitats/interesting features. 

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Australian animal cards and/other pictures of Australian animals are shown to enhance learner's understanding, enrich our discussion, and encourage discussion of different animal features by asking questions, and asking students to share their own experiences. 

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​We would reflect on the koalas that we had seen at school, look at our photos of them, and discuss that we live surrounded by a koala habitat, although it isn't usual to see them so active during the daytime.

 

The learners would then be introduced to the idea of creating our own Australian animal habitat in the classroom using our provocation table, and then the Australian animals to put into that habitat.

 

We would have a discussion of what materials we would need to create our habitat, and we would go on a walkabout around our school to collect appropriate natural materials to create the habitat.  

 

I would try to increase learner engagement/excitement by letting them know that their families will get to see the finished product in our school art show at the end of the term. 

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LESSON TWO

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PART ONE:

introduce the idea of sculpting our animals out of air dry clay.  

Ask the learners to choose one animal to make and then to use the worksheet to really think about the features of their animal and what they will need to include in their sculpture.  

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This might ideally happen before a lunch break or in the morning so that learners have the opportunity to think over their work before engaging in the sculpture later in the day.

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PART TWO:

The learners get to work with the clay.  Using their worksheets, and the animal models provided, students can begin to visualise their clay animal.

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Next is a discussion about clay - show the learners a piece of clay and demonstrate its properties.  Ask the learners what they think it is like -  wet, cold, squishy, sticky, bendy. Discuss that once their sculpture is finished, it will be left to dry and will go hard.

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I have a couple of basic  videos to show learners that discuss the properties of clay, the use of clay throughout history, and how clay can be used to build different things.

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Next is to give a demonstration of clay building techniques as pictured, and a discussion of the tools we are using.   There is then a discussion of safety guidelines with respect to tools, don't put the clay near your face/mouth and the like. 

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​Armed with this knowledge, the students will be free to work on their clay sculpture.  

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During the lesson the students will be encouraged to pause and reflect upon their progress, with reference to the displayed animal models, pictures and their worksheets to see whether they think they are happy with their sculptures and if they think they need to adjust their work in any way.

 

This lesson is linked to the Australian Curriculum content description ACAVAM107 for visual arts in years foundation to year 2, where students have

used and experimented with clay (different materials and techniques and processes to make artworks).  They have explored the natural material (clay) and made representations of Australian animals.    In addition, this lesson will fulfil the ACAVAM108 content description where the students have displayed their artwork in a class habitat through discussion and collaborative building of such.  They have had to make decisions about where to place their animals in the habitat, reflect on the designs of their sculptures during the process of sculpting to ensure their animals were represented to their satisfaction, and displayed their artwork at the school art show for the benefit of parents and the community.

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The general capabilities covered here included critical and creative thinking as well as personal and social capability.

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The cross-curriculum priorities covered I suggest are that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories are touched on in lesson three, and that sustainability may be touched upon - we are working with a natural resource after all (01.1-3)

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Once the lesson is finished, the sculptures will be stored in a safe place to dry out.  Once dry, the class will work together to contruct the habitat, using the materials gathered from out walkabout, and our clay sculptures, taking care to place the animals in their correct position, that is, aquatic animals, in the water areas, koalas, in trees …

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LESSON THREE

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Lesson three is really a follow up experience for learners to consolidate their existing knowledge of the material clay, and methods of working with clay, and to perhaps extend that knowledge by making a coil or pinch pot. This will be educational for teachers also.

Here a local master potter will visit the 'school' and talk with students about the clay that he locally sources which is connected to the Quandamooka people (local to me) and demonstrate some hand building techniques, his potter's wheel and how to throw a pot.  Older students may have the opportunity to have a turn on the potter's wheel.

 

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