Clay Animals: Imaginary Pets - Studio in a School

Overview

Students will explore imaginary pets through drawing and clay. They will invent a pet and translate their idea into two- and three-dimensional representations. They will be challenged to create a sculpture that is balanced and freestanding. Students will add details and texture to enhance their imaginary pets. Students will write a fairy tale about their imaginary pet.

Grade Level

K-2

Media

Drawing, Clay, Sculpture

Teaching Guide

Lessons

Lesson 1: Lines and Imaginary Shapes

Lesson 2: Sketching Imaginary Pets

Lesson 3: Black Line Paintings

Lesson 4: Texture Tiles

Lesson 5: Abstract Clay Sculptures

Lesson 6: Imaginary Pet Sculptures

Lesson 7: Refining Shapes

Lesson 8: Adding Texture and Details

Lesson 9: Painting Clay Sculptures

Lesson 10: Painting Clay Tiles

Materials and Tools

Ebony pencils
Black tempera paint
Self-hardening clay
Drawing paper – 12 x 18”
Drawing paper – 9 x 12”
Paintbrushes
Plastic rolling pins
Clay tools
Cardboard for templates
Sponges
Plastic forks
Trays
Ziploc bags
Metallic paint
Paint cups

Objectives

Students will create a clay sculpture that demonstrates:
- Additive and subtractive techniques
- Tapping, rolling, coiling, pinching, and pulling
- Attaching shapes through scoring and smoothing
- Incising
- Textures with a variety of lines
Students will observe, analyze, and interpret lines and shapes.
Students will learn how to work and think like an artist.
Students will use their imagination to invent a pet.
Students will use black paint to create a gestural painting, including visual texture.

Resources

Greater Nicoya vessel in the form of a jaguar, AD 400-1350, Costa Rica, pottery, Museum of the American Indian

Terracotta zoomorphic askos (vessel) with antlers, ca. 1725-1600 BC, Cypriot, terracotta, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

John Balistreri, *Signal,* stoneware, colored slip, glaze, 2014

Pablo Picasso, *Wood Owl (Chouette),* painted earthenware, 1968

Pablo Picasso, *Two-Headed Vase with Faun’s Head and an Owl,* painted earthenware, 1961

Tim Otterness, *Life Underground,* bronze, 2001, New York City 14th St Station

William Wegman, *Stationary Figures,* mosaic mural, 2018, New York City 23rd St Station

BOOKS:

From Mud to House by Bertram T. Knight

Frida and her Animalitos by Monica Brown (Author) and John Parra (Illustrator)

The Three Little Pigs

Adaptations

For Multilingual Learners

Pre-teach vocabulary
Model
Use prompts and/or sentence starters
Use cooperative grouping
Use multimodality tasks
Use engaging texts and images
and rich content
Use Total Physical Response (TPR)
Employ high-utility vocabulary and academic language
Build social and academic language and knowledge through discussion
Build language and knowledge through writing
Repeat vocabulary words as they are introduced

Credits

Clay Animals: Imaginary Pets

Written by Traci Talasco, Artist Instructor

Studio in a School NYC Team
Belinda Blum, Artist Instructor
Andrea Burgay, Associate Director
Julie Applebaum, Senior Director
Hasna Muhammad, Ed.D., Chair, Board of Directors, Studio in a School Association
Alison Scott-Williams, President, Studio in a School NYC