Clay Elephants!

Hello again parents!
We finally got to play with clay in the classroom!  It was so fun, but sooooo messy.  I didn't anticipate the amount of clean up I needed to stay after and do.
We were learning about the Savannah habitat, and I thought it would be fun to make a herd of animals for the Savannah.  I decided on elephants because they have strong sturdy legs that wouldn't break off, like giraffes or gazelles.

The first thing I did was show the students videos on how to score and slip pieces together (which is SO IMPORTANT when working with clay), then I showed them a video of how to insert moist newspaper inside of the legs, body, and head so the elephants won't crack in the kiln.  After that, I did a demo, then turned them all loose to make their elephants.  They followed me in a step by step approach, which Ms. Butikofer so wisely recommended, so we were all on the same step most of the time. Toward the end, some kids moved ahead, so we'll have to catch everybody up to the same place next time.

I thought we would finish up in one day, but I was way off.  We're going to need two more weeks before they're done.  One week for finishing forming and reinforcing attachments, and another for  firing and painting.  We opted to paint instead of glaze because Ms. Butikofer already had acrylic paints on hand that were nice Savannah colors.  

I was so impressed by the dexterity of these second graders! This was a hard project and they jumped right in an did it!  That just shows, with a little be of extra time these students can do amazing things. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

I'll be up again tomorrow finishing up phase one.

Until next time!