Observing connections: North Carolina pottery and face jugs (Lesson 3)

This is the third lesson in a series of three in which students are creating art based on their observations: Lesson 1 Observing connections—art, poetry and the environment; Lesson 2 Observing connections—changing landscapes; Lesson 3 Observing connections—North Carolina pottery and face jugs.

A lesson plan for grades 4–5 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies

By Lisa Mitchell

Learn more

• Carolina Clay virtual tour of North Carolina potters
• Hands On Crafts online studio for children's crafts
• Mint Museums two charlotte museums, one of arts the other of crafts and design
• Crafting North Carolina contains the mint museum's examples of face jugs
• Dave the Potter concerns the works of the enigmatic 19th century pottery “Dave”
• Kings Pottery Terry King is a potter in Seagrove, NC who makes face jugs
• North Carolina Pottery Center

Related pages

• How do I express what I believe? - Part 2: This is the second in a three-part lesson series seeking to examine belief systems and how they impact culture in the United States. This lesson, "How do I express what I believe?" requires 3 sessions at 40 minutes each to complete. The lesson series also seeks to let students examine their own personal belief system. In this lesson, the student will learn about the American tradition of the Face Jug/Pot and how it is used to express belief. The student will also create a Face Jug/Pot to express his/her belief, and this pot will be used in the third lesson entitled. "How do I present what I believe?"
• Mini totem poles: Students will create mini totem poles using paper towel tubes and Crayola Model Magic clay. Totem poles of Northwest Coast Indian tribes will be explored.
• Intrigue of the Past: Teach your students about North Carolina's fascinating past. This edition contains lesson plans about the fundamental concepts, processes, and issues of archaeology, as well as essays for the teacher with detailed information about four periods in North Carolina's ancient history.

Related topics

• Learn more about arts, ceramics, clay, coil, face jugs, pottery, slab, and social studies.

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

Learning outcomes

Students will develop their understanding of potters and their traditions. They will then apply their knowledge of clay and folk art as they create coil pots and add decorative facial features to create a face jug.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

3 hours

Materials/resources

• The Pottery Place by Gail Gibbons
• clay, modeling clay
• fishing line or clay cutter to cut clay into blocks
• clay tools or plastic silverware
• plastic bags for storage
• cups or short trays for water/slip
• table protectors or placemats
• toothpicks or needle tools for scribing
• small water bottles or forms for building clay onto
• glaze and brushes if firing clay
• kiln if firing clay
• pieces of tiles or dishes broken into small pieces for teeth
• prints or pieces of pottery for students to view

Technology resources

• computer with Internet access

Pre-activities

• Allow students to work on the Hands on Crafts website where they can browse through different pottery techniques and virtually create their own different kinds of pots.
• Practice with students and modeling clay. Allow students to mold and work with modeling clay to become familiar with the medium and how to create slabs, coils, and facial features.
• Invite a potter to come to your classroom and demonstrate or talk about their work, or take your class to a potter’s studio. This will create enthusiasm in your students.
• View the North Carolina Pots PowerPoint presentation and discuss the history of pottery making and the tradition of face jugs. How has pottery changed? How is it different in various cultures?
• Read The Pottery Place by Gail Gibbons to introduce or review clay procedures to students.

Activities

Making a Jug:

Demonstrate to students first and then pass out materials.

1. Start with a one pound block of clay (or smaller if a smaller jug is desired). Create a slab (pancake of clay) for the bottom of the jug by making a sphere and flattening it a little larger than the form/water bottle. The slab should be about as thick as a pencil and not too floppy. On the bottom of the slab, scribe the initials or name of the artist and score around the edges of the top with a plastic fork or clay tools.
2. Start to create coils (pencil thick) out of the rest of the clay. To add the first coil, wet the edge of the slab with slip (dirty clay water which acts like glue sticking clay together). Place the coil on the edge of the slab and wrap it around the edge. Smear the two together, making sure it doesn’t stick to the table. Place the water bottle inside to fit the clay to the form.
3. Keep adding on coils to build up the jug, add water as the clay dries out and begins to crack, and smear the coils together with your fingers. Stop when the clay is at the largest part of the water bottle. Do not allow students to make their jug smaller until they take the water bottle out. From time to time, make sure the clay is not stuck to the table surface.
4. When the jug is as wide and tall as it is going to be, take out the water bottle and add coils to make the jug get smaller and form the top. The coils will need to be smoothed on the inside beforehand if the students want the inside smooth.
5. Create a short coil for the lip of the jug to finish off the jug, add to the top.
6. Smooth out the sides make sure the initials and name are on the bottom.

Prepare materials and pass out to students. Do not allow jugs to dry out. At the end of a work session, wrap pots in plastic bags for storage. It is helpful to spritz them with water if they will be covered for many days and put students’ names on the bags for easy identification.

Adding Facial Features:

Demonstrate techniques to students before passing out jugs and materials. Students might design their facial features on paper first before beginning the lesson.

1. Start with a smaller piece of clay this time. I start by making the nose first since it is usually placed in the middle of the jug. Begin by shaping a nose out of a piece of clay. To place the nose on the jug, score the back of the nose by marking it with a fork or clay tool. Score the place on the jug where the nose is to be placed and put some slip on both pieces. Then smear them together to ensure the piece will stick.
2. Create and attach the rest of the facial features in a similar manner. When creating two that should match, it is easier to make them both off of the jug and then attach them. If teeth are desired, carefully push the broken tile pieces into the mouth. Use some slip to help them stick if needed.
3. If a handle is desired, create a handle by making a thick coil and then flatten on both sides. Slip and score the edges, and attach onto the jug. If the clay is too thin or wet, it can be unstable.

Allow the clay vessels to dry 1–2 weeks until bone dry. Bisque fire the clay vessels in the kiln if firing the clay. Glaze the pieces after the first firing. I instruct students not to glaze the bottom, so they won’t stick to the kiln shelves. Refire the face jugs and display.

Assessment

Use the rubric

Appropriate reflection questions:

• Did the student use all materials safely and appropriately?
• Did the student successfully create a jug using the coil method?
• Did the student’s facial features successfully stay on the jug?

Supplemental information

On the fourth grade level, I focus more on the North Carolina connection and the Seagrove potters and traditions to link this lesson with their Social Studies Curriculum. For fifth grade, I add in the connection to the Pre-Colombian Portrait and Spout Bottles to link this lesson to their Social Studies Curriculum.

• Ceramic Art of North Carolina CD-ROM from the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
• Mint Museum of Art Teacher Resource Posters, 2000, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
• Turners & Burners: The Folk Potters of North Carolina (The Fred W. Morrison Series in Southern Studies) by Charles G. Zug
• Mudworks, Creative Clay, Dough and Modeling Experiences by MaryAnn F. Kohl
• I Made This Jar…The Life and Works of the Enslaved African-American Potter, Dave edited by Jill Beute Koverman
• Pottery, Poetry, and Politics, Surrounding the Enslaved African-American Potter, Dave Symposium McKissick Museum, The University of South Carolina April 25, 1998

Attachments:

• NC Pots PowerPoint
• Student Rubric
• Class Rubric
• Face Jugs

Comments

This lesson plan was created in a LEARN NC workshop held in Chapel Hill. This workshop was funded by the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics for the purpose of giving teachers the time, energy, and resources to create lesson plans. Using the Ackland Museum in Chapel Hill was an inspiration for helping us to incorporate the elements of arts education into our series of lessons.

Assessment:

1. Description of what happened when students did the activity (activities), including length of time spent on activity. Information about what happened when students did the activity includes approximate time spent on each section (e.g. one class period) as well as logistical information. Format may be a timeline, a narrative, or anything else that communicates what students did. I worked with both fourth and fifth grade students on this unit. Students did the lessons across a span of four months. I see them for art once a week for forty minutes, and lessons in the unit took 2–3 or more lessons each. We did not do the lessons back to back. There were other activities (art contests, holiday ornaments, etc) that had to be completed as well. Students started each new lesson with the computer museum visits (power point) which was amazing for them. We are in a new facility and it took a few weeks to get the technology on my side. But I really enjoy using the AverKey with my lessons so the class can view something off the computer. That always amazes some of them that they can see the computer on the TV. The PowerPoint presentation led into discussions of the art and then the connections of poetry, the environment, clay history, etc were brought into the lesson. Usually in that first lesson the art project might begin or start the planning of their product. The second lesson was a review and working with the art materials on their project. In the third lesson we would share and discuss the projects (critique) some students led discussions comparing their work to the work from the museums. The clay lesson (face jugs) took longer to complete. Drying time, glazing and firing gave us time to work on other things.
2. Description of student outcomes (may include samples of student work). Report of outcomes includes what students learned, what students found difficult but eventually mastered, and what students never mastered. Outcomes may be supported by a limited number of examples of student work distinguishing between high performance and low performance. My favorite lesson was the animal habitats for lesson two. We have enjoyed our new school, but this let them realize what had changed about the environment. It was a discussion and I enjoyed the brightly colored collage habitats. We had them out for people to see at the school dedication. The face jugs had very different results. Clay is a different medium to work with and some students find it more frustrating than others. I am biased and think that all their work is creative, but the clay always brings something out in the students (and it’s the messiest). Their poems were descriptive of the images they created for the first lesson. The clay jugs are quite comical.
3. Description of student opinions. Description includes report of students’ feelings and concerns about the activities, both positive and negative; may also include anecdotal evidence. Students enjoy clay the most. I think because it does so much. The clay gets them excited and everyone I show the clay site to (where you build and fire a pot) is excited. It is a great tool for teaching and learning. The kiln is a very large piece of equipment, but the website really brings it alive. The older students (fifth grade) enjoyed the Molly Bang book, Common Ground and discussed what is happening to the environment. Their pictures were quite good and they had a variety of environments portrayed. I think students would learn more from this lesson if a classroom teacher collaborated with the art teacher. It is impossible to put in as much time letting them explore the environment and journal writing, as I would have liked.
4. Teacher reflection on strengths and effective components of action components as well as future improvements. Reflective assessment of how the teacher perceives the outcomes of the activity includes what students did or did not learn, what worked well and what needs improvement, what was too difficult or too easy for students, or anything else that would be taken into consideration in improving the activity for the next time it’s used. In the future I think students would learn more from this lesson if a classroom teacher collaborated with the art teacher. It is impossible to put in as much time letting them explore the environment and journal writing, as I would have liked. In the spring I hope to take the students out some more as it warms up. We are still adjusting to our new environment and in a few months I believe they will be able to see more established habitats. Parts of this unit could be used on lower or upper grade levels. The clay face jugs are a little difficult for fourth grade, but with patience they are fine. Fifth grade seems to be the appropriate age for this activity.