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?"

A lesson plan for grade 5 Visual Arts Education

By Donna Pumphrey

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Related pages

• Becoming one with clay: Pinch pots: This lesson will provide students with an initial, successful experience with clay. They will begin with a small, palm-size piece of soft clay, mold it into a ball, and then create a small rounded pot.
• 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.
• 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.

Related topics

• Learn more about arts, ceramics, clay, face jugs, face pot, hands-on, paintings, pottery, symmetry, and texture.

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Learning outcomes

The student will understand the tradition of the Face Jug/Pot and will create a Face Jug/Pot expressing their belief about themselves.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

3-4 Days

Materials/resources

• Attachments:
  • Face jug image — One-Gallon Face Jug by Burlon Craig (Note: More examples of face jugs can be found at the websites listed below)
  • Symmetry, Texture, and Face Pots handout
  • Assessment rubric
• Clay
• Water bottle
• Plastic bags
• Plastic knives
• Water
• Tempera paint
• Paint brushes
• Paper plates
• Pencils

Technology resources

Computer with internet connection

Pre-activities

The teacher should be familiar with clay processes and the tradition of the Face Jug/Pot. For more information, see Web sites and books listed below. The teacher should be familiar with the Web sites listed below. The teacher should be familiar with the first lesson plan in this series entitled “What do I believe?” The student should have completed the first lesson plan entitled “What do I believe?”

Activities

Session 1

1. The essential question “How do I express what I believe?” should be placed on the board before students enter. The teacher should ask what art forms the students might use to express the paragraph they wrote in Lesson one. Answers that vary may be placed on the board. The teacher will then remind students of the PowerPoint presentation and especially their knowledge of American Slave/Tribal art, which includes the notion of pots holding an attribute of a person. The teacher should then show the attached example of a face jug, as well as other examples on the web.
2. The teacher should then talk about symmetry and texture and how they are achieved in art, and then refer to the handout — “Symmetry, Texture, and Art.” The teacher should then pass out the handout, and students should complete it in about 5 minutes.
3. The teacher should then refer to the “Hands On Crafts” Web site listed below, and show online face jugs, then model how a pinch pot is made. Students should then receive clay and begin making their Face Pots.
4. Five minutes before this session ends, students should be stopped to place pots in plastic bags, label them, clean up, and share faces drawn on their handouts.

Session 2

1. The essential question, “How do I express what I believe?” should be placed on the board before class arrives.
2. The teacher should begin this lesson by reminding students of the handouts on Symmetry, Texture, and Face Pots that they completed the last week.
3. The teacher should tell the students that today they will use these faces to create faces on their pinch pots. The teacher should remind the student that the face should express belief by including one object that expresses belief. The teacher should also remind the student that the face should include their own facial expression, as well as symmetry and texture. The teacher should then model this process.
4. The students should then receive clay and work on Face Pots until 5 minutes before end of class. While students are working, the teacher may call up small groups to explore the Hands On Crafts Web site listed below. The students should be stopped 5 minutes before end of class to clean up. Pots should be left out to dry, and students should take a walk around the room to view completed artwork. It should be stressed that students should not touch one another’s work out of respect for the artists and their work.

Session 3

1. The essential question, “How do I express what I believe?” should be placed on board before class arrives.
2. The teacher should then ask students to reflect on their Face Pots. What do they like about them? The teacher should then explain to students that today they will paint their Face Pots. Proper use of paints on the object should be modeled, stressing not mixing colors in trays. Instead, they should mix them on paper plates provided.
3. The students should then receive their pots and paint them. Five minutes before the end of class, the students should be stopped to clean up and a walk-through should be done to view completed projects.

Assessment

Using the attached assessment rubric, the teacher will evaluate each student’s face pot.

Our system uses a very Good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory grading system, but the rubric could be adapted for a more traditional grading system.

Supplemental information

For more information on the clay process and the Face Pot tradition, see the websites listed below.

Also, for more information on clay process see the books listed here.

• 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 McKissic Museum, The University of South Carolina, April 25, 1998

Related websites

• Hands on Crafts
• Paw Print Pottery — face jugs from South Carolina
• Albert Hodge Folk Pottery
• NC Pottery Center at Seagrove
• Carolina Clay
• Clayton G. Bailey
• Face Jugs and Jug Heads: An American Ceramic Tradition

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.