So you can draw a stll life.... but can you CREATE a still life?

     We had just finished our still life pieces and the fifth grade students were very familiar with the simple idea that a still life, is when an artist finds or takes a variety of objects, and either draws them as they are found, or arranges them on a surface.  I decided I was going to challenge students to sculpt their own objects, which would become their own still life (really, I wanted them to have this experience of taking 2-D thoughts and turning them into 3-D objects/realities).... 

            Oh, how that lesson changed...

"The clay won't get soft... This hurts my hands...Why does it smell funny?... Why won't this roll out like a pancake?... Mine keeps falling over!... This is not fun like I thought it would be... why won't my pieces stick together?...  How come they are so good at this?...Can I make my favorite food?... Could I give my project a theme?... Can I make mine about a vacation? ... What if mine told a story... " 

  

    Upon starting to work, students began to drift away from the concept of creating their own still life.  Now, my first year teaching, this would not have been okay because that was simply not the results I desired or had planned for in fact I probably would have told them to stop, squish, and begin again.  I have learned however, that sometimes students need to be allowed to go in their own artistic direction.  All students had the experience that I had set as an objective:  students will take a 2-dimensonal thought/idea and successfully create a 3-dmensional representation of that idea. Through teaching artistic behaviors this year, and providing choice throughout the art room, I have been able to foster creativity, and the motivation to think create, and explore for a students own self rather than to please others.  

The sculptures pictured above are examples of the diversity of projects completed at the end of the class, but all meeting or exceeding the expectation of the intended objective. 

  

*Confession: My first year teaching was rigid, structured, lessons were planned out to perfection weeks in advance, and if something didn't go as planned I'll admit it... I freaked out... now, I am beginning to introduce methods of teaching for artistic behavior (TAB)