Tuesday September 10th Van Gogh- Glass Sunflowers in Coil Vases

Day 2- Glass Flower and Van Gogh/Botero Discussion

Class: 3rd grade students in a fully equipped art class room
Time Needed:
a. Day 1- Make coil pot (with teacher demonstration)
b. Day 2- Painting the fired clay vases and having a discussion about
Vincent Van Gogh.
c. Day 3- Project demonstration for glass flowers and the class will create
their glass flower.
Art Background Related to the Lesson: Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch man born
in Holland, and tried many professions before he found his passion for painting.
Vincent Van Gogh was a very important Post-Impressionist artist. Van Gogh painted
many different kinds of paintings, like self portraits, and landscape scenes among
many other subjects. Van Goghs very distinctive painting style makes him a very
recognizable artist. Glass fusing dates all the way back to the Egyptian days in 2000
BCE. Glass fusing is how glass objects were created until the development of the
glass blowpipe. Fusing came to light once again in the 20th century in the United
States during the 1960s.
Subject: The subject of this lesson if to introduce my 3rd graders to glass fusion and
to teach them about Vincent Van Gogh. My students will be learning about Van Gogh
and looking at his piece Sunflowers while creating their own sunflower by working
with glass. The students will also be working with clay and learning how to make a
coil pot by slipping and scoring clay coils to form a vessel however the student
chooses. The class will also be looking at Boteros version of Van Goghs sunflowers
in a vase, so the students can see how two different artists interpreted the same
subject matter
Supplies:

Glass pieces- various shades of yellows and oranges, and red

and white
1. The yellows and orange pieces will be roughly 2-3 inches
long triangles.
2. The red and white pieces will be roughly 1 inch by 1 inch
squares to form the center of the flower.
Van Gogh and Botero Smart Board presentation
Firing wire to flowers
Fire paper
Cardboard square to make carrying easier
Glass Kiln
Yellow and red stringers
Orange noodles
Red, yellow and orange frit

Toothpicks
Cups filled with glue

Objectives:
-Academic Skills
Following a presentation and discussion about Van Gogh, third
grade students will identify to their teachers satisfaction Van
Gogh pieces when seeing them.
- Higher Cognitive Skills
Students will implement higher cognitive skills through a
discussion about Van Gogh and his artwork during our class
discussion.
-

Craftsmanship Skill
Students will show good craftsmanship while glazing their coil
pots. The glaze will be painted on nice and smooth with no globs
of glaze in various spots.

Content Standards:
From the Ohio Department of Education 2012 Visual Art Standards:
1.

1PR: Demonstrate skill and expression in the use of art

techniques and processes.
Students will be showing the glazing their
coil pot, and demonstrating that they are
using smooth strokes while glazing.

2.

2PE: Observe and compare similar themes, subject matter

and images in artworks from historical and contemporary
eras.
During the discussion, I will show the students and
image of Van Goghs sunflowers, and I will also
show the students an image of Boteros sunflowers
to show them how a more contemporary painter
took the same subject as Van Gogh and painted it
in a different way.

3.

5RE: Discuss different interpretations of the same work of

art.
Students can each talk about the Van Gogh
sunflowers and the Botero sunflowers and
give their own interpretation of the works.
Students can talk about the similarities and
also the differences in the same subject of
work, and the class can discuss how

different people may view the same subject

matter.
State Standards in Other Disciplines:
1. English/ Language Arts Standards:
Acquisition of Vocabulary- Students will learn new vocabulary
words while doing this lesson, and they will be using them in the
future.

Communication: Oral and Visual Standards- Students will be

communicating with their peers and me while we are having a
class discussion.

Academic Language:
Van Gogh
Botero
Glass Kiln
Glass Fusing
Frit
Noodles
Stringers
Fire Paper
On the last page of my smart board presentation, I will have the Botero and Van Gogh
inspirations, so the students can refer back to them when they are working. I will have
simple steps written on the dry erase board for creating the glass flower for reference.
The vocabulary words will also be written on the dry erase board, and I will explain each
word during my demonstration.
Questions to ask the students after day 2 discussion:
1. What were the tiny glass pieces that looked like sprinkles called?
2. What were the flat orange pieces called?
3. Who was the Dutch artist that we learned about?
4. Who was the new artist that you were introduced to?
Learner Outcomes:
Students will follow the step by step procedure for creating their coil
vases.
Students will learn how to create a glass fused sunflower.
Students will become more comfortable working with clay.
Students will learn about Van Gogh and his art.
Safety Considerations:
There will be a first aid kit in the classroom. Glass is also very sharp and
should be handled with care. I will try to smooth the sharp edges when I
am cutting the glass pieces so they are not as sharp.
Alternatives to the Lesson: When students are finished with their flowers, they can
help if anyone would like help. If not, the student can pick a topic out of a bucket and
draw what the paper says.

Procedure: Introduction:
Day 1:
a. Motivation- My teacher example will be a motivation. I will also have a
Van Gogh Smart Board presentation with coil pot step by step. The teacher
will ask the students if they remember who they will be talking about for this
project. I will also have Van Gogh posters hanging up around the room.
b.
1. Start with a 5inch by 5 inch square of card board
2. Place 4.5 inch by 4.5 inch piece of fire paper on cardboard
3. Write name and class on cardboard
4. Choose 8 triangle tiles- can be any combination of yellow and orange
5. Choose either a red or white center
6. Arrange 8 triangles so the point is in the center (flower must be all the
way on the fire paper)
7. Using a toothpick put a tiny dot of glue on each point (the glue is just to
help make transporting flower inside kiln easier)
8. Place center square over all dots of glue
9. Pick any stringers or noodles for decoration
10. Dip end of stringers and noodles in glue and lay on petals
11. Choose color of frit for seeds and sprinkle in the center
12. Place carefully on cart
c. Teacher-pupil appraisal of activity- As the students are lining up, the
teacher will ask the students what professions Van Gogh tried before
becoming an artist. The teacher will ask them what artist they will be talked
about. And what painting the students are focusing on. Also, the students will
have a brief review of glass terms before they leave.
Teacher Evaluation: The teacher will feel if the daily goals were accomplished by
how successful the students were on answering the questions about the Van Gogh
discussion. The teacher will also feel if the daily goals were accomplished by how
successful the students were in creating their glass flower. If most of the class
flowers stay together when fired, the teacher did enough explaining and
demonstrating. If a lot of flowers fell apart when firing, the teacher may have to do
more explaining on how close to place glass pieces.
Student Evaluation: I will be using 1 rubric for whole project.
Grading Scale for Rubric:
ABCD-

25-20
19-15
14-8
7 and below