Miss Loring

Yin-Yang Opposites-3D Ceramics/ 10th-12th grade/ 3 weeks to teach

lesson
(13 days, 45min classes)
Goals:
Students will think critically about the concept of yin-yang and
opposite relationships. Students will discover different ways to
construct their two forms though handbuilding coils and wheel
throwing methods. They will have to combine their two opposite
forms and bring them together to create one form/vessel through
organic and mechanical textures.
Objectives:
1. Students will discuss yin-yang and opposites through talking about
opposite relationships such as friends or family and how they can still get
along with each other.
(VA:Cr2.1.Ia ) Critical Thinking, Complex Communication

2. Students will further analyze yin-yang and opposites by conversing with

each other and writing a personal story of a time they met someone who was
very different from them, but yet they enjoyed being around the person.
(such as friends, neighbors, or family)

(VA:Re.7.1.Ia, VA:Re8.1.Ia ) Complex Communication, Collaboration, Critical

Thinking

3. Students will brainstorm the ideas of opposites and Yin-Yang by creating a

list of ideas for their ceramics pieces. (VA:Cr2.3.Ia) Flexibility and
Adaptability, Critical Thinking

4. Students will connect their ideas of Yin-Yang and opposites and then bring
these concepts together into one form. Students will focus on organic and
mechanical surface manipulation and textures.(VA:Cn10.1.Ia ) Creativity,
Flexibility and Adaptability

5. Students will have an in-progress critique individually with me. I believe

the 9th graders would receive more positive feedback from me and I can
give them constructive feedback as well. I will help give ideas for students to
finish their clay forms.
(VA:Pr5.1.7a) Productivity and Accountability, Complex Communication

6. Students will successfully complete their Opposite Vessel project, which

will depict opposites of organic and mechanical textures brought together to
create harmony. Students will fill out a self evaluation rubric to grade
themselves on their project. Later I will grade their project as well.
(VA:Pr5.1.7a) Productivity and Accountability

Prerequisites:
Glazing basics
Coil basics
Materials: Blick Dick
Low-fire white clay
ceramic tools
rolling pin
glazes
brushes
plastic/tape to wrap up pieces
Ecto Knives
Cardboard
hot glue
Safety Hazards:
Make sure everyone is careful while using the ceramic tools, they are sharp.
Make sure students wear hot glue gun gloves for protection when creating
cardboard cutouts. Make sure to wash your hands after handling glazes,
because they have oxides in them.
Vocabulary Words:
Mechanical Process of Forms: A more structured and machinal way to
form a vessel. Using the potter's wheel is an example, or using geometric
patterns and straight forms.

Organic Process of Forms: A more natural way to create movement in

clay. There are more bends, hand marks, and flow into the pieces. This form
can carry a lot of texture.
Yin-Yang: Opposites which create harmony.
Coil building: Building a ceramic vessel using many clay coils to create the
ceramic walls.
Slip/Score: The scratching and the gluing of the clay to attach another
piece of clay, so they attach well and won't fall off.
Throwing: The process of throwing clay on the potter's wheel to form
vessels in a more mechanical way.
Glaze: The liquid raw material combination of silica (the glass former), Flux
(lower the melting temperature), and Alumina (to stiffen the glaze to prevent
it from running off the piece).

Interdisciplinary

Connections:

1. Students can use geometry when constructing their tar paper cut
outs molders for their coil forms. (Math)
2. Students will write an a brief story about their opposite.
(Language Arts)

Artist ( + 3 images)/ Resources :

Keri Straka

Keris part of her artist statement: My work explores relationships of

nesting, growth, protection, and intimacy. The amplification of organic
textures and figurative shapes suggest elements of the natural world, while
alluding to sensual and corporeal experiences of the human body. She uses
contracting textures and brings some pieces together with color. THis push
and pull of contrast is very interesting.

Cushioned #1, 5x4 inches, 2007

Cushioned #2, 5x4 inches, 2007

Platelet #2, 5x4 inches, 2007

Nature Amplified, 5x4 inches, 2007

Infectious Embellishment #2, 62 x 12 x 12

Christine Nofchissey McHorse

In 1996 McHorse decided to leave utility and tradition behind and focus
on pot and sculpture combined. She intentionally makes her pieces black to
create a dark/light effect. She throws vessels then adds sculpture in unique
ways to her vessel to create a more sculptural aesthetic. Her work is a
revelation and represents a new direction in Native American ceramics.

Untitled (Horns)
2009

Multiplicity 2010

Rolled Rose 2010

Peter Voulkos
(19242002) Voulkos was an American artist of Greek descent. He was
known for his Abstract Expressionist, ceramic sculptures. He combined the
traditional and the more modern forms in ceramics at the time. He created
his vessels in a more expressionistic way, yet they did not provide function.

Amaya, 1999

Wedge, 2000

William Daley
William Daley is 90 years old and creates large vessel like forms. His
work is more architectural and structured. He likes to leave his ceramic
pieces bare to show off his crisp edges and form.
William Daley was born in Hastings-on-Hudson New York on March
7th, 1925. His father, a house painter and avid lover of poetry and the arts,
fostered William's creative appetite. After surviving prison camp during World
War II, Daley went on to attend The Massachusetts College of Art in Boston
where, under the G.I. Bill, he received his Bachelors Degree in 1950. After
graduation, William married his college classmate, Catherine Stennes. They
relocated to New York where Daley completed his Graduate Degree from
Columbia University Teachers College in 1952. -blurb from
WillamDaleyCeramics.com

Magister Inn 1993

Animate Cistern 2011

Lesson procedure:
Fri. Day 1: Goodmorning everyone! Today we are starting our next big
project using clay. Opposites will be our big idea for this project. We are
going to start out by discussing opposite relationships (starts powerpoint) I
am going to play this short documentary showing how animals form odd
relationships. (play video) In your table groups, discuss how did the animals
get along in the video? (Call on tables)
Activity: Now, Recall a friend or family that is your opposite. Write a
brief personal story of a time you met someone who was very different from
yourself, but yet you enjoyed being around the person. Who wants to share
their story?(call on raised hands)
We can now talk about artist Keri Straka and how she uses opposites in
her pieces. Keri focuses on relationships within her forms how they can and

grow from each other. (ask questions to students about comparing two of her
works) What differences do the two pieces have to come together as a
whole? What similarities help their relationships tie together? How do these
forms create harmony? (call on students and pick on students who have not
talked.) (explain how the color ties the pieces together and how the textures
are opposing between smooth and rough.)
Now lets discuss about yin-yang! What is Yin-Yang ?(call on students)
Yes, Yin-Yang are opposites in the chinese astrology. The universe is both
constant and cyclical according to the Yin-Yang Philosophy. One force
dominates and then it is replaced by the opposing force. This activity
continues constantly and repeats itself over time in a the form of a cycle. Yin
and yang are opposite in nature, but they are part of nature, they rely on
each other, and they can't exist without each other. The balance of yin and
yang is important. If yin is stronger, yang will be weaker, and vice versa. Yin
and yang can have aspects of each other, hinting the white dot in the Yin
and the black dark apart of Yang. It is believed that yinyang exists in
everything. Yin characterizes the feminine or negative nature of things and
Yang stands for the masculine or positive side.
We will now talk about how Christine McHorse shows yin-yang in her
pieces. She is a native american artist who focuses on the vessel being a
sculpture as well. (ask students and call on raised hands with answers): What
are the Yin-Yang Relationships in these Pieces? How did the Artist Bring
together the opposites in the pieces? (The vase lip and foot (top and bottom)

are opposite and similar in style. The other piece shows cups on the side and
top of vessel on opposite sides, which lend towards each other)
There are two different ways of Forming clay. (explain the difference of
handbuilding and wheel throwing.)
Hand Building-Organic (hand touched)
-Type of Handbuilding (Coil Building): Building vessels by slipping and scoring
coils, to build up your walls.
Wheel Throwing- Mechanical (precise)
What are examples of organic things?
What are examples of mechanical things? (Have students converse and then
pick students to share) Now list a few things which are more organic in
nature and mechanical in form. (revel list on powerpoint.)
The next artist I am going to talk about is Peter Voulkos (19242002).
Voulkos was an American artist of Greek descent. He was known for his
Abstract Expressionist, ceramic sculptures. He combined the traditional and
the more modern forms in ceramics at the time. He created his vessels in a
more expressionistic way, yet they did not provide function. Notice how he
used abstraction, experimentation, and texture in his pieces. HIs pieces were
large in scale.
Our last artist we will talk about today is William Daley. He is 90 years
old and he creates large vessel like forms. His work is more architectural and
structured. He likes to leave his ceramic pieces bare to show off his crisp
edges and form. Now, Im going to show you two pictures of Peter Voulkos
and William Daleys work. Which one is more organic in form? Which one is
more mechanic in form? Raise your hand if you this the Peter Voulkos is

organic! (Let students guess the style of work) Yes you were correct! Peter
Voulkos uses more organic forms and textures, while William Daley uses
more mechanical, geometric forms and textures.
For your project, you will create a hand-built coil vessel and a wheel
thrown vessel and combine them bringing the two opposite vessels (Organic
v.s Mechanical) together. You will connect Yin-Yang opposites by using
opposing contrasts within your artworks through a variety of surface
manipulation. (TEXTURE additive/subtractive)
Essential Questions:
What will you make for organic and mechanical
aspects of your piece? (patterns, designs, texture, ect.)
How can you bring these opposite vessels together?
How can you use texture to show a relationship
between your vessels?
Goals:
Must build a coil form and press against cardboard to
create unique form. (Use cardboard pattern formers.)
Must throw on the wheel creating another vessel.
Coil form has to be within 8 inches tall and wide.
Use at least 2 opposing textures (each of mechanical
and organic) (additive and/or subtractive) for creating one
organic and one mechanical form and find a way to bring them
together.
(20 min)
Start Sketching ideas and converse at your tables! Students will
develop ideas for their form of their coil pot. (20min)
Time to clean up! Next Tuesday we are going to start building our
cardboard patterns! (5 min.)
(20th) Tues. Day 2: Hello everyone, today you will start on your cardboard
patterns for your opposite vessel project. We will take our ideas from last
class and construct the forms out of cardboard. We will then coil the clay into

these forms to help form our coil vessels next time in class. Keep in mind you
must have an at least 2 organic and mechanical textures for your pieces
(total of 4). Remember, you will express opposites in your ideas through
texture and form. Make sure you create an interesting coil form which ties
your wheel thrown piece together. Does anyone have any questions about
getting started on this project? I have a quick demo on constructing the
cardboard pattern, everyone gather around. (5 min.)
(I will show cardboard pattern making demo) You will construct the
unique walls of your coil pot first on your cardboard pattern. To make curves
you apply pressure slightly to create a facet to bend the cardboard in a more
circular form. You can also cut straight to create more angled forms. After
you are done cutting out the sides, you trace the bottom of your unique form
base, and then cut out and tape/hot glue the pieces together. Make sure
everyone is careful while using exacto knifes to cut cardboard patterns! I will
walk around the room if you need any help, raise your hand and I will come
to you. (5 min)
Students will work on their opposite vessel projects by constructing
their cardboard patterns. Work Time (30 min.)
Everyone, it is now time to clean up! Next class time is a workday and
hopefully we can finish the cutouts so we can get started on coil building.
We will have a coil building demo the beginning of next class(5 min.)
Thurs. Day 3: Welcome everyone, today is a workday. I will show any
construction on cardboard demos during work time. You are welcome to

watch or keep working on your opposite vessel project. I will also demo coil
building today for students to watch how to coil build their handbuilt forms.
This is the day to really go at it and get your 3/D project in a good shape. (3
min.)
(Students will have rest of class time to work on their opposite vessels
projects and view handbuilding demo) ( I will demo (review) coil building/
slip-scoring/ attachment, and adding on, forming to the vessel.) (5 min.
demo) (32 min. work time)
Time to clean up! tomorrow we are going to have another workday and
demo day! (5 min.)
(26th) Mon. Day 4 (monday shorter class period): Goodmorning
everyone, today is a going to be a demo and work day. I will start out by
showing a demo on wheel throwing. This is our next step for our opposite
vessel project! I will go through the steps of centering clay, pulling the floor,
pulling the walls, and then forming the cylinder into an interesting form. After
I am done demoing, then we can have a workday on your coil pots. I will
show any demos on coil building today to refresh your memory from last
Thursday. You are welcome to watch or keep working on your opposite vessel
project. Today will be a great workday! Get ready to work! (2 min.)
(I will give a throwing demo on the wheel for all students and answer
questions about the wheel.) (15 min.)
(Students will have rest of class time to work on coling their handbuilt
vessel for their opposite vessel projects and ask questions) (10 min.)

Let's start cleaning up! We are going to have another workday with coil
building, and then we will start one group wheel throwing next class. We are
one step closer to finishing the project! (3 min.)
Wed. Day 5: Hello, today is a workday, one group (half the class) will try
throwing on the wheel while the other group is going to hand build their coil
pots. I will walk around to help whoever needs help on coil building or on the
wheel . I will show any demos on coil or throwing during work time if
requested. Does anyone have any questions about the project? (2 min.)
Students will work on their coil pots and wheel thrown vessels during
class time. (38 min.)
It is clean up time! We will continue groups on wheel throwing and
groups in handbuilding on Friday! We are going to have another workday on
coil building and throwing, get excited! (5 min.)
Fri. Day 6: Welcome everyone, today is going to be a workday in
handbuilding and wheel throwing. Everyone should be almost halfway done
forming and building their coil pot for their project. Does anyone have any
questions about the project? On Tuesday, I will have a texture demo and you
can experiment with different types of textures.(5 min.)
(Students will have rest of class time to work on their opposite vessel
projects on coil and wheel throwing) (35 min.)
Time to clean up! We are going to have another workday next class!
We will finish up our coil pots and start adding textures to our pieces. Have a
nice day!

(5 min.)
(3rd) Tues. Day 7: Bonjour everyone, today is a workday for your opposite
vessel project. I will demo some textures today for our coil and wheel thrown
pots. Remind students of thinking in creative ways to bring the two vessels
together. (ex. cutting them up, piecing them different ways, color, texture,
movement, ect.) (2 min.)
I will show the demo on different textures to students! (5min.)
(Students will have rest of class time to work on their opposite vessel
projects and ask for help with coil/ hand building, or texture. ) (35 min.)
Time to clean up! Next Monday will be our in progress critique
individually with me to see how to finish our pieces. Let's get a lot done on
thursday, so our critique will be beneficial for finishing up our projects. Have
a fantastic rest of your day! (5 min)
Thurs. Day 8: Hello everyone! Reminder! Monday will be our in progress
critique individually with me to see how to finish our pieces. Let's get a lot
done on today, so our critique will help finish your piece. Today is a workday,
let's try to start bringing the two pieces of hand built and wheel thrown
vessels together! Lets also start on texture if you haven't yet, and if you
have started texture, keep going! (2 min)
(Students will have rest of class time to finish their opposite vessel
projects and ask questions) ( I will walk around the room and help students)
(38 min.)

It is time to clean up! Your critique is this Monday! You will have two
days to finish up next week on Wednesday and Friday! Projects are due for
drying on next Friday after class. Have a great rest of your day! (5 min.)
(9th) Mon. (shorter) Day 9: Welcome everyone! Today is going to be an
exciting day to try to finish our projects. I will hold individual critiques today
during class time. Our final greenware opposite projects are due this coming
Friday! Does anyone have any questions before we start? (2 min.)
Work time for students! I will call students to have a 3 min. critique
with me and I will help them find ideas to finish their project. (23 min.)
Time to clean up and head out! Tomorrow is our last full work day!
Have a fun rest of your day! (5 min.)
Wed. Day 10: Hello everyone! Today is our last full workday, our projects
are due this Friday for bisque! We will finish glazing our pieces all next week.
(3min.)
You have all class time today and most of class Friday for finishing our
clay opposite vessel projects! Students will have work time! (38 min.)
It is clean up time! Next week we will have a glazing demo to finish our
pieces. Have a fabulous day! (5 min.)
(13th Due for Bisque) Fri. Day 11: Hello everyone! Today is our last
workday, our projects are due today at the end of class for bisque! We will
finish glazing our pieces all next week. (3min.)
You will have the whole class period for finishing our clay opposite
vessel projects! Students will have work time! (38 min.)

Time to clean up! Next week we will have a glazing demo to finish our
pieces. Start thinking about what colors you want to glaze your pieces over
the weekend! Have a fabulous day! (5 min.)
(17th) Tues. Day 12: Good Morning! Today we will start glazing our pieces!
Our final projects are due this Thursday for the final glaze firing! I will start
off by showing the glazing demo. (3min.)
You must do at least two coats of glaze to get the proper coverage for
your projects. I will show students great glazing techniques and how to glaze
their pieces. (demo) (5 min.)
You have all the time today and on Thursday to finish glazing your
pieces! Students will have work time! (37 min.)
Clean up time, our last glazing time will be next time. We will finish
our pieces on Thursday. Have a wonderful rest of your day! (5 min.)

(19th) Final Due for Glaze firing! Thurs. Day 13: Goodmorning! Today is
our last workday, our projects are due today at the end of class for the glaze
firing! We will finish glazing our pieces today and put them on the cart.
(2min.)
You have all class time of period today for finishing our clay opposite
vessel projects! Students will have work time to finish glazing their vessels!
(38 min.)

Time to put your finished projects on the glaze firing cart and clean up.
Next week our projects will come out of the kiln and you will fill out the rubric
for a self evaluation and I will then grade your opposite vessel clay project as
well! (This is Mr. Wolfs method of grading and I would like to try it and see
how I like it) Have an awesome rest of your day! (5 min.)

Assessment/Evaluation (your assessment must match your

objectives!)
Following page:
Rubric
Class Example

Miss Loring
Student name: ____________________ Period:___________________
Teacher Comments:

Total score: _______/50________

Criteria

Student

Teacher

Craftsmanship: Does my finish product show

creativity and does it seem neatly done?
Form: Did I use an interesting form for my coil pot to
help my two vessels come together?

Texture: Did I use mechanical and organic textures

effectively to bring the two vessel together?
Unity: Did I unite my two vessels effectively to create
one vessel?
Productivity: Did I use the time to create a finished
looking piece?

5 points=Excellent , 4 points=Very Good, 3 points=Good, 2 Points=Needs

Work, 1 point= Needs a lot of work, 0 points= incomplete
Final Class Example:

Process: Build Coil pot

Build Wheel Thrown Pot

Bring them together...TADA! :D