COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Department of Teaching & Learning

Name: Hannah Grace Alciso

Cooperating Teacher: Melinda Stender

Subject & Grade Level: Ceramics I & II, 9-12th Grade

Lesson Topic: Handles

Date: 10/9-10/2023 Estimated Time: 60 minutes

1. Standards:
VA:Cr1.HS.2II Plan personal artwork or design choosing from a range of
materials and methods of traditional and contemporary artistic practices.

(C) 1.1 Create works of art using media, techniques, and processes appropriate to
ceramics.

(C) 1.5.a Communicate an idea or experience through a coil form

(C) 1.5.b Communicate an idea or experience through a slab form

2. Teaching Model: Direct Instruction/Lecture: All information will be from the teacher's
demonstration.
3. Objective(s):

By the end of the 60-minute lesson activity, students will be able to create handbuilt
ceramic handles to demonstrate an understanding of using ceramic techniques by using a
pulling method, coil, slab, and ribbon tool to then submit an online exit ticket with a
100% accuracy in their response in the form of an image of all four handles made in
class.

Materials/Resources:

Clay for coils, clay for pulling, clay for slabs, 1 block of clay, tubs of water,
sponge, rags, ribbon tool, fettling knife, texture mats, hand-held extruder, and Canvas
assignment.

4. Instructional Procedures:
At the beginning of the class, one person from each table will grab their group's
sketchbook bag from their class bin. Students will be instructed to write the notes on the
board on making four different types of handles LEMOV: BOARD=PAPER. Once
students have completed their notes they may put their sketchbooks back in their
sketchbook bag.

a. 5-minute Introduction:

The teacher will start by informing students that today we will be doing an
activity where they will learn how to make handles. In this handle activity, each
table will be a station to make a different handle. Students will have to make a
handle from each station and by the end of the activity, they will submit an image
of all their handles to a Canvas assignment. The demonstration will start with the
teacher asking the students to quiet down, direct their attention to the board, and
put their phones away. Students may have the option to take notes if it will help
them better understand the instructions. The teacher will first demonstrate how to
make a handle using a slab, coil, and ribbon tool. Then the teacher will move to
the pulling method station and ask students to direct their attention to the station
for the demonstration to pull a handle.

b. 20-minute Demonstration:
c. The first handle will be made with a slab and the teacher will spend 3 minutes
showing this demonstration:
i. To roll out the clay into a slab, flatten the clay, then stack 2 wooden rulers
and place them on both sides of the clay. Using a rolling pin, flatten the
clay evenly. The wooden rulers are used as a guide so that the clay is
rolled out evenly.
ii. Optionally, to add a texture you would take a texture mat and place it on
the flattened piece of clay. Then keeping the rulers on the side take the
rolling pin and roll over the texture mat a few times.
iii. To cut out the handle shape, use a ruler as a guide to cut 2 parallel lines.
Form your cut-out handle into a handle shape on your board then cut the
extra clay, clean the edges, and move on to the next type of handle.
d. The next demonstration will take 3 minutes to make a handle out of a coil:
i. To start the process of creating a coil, the table should be dampened with a
sponge before rolling.
ii. Take the smaller ball of clay, and form it into a cylinder.
iii. To roll out an even coil, the whole hand should be rolling out the clay and
not just the fingertips.
iv. The teacher will remind students that using a coil for a handle may be
simple, but they must pay attention to the thickness of the coil and ensure
it has no flat edges or thin or thick spots.
v. Once the coil is made, the ends can be pinched off and curved into the
shape of a handle.
e. The next handle will take 3 minutes and will be made using a ribbon tool:
i. The teacher will demonstrate this method by taking a ribbon tool made for
handles and using it to cut along a large piece of clay.
 ii. After the handle is cut, it is curved into a handle and cleaned up with a
sponge.
f. After the three handles are demonstrated the teacher will remind students that they
have to let their handles set up for a few minutes before attaching them. Once the
handles have been set up they must score and slip them into their mugs.
g. The teacher will move to the pulling method station and spend 6-7 minutes on this
demonstration:
i. To begin, take a ball of clay and shape it into something that resembles a
fat carrot shape where one end is thicker than the other.
ii. Then grab the thicker end of the clay and dip the thinner end of the clay in
the bucket of water.
iii. To consistently pull a handle, you have to let the water and your hand
guide the clay to move. Continue the pulling motion until you can bend
the pulled handle and it forms a handle shape.
iv. Cut the handle at a diagonal from the base of the clay as it's easier to
attach it when it's cut diagonally.
h. 25-minute Learning activity: After the demonstration, students will be told that
they will grab a board from the sink, and after every handle they make they will
keep it in their board and move on to the next station. Students will work
independently or with a friend and move at their own pace. When they are
finished making all four handles, they will take one picture of all four handles and
submit it on a Canvas assignment. The teacher will be walking around during the
activity to assist students and keep the workflow for all the stations.
i. 10-minute Closing: The teacher will announce that it is our clean-up time.
Students will need to wipe their tables, put their projects in the correct storage
room, clean used tools, and return any tools not meant to be kept in their table tool
baskets.
j. Extension/ Contingency Plan: If students were to complete the activity early
they may go back to their table and help clean up after the activity. Once
everything is cleaned up students may work on their other projects for the
remainder of the class period.
5. Accommodations/Modifications: Any student with an IEP or 504 will have the
opportunity to take part in the activity. If the student does not want to participate then
they may work on their own projects in the class. Students who may need more time to
complete all four handles have the opportunity to use the time after the demonstration to
finish.
6.
a. Formative assessment: Observation of students' engagement in the
demonstration and in the stations. The teacher will facilitate the classroom during
the stations so this will show if students paid attention during the demonstration
and if they are appropriately following the instructions.
b. Summative assessment: Students will submit a picture of their completed
handles on Canvas to show their understanding of how to create handles.
7. Homework Assignment: All the material will be covered during class time. There will
be no homework.
8. Post-Lesson Reflection:
a. Pre-Teaching: In this lesson, I got the opportunity to reteach a lesson that I did in
my practicum II. I felt more confident this time around as I have been doing
 ceramics for over 9 months rather than a few weeks when I first did this lesson.
We changed a few things this year and decided to make the submission easier by
doing the assignment on Canvas. We also decided to only show the hand-built
handles rather than the extruder to make it less confusing on what students had to
make. Preparing the clay last semester was a lot so this year we only prepared the
the clay for the coil and the pulling. It made it less work for us and more practice
for students to roll out even slabs.
b. Post Teaching: This time it felt less intimidating to introduce new content to the
students as I can reference tips and suggestions that I like to do. Something that I
was missing the last time I did this lesson was the experience. Doing ceramics and
making my own work has not only increased my skills but my confidence in what
I teach. There is still so much for me to learn but I think I redeemed myself from
the last time I taught this lesson. I think what I could have done better was to slow
down just a little bit and next time include labels for each table. Some students
didn’t know which station was which especially when they were empty so I think
adding labels would have been helpful.