Fifth Grade Mandalas

I have done this mandala lesson for a couple of years, but have adapted it this year to allow the students some choice in their final product.

Here are some examples from previous years:

Fifth Grade Mandalas

I start out by showing the students this PowerPoint I found:



The students then had to plan their project in their sketchbooks. I had them decide on which project they wanted to do:

folded paper (to create 8 sections)
folded paper with a CD in the middle
print
hexagon

They had to decide if they were going to use geometric or organic shapes for their design and then which color scheme they wanted to use: primary, secondary, complementary or monochromatic.

While they were working on their plans, I began meeting with each group and helped them get started with the initial steps in their projects- folding paper, using compasses, dividing up their Styrofoam for their prints, etc.

As the project progressed, I met with the different groups to discuss their next step. How they needed to add color- using markers, Color Sticks, crayons, ink, etc.; how to build their hexagon, etc.

The students seemed to really enjoy that their projects had the chance of being completely different than everyone else in the class. I am really hoping that as we go along, they will start to think outside of the box and present ideas to me as to what they would like to do.

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Fifth Grade Ming Dynasty Vases

 Fifth grades study of Asia moved on to the Ming Dynasty. The students looked at different examples of Ming pottery. I showed them pieces of varying sizes and shapes and then we looked at how they were painted.

The students designed their own version of a Ming vase in their sketchbooks. I told them that we would be glazing the entire piece solid white and then they would be able to choose their own color scheme to add their design, instead of using only blue, as in the Ming vases.

On the day that we were ready to start the clay, I used my extruder (for the first time!) to make coils for the students. Ideally, I would have loved for them to use the extruder to make the coils themselves. However, since I only have 45 minutes and there are almost 30 students, I expedited the process by having them pre-made.

I gave each student a piece of clay to make a basic pinch pot. Some of them made bowls and others worked really hard to make the forms that they had seen the previous week.

I told the students that they had to use at least 1 coil in their project, but it was up to them how it was used. Some of them stuck with only 1 coil. However, many of them went wild with the coils! They loved it!

I absolutely love how different each vase/pot looks.

I fired them and the next week, I had them use opaque white glaze to cover the entire project. I pre-poured glaze into cups and my rule was that they had to use every drop in the cup. That was my
way of knowing that they were using enough glaze

to coat the entire piece.

Then I had plates with different color schemes set up. My students are fascinated with cool colors, so many of them used that color scheme. However, I did get a few monochromatic pieces and a few  complementary colors.

I currently have all of their pieces on display in our glass case in the entryway of our school. They look so nice!

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Fifth Grade Pagodas

This is an idea I got from the teacher resource Thinking With a Line. I have used the printing ideas previously, but only with PreKinder, Kinder and 1st. I decided to try an activity on architecture with my fifth graders. Since fifth grade is learning about Asia, we focused on pagodas.


We looked at different examples, the lines that were used in them and I had them plan out their building in their sketchbook.

Then I gave each table a basket of printing tools: corrugated cardboard, 1/2 circles (tape rolls that I cut in 1/2), blocks, marker caps, bottle caps, pretty much anything that I thought might make an interesting print.

Each student picked a piece of construction paper and began building their pagoda using white acrylic paint- this was a change for them, since they are used to using black as their outline for everything.

The next week, we discussed color schemes. We reviewed old ones (warm, cool, primary, secondary, complementary, monochromatic) and I threw in a new one (analogous). They had to choose 1 color scheme for their entire pagoda. I gave them a basket with a variety of materials: tempera cakes, watercolors, Sharpies, watercolor markers, color stix, oil pastels. They could use as many as they wanted, as long as they stuck with their scheme.

I was very impressed with the results!

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