Clay Communities
•What is a community?
•What makes a community and what does it need to survive?
•How can we create a community out of clay?
•How can I work with others to create a clay community?
The Clay Community is a group project. Students take the elements of what is a community and build a clay structure that incorporates individual ideas and group needs. This project facilitates cooperative interaction between students as they work to design and build one continuous clay environment together. All clay structures are hand built without the use of tools.
*What makes a community
*Use of role of mayor to provide leadership for the group; problem solver role
*Cooperative skills:
-delegation of tasks within a project
-shared use of space and materials
-clay connections between individual structures
*Properties of clay: structural support to represent ideas
*Value of process in creating (structure is not permanent - the next day a different class uses the same clay to create a different community)
*Share ideas
*Delegate tasks within the building of the community
*Allow mayor leadership role in decision making
*Use allotted class time to create the community
*Use time efficiently
*Build clay structures that are free standing and well supported
*Represent idea clearly so the function of the structure is recognizable
*Work cooperatively to use ideas for the good of the community
*Flexibility
*Demonstrate cooperative skills in planning and implementation
This project allows teacher and peers to see individuals and their connections within a group. Students work together and compromise as they form connections between their structures.
*Leadership and cooperative skills
*Individual clay building techniques
*Class characteristics and social dynamics
*Individual student's ability to plan and build clay connections to others
*Student understanding of what comprises a community and how each individual impacts a community
Materials: clay
Books and films which show differing communities
Drawing upon how different cultures define community