DRAGON EYES CLAY sculpture art project for ceramics lesson 4th grade - Middle
A popular themed full clay art lesson for creating DRAGON EYES sculpture in Pottery clay for an Upper Elementary or Middle School ceramics art project. This comprehensive step-by-step guide was designed for 9-12 year olds, and suits 4th to 7th grade teachers looking for an art lesson that is not craft. Their mythology factor and literature connection will easily engage older students. A lesson that makes authentic links to the Elements of Art, Art Theory, Culture, Seasonal activities and Literature.
This CLAY hand-building art lesson is inspired by dragons in books, films and games, as well as the Chinese New Year Dragon. Easily differentiate for the varied cultures in your class by opening the finishing options to include: forest, water, sky and fire dragons, or any student's preference - allow the finishing details to be student choice, thereby including everyone's ideas. This guide is all clay without the complication of plastic eyes. 2 options included for creating a shiny finish on the eyeballs made from clay.
PRAISE FOR One Teacher's Journey art teaching resources (already enjoyed by hundreds of teachers and their students)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "First came across your work on Pinterest, and have to say, I love everything you come up with. You are one super talented teacher!! I did this unit (Claude Monet Water Lilies) with my Year 7/8s a couple of years ago. The results were amazing and the students absolutely loved it. They were so proud of their results, and your resource made it so easy. You included so much in this incredibly thorough resource that I really didn't have to do very much at all. Thank-you!"
This lesson is can be paired with the DRAGON EYE drawing project, available HERE
If you love Dragon Eyes but can't use kiln fired clay, take a look at this Model Magic sculpture activity options:
Also a great inclusion for students who are absent from your clay session and miss out. Let them use Model Magic to make their sculptures independently using the Visual guide in this resource, while you are helping the class with painting their clay versions.
Also available is this Play Dough guide for your learning centre, for independent practise. A great way to ideate before the clay lesson with this mess-free, temporary medium
CLAY DRAGON EYES is an impactful Art lesson plan that also helps to consolidate your student's understanding of Visual Art and the medium of pottery. This easy to use art lesson has a strong focus on the Elements of Art, a great way to build essential knowledge and skill in this subject - particularly for students and teachers with limited knowledge or experience in this medium.
The lesson also includes bonus information about dragons and their historical and cultural significance, and then guide you through the art lesson that has been tested and crafted to suit this age group - step by step.
❤️ take the guesswork out of teaching art,
❤️ avoid endless hours of research,
❤️ avoid the epic fails that result from not having the time to trial the lesson or media yourself before teaching it.
❤️ learn tips and tricks for building with clay
I’ve done it all for you and trailed this lesson with my own students, in my upper elementary grades.
❤️ why should you trust my lessons?
I am both a general ed classroom teacher and currently practising as a Visual Art and Digital Media specialist educator, teaching students from ages 4-12, at a primary school. I do this every day, just like you!
❤️ How will this resource help busy classroom teachers, who are nervous about teaching art?
No worries - I’ve got you covered.
This lesson comes as a 50+ pg. full colour PDF slide deck teaching guide, to share on your large screen with your students.
All project steps are clearly explained and photographed, from start to finish, giving you the confidence to deliver a quality visual art lesson to your students.
❤️ All the materials & skills are also clearly listed for you. It’s like having an art specialist with you in your classroom.
The PDF slides are intentionally designed in landscape orientation, to share with your students. This extra visual support will prove useful, particularly to diverse learners, and will also save your from having to repeat the same instructions, over and over again.
Select VIEW > enter full screen for presentation mode. Then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to drive a smooth slideshow experience, like a pro :)
Encourage students along the way, to follow choice options and create their unique artwork, while being guided by the information on the slides.
⏰ How long will this project take to finish?
This clay hand building art lesson can be completed in 1.5hours (a double period), depending on the age and stage of students .
Dry for 2 weeks, 30min to glaze the eye before bisque firing (or glaze after and refire)
11/2 - 2hours to paint the scales.
View the previews above, then add to cart and smile, knowing you will soon have beautiful artwork on the walls and students glowing with pride!
❤️ So what is special about this resource?
CLAY DRAGON EYES is NOT a superficial art or craft option. As a specialist in this field, I write lessons that encourage deeper, cross-curricular learning and make meaningful connections to other subject areas. This IS:
- a hand-building tutorial that uses measurements, shapes and 3D form (Math)
- explores the concept of mythology (Literature),
- teaches about the elements of art
- makes cross-curricular links to How We Express Ourselves & Where We Are in Place and Time.
This lesson plan can be the perfect companion art project for students inquiring into
✏️ The Theory of Visual Art
✏️ Art media
✏️ Fantasy Literature
✏️ Social Studies.
Students can express their unique ideas through personal choices and modifications (suggestions offered in the guide), while working through the guided project. Pause the presentation in places to discuss next steps with students, check understanding and explore potential student responses or modifications, bringing personal creative ideas to the tutorial. This addresses the Viewing & Responding to artwork objectives in a purposeful way.
Teachers who have used one of my Elements of Art lesson plans for Upper Elementary Neurographic Art project BUTTERFLY lesson with VIDEO guide 4th - 7th grade say:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Thank you for updating the resource and adding the butterfly demo video. It works great! This is a great help for the students to complete the project:)"
✅ What is included in DRAGON EYES ?
A 50+ PDF slide deck teaching guide for step-by-step guidance and reference, intentionally designed in landscape orientation, to share with your students as a presentation on your large screen. Select VIEW > enter full screen. Then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to drive a smooth slideshow experience, like a pro :)
✅ This PDF includes step-by-step support & teaching instructions for:
- Teaching slides about Dragons
- Detailed instructions to create a student response clay sculpture
- Photographs of every step
- Student and teacher examples of work in progress and completed. (4th grade)
- guidance for assessment - Learning Intentions included for the International Baccalaureate & New Zealand standards at levels 3 / Phase 3 which will closely aligned to assessment standards you may be using
- guidance and examples for Student Voice reflection/ assessment - either use orally with the slide, or print for students to fill out as a record of their learning. Alternatively export that slide as a jpeg from the PDF and post for digital reflections like Seesaw. 2 versions
✅ What knowledge, techniques and skills will my students learn from this series?
- Gain knowledge about a range of art media
- Gain knowledge about art elements
- Follow a tutorial for guidance - listening skills, visual discrimination, sequencing
- Develop fine-motor & technical skills for using a range of art tools and media
- Respond to art created by artists and by other students
- Reflect on own knowledge, skills, progress and artwork - using the included student sheets
✅ That sounds great! So what about the Visual Art focus in this lesson?
- Introduced to and explore the medium of potters clay
- Introduced to and explore the tools and techniques of hand-building clay sculpture
- Explore the influence of literature on art
- Observe & understand the Art World (Studio Habits)
- Build observational skills & guided response
- Explore art making that expresses new learning
- Build skills for an art form
- Explore a range of paint types, application techniques and layerings
- Stretch & Explore (Studio Habits)
- PLAN - compose sculpture with shapes and forms
- Develop Craft, Engage & Persist, Express (Studio Habits)
- Reflect on personal development as an artist
- Reflect (Studio Habits)
View the Previews above, then add to cart and smile, knowing you have just saved yourself heaps of time and effort!
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✅ Where can I find more art lessons like this one on this site?
Click the links in the description above, or...
→ You can browse all my Art Stations / Early Finishers / Sub support resources HERE
→ Browse all my comprehensive art lessons provided as PDF presentation lesson HERE: VISUAL ART STORE
→ If you would prefer the added support of guided video tutorials, browse my growing collection in this custom category HERE: ART LESSONS WITH VIDEO TUTORIALS
→ For my Elements of Art lessons, click HERE: ART ELEMENTS
✅ Is this product available on TPT?
Yes - you can find this product in my TPT store - One Teacher's Journey - HERE
Or Visit my TPT store - One Teacher's Journey - HERE Use the custom categories to browse or search the shop with key words.
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View all the previews above before you buy. If you have any questions, contact me BEFORE you purchase.
⭐️ Would you recommend this lesson to your colleagues? Then please return to rate & comment as this helps to inform other teachers about how this product brought value to your teaching.
Every care is taken with editing this resource and at times, errors can still sneak through. If you have any questions, contact me first, and be specific in your request so that I can make those improvements and give you, and others the best quality lesson plans.
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➡️ TERMS OF USE
Review the TOUs in the PDF preview prior to purchasing.
Created by Timea Willemse, © One Teacher's Journey, © Help Me Learn
