Cross Curricular Links

 


An exploration of clay, its origins, properties and cultural links

A cross-curriculum project at Oak Lodge School - the first phase of a national project Celebrating the Earth: an Olympics inspired clay project

Project Snippets  9/7/07

Year 7

 

Writing Stories Time Travel  English

 7N Have created clay cylinders and animations in response to their time travel stories.

They are working with Joanne Robinson.

Measuring Clay  7G Maths

7G are measuring different states of clay as it changes from wet to dry to fired clay.

They are working with Nikki Grossett.

Year 8

Clay Dance       Dancer - Brenda Edward

8R are exploring dance and movement inspired by the changing state of clay and the basic elements: fire, wind, water and earth.

They are soon to explore ways of bringing clay directly into their performance. It could get messy!

Aboriginal Mark Making     Art

8R are painting with clay and moulding clay in response to their Aboriginal art research.

They are using different clays to paint their faces.

They are creating personal symbols and building them into ceramic Cylinders.

They are working with Tara Bell.

Writing Poetry    English

8R are extending their artistic and visual research into Aboriginal art and clay mark-making. They are investigating ways of developing vocabulary and expressive signed poems, their inspiration is being sought through their clay building sessions, linking this work with their dance specialist: Brenda Edwards.

They are working with Joanne Robinson.

Digging and Refining Clay    Ceramic Specialist – Duncan Hooson

8B have discovered that clay doesn’t come from the shop. They have dug a big hole in our playing field and found Oak Lodge Clay! They have processed the clay to remove all the sand and rock. They have made a huge mess, and had fun!

Melting Materials      Science

8B are investigating the differences between materials by melting objects in the kiln.

They have already melted paper, scissors, circuit boards and a pair of Glasses!

They are working with Kathy O’Grady.

Hand Shapes    Deaf Studies

8B have cast their hands in plaster and created BSL handshapes to express the “Celebration” dimension of the project.

They are working with Deborah Drew and Cathy Drew.

Year 9

9D are working with Fabio to investigate the qualities of weight and balance within clay.

They are about to hang from the rafters in the hall. (Fabio specialises in aerial acrobatics!)

They have covered themselves in slabs of clay and moved under the weight.

They are exploring the nature of group work and group cooperation to work as one, to

move as one.

They are fluid and they are solid. They move like clay!

Movement and Clay   Movement Specialist- Fabio Santos

Gormley       Art

9D have investigated Gormley’s “Field for the British Isles” and “Angel of the North”.

They are animating their responses and linking their animations to an old Eskimo story about clay and the birth of life.

They are working with Darryl Bedford.

Animating a story using clay      ENGLISH

9D have begun animating a traditional Eskimo story based on the idea that the world was created through the incredible moldable characteristics of clay.

They are working with Ethel Neil.

Fire  Holders       DT

9D are creating fire holders using the cylinder as a structure to hold and transport fire.

They are working with Izabela Luczak.

Clay Play      Visual Artist, Story Specialist Louise Wilson

9T have been moulding clay into their dreams and into their memories. They have been working with visual artist, puppet maker and storyteller, Louise Wilson, to develop a clay Journey.

Louise has superimposed a map of the world over a map of Oak Lodge School and 9T are tracing their personal journeys.


They have combined their own stories with creation stories gathered from around the world by Louise and have developed personal ‘clay’ symbols and drawn exquisite drawings that will be stamped onto large clay vessels to be used as story- telling seats.


They have also refined clay that Louise found on a beach in Suffolk and have incorporated this with other clays into their individual story- sculptures and maps.


Clay Portraits        Art   9T

9T have been investigating “Identity” with Art teacher Tara Bell. They will create clay cylinders to express their identity.

Hostel Students        Ritual of Giving and Receiving

Hostel students are currently involved in a drama project. They will be investigating ritual and movement. They are developing a ritual for receiving clay from visitors. They will incorporate the process of refining clay into their receiving ritual.

Whole School

We have created an enormous clay mound outside. This is to be used to explore group story telling and its use will be documented using stop frame animation and photo morphing techniques. All are invited to add, change, and transform this mound into something magical!

Click here for photograph MOSAIC.