1. Docent Material & Setup List: Docent Clean up List:
Clay and Basket Fusion
Docent Material & Setup List:
Docent Clean up List:
Cover each table in canvas sheet, materials needed:
1 piece of brown clay
1 roller
Wooden stick (for designs)
Water cup (2-3 per table)
Stamps / printing impressions
Plastic fork and knife
Large straw (for holes around rim)
Slip (in a tub 1 per table)
Docents, please use a cocktail stick to label the bottom of clay pieces, student # and class # and store to dry in blue trays at back of room.
Make sure names are on base of art
Check that each clay piece is labeled with student # and class # Place clay in the trays and store in clay drying area remember to label with teachers name & lesson date
Shake off excess clay (outside) from canvas sheets and put away, and return to bins as you found them
Close the lens cap to turn the projector off
Send to parents about the lesson – thanks for doing this and leading the lesson!
This will be a 2 part lesson, today you will make the clay basket – it is SUPER IMPORTANT that you put large holes using the straw around rim of basket.
Once complete, store the finished pots in the blue trays and leave to dry. Our clay docents will fire these and have them ready for next months scheduled lesson where we weave them.

2. Clay and Basket Fusion Art@Booksin
Welcome in the students. State the lesson name. This lesson is a multicultural art lesson combing clay and fiber art – it’s a 3 in 1!!

3. Today’s Lesson Skill Development:
Clay and Basket Fusion
Today’s Lesson
Skill Development:
Today is a ceramics and fiber art lesson you are going to create your own clay and basket pot.
In part 2, you will combine a fired clay pot with reeds to create a sculptural vessel that fuses two ancient techniques!
An opportunity to use new materials, clay, yarn and reeds, and create a three-dimensional form using weaving techniques.
To build upon the different methods of molding clay, in this case, pinch-and-pull building or organic free form sculpting with slip and score.
Explain the lesson objective and description. Next month’s lesson is when we will add the reeds to form the basket and then weave them together.
To begin the lesson ask students What if we combine fired clay and basket - making to make a modern vessel form? The base for the vessel will be made to accommodate the addition of reeds, and a fusion of pot and basket will be the output of our lessons (part 1 and 2) today.

4. What is Ceramics? It requires a 4 step creative process of:
Clay and Basket Fusion
What is Ceramics?
It requires a 4 step creative
process of:
Known as an important art ‘ceramics’ (derived from Keramos, Greek for potters clay) refers to items made from clay bodies and fired in a kiln (or oven) to obtain the finished art form.
Forming (i.e. shaping)
Firing (baking in a kiln)
Glazing/decorating (coating the object with a glaze, or applying to it various decorative techniques)
Refiring (rebaking) to harden the glaze.

5. What is Slip and Score technique?
Clay and Basket Fusion
What is Slip and Score technique?
Score and slip is a method of joining two pieces of clay together. First, score the clay; this means that you make scratches in the surfaces that will be sticking together. Then you slip it; that is you wet the surface with some slip, using it like glue. Next, you press the two pieces together. This will allow the rough "scored" edges to meld with each other
The moisture from the slip will be absorbed by the drier scored area and will help the piece stay together. After attaching use a tool or finger to smooth the seam so that you cannot see the line where the two pieces were attached. If the seam is not smoothing away, the clay is too dry. Dip your finger in some slip and smooth again to fix.
Thank Lisa Pelgrim for this explanation which is just perfect. When you make your slip (glue for clay) make sure its pretty thick – as Lisa described to me “should be between heavy cream and pudding in thickness”. The kids can paint it on or use their fingers to smooth it on

6. Why is clay so important?
Clay and Basket Fusion
Why is clay so important?
Eventually, early men and women discovered that they could harden the molded pottery in hot ashes and make sturdy containers. We are going to make one today!
Pottery is our oldest handicraft. Fired clay is one of the few materials on earth that does not change with time, and clay has always been an abundant resource.
The earliest function of clay was to line baskets as a way to waterproof them. Baskets were often used to carry water to crops, and the clay lining prevented leakage.
Ask students how we use clay today – ask students What if we combine fired clay and basket - making to make a modern vessel form? The base for the vessel will be made to accommodate the addition of reeds, and a fusion of pot and basket will be the output of our lessons (part 1 and 2) today.
Note: The loss of moisture caused the shape of the clay to shrink and separate from the sides of the basket. When the clay, now shaped like a pot, was removed, it retained the basket pattern and that is where heating of clay to make a solid container / vessel began.

7. Examples of Ceramic vessels
Clay and Basket Fusion
Please ask students to note the various textures on these. When doing the practicial part encourage students to use the texture rollers to create design on their baskets.
Examples of Ceramic vessels

8. Clay and Basket Fusion
Process (Part one):
Using clay, hand build a base about 4-5” in diameter. Make a bowl or cylinder form. Methods could include coil building, pinch pulling, or rolling out clay and free forming.
At the rim of the pot, use straw to punch 5 or 7 holes around the top.
The holes should be at least 1/2” from the top of the rim, spaced approximately an inch apart. Very Important: An odd number of holes in needed for the weaving process.
Students can use tools (plastic knife, straws, texture mats, rubbing plates etc.) to etch patterns.
Put initials and class # name on bottom of vessel.
This is part one of the lesson. Docents remind students that they must scape and score the clay if they add a base (optional). Lesson learnt from our trial run, rub the texture plates first then mold. If using stamps, build the pot then gently stamp the patterns. There is no right or wrong way of doing these. To smooth they clay simply add a little water and smooth out – not too much though!

9. Lesson plan adapted from DICKBLICK.com
Art history lesson slides are original and built from various sources.
By Tara Button
November 2015, updated January 2018