LESSON

PLAN

MELS
COMPETENCIE
S

TITLE: Junk Sculptures

DATE: Friday, November 13th, 2015
TIME:
8:02am-8:32am
10:22am-10:52am
DURATION:
Two 30-minute periods

CLASS:
Cycle 3, Level 2
Room 14
SCHOOL:
Hampstead Elementary

Subject Area Competencies (Visual Arts):

C1: To produce individual works in the visual arts

o Students will produce art sculptures in teams by using
recycled material. They will rework pieces of recycled
material to give it new meaning and purpose.
C3: To appreciate works of art, traditional artistic objects,
media images, personal productions and those of classmates
o Students will give their sculptures unique stories or
explanations by writing an accompanying paragraph.
This explanation should detail the sculptures name,
deeper meaning and/or purpose and why they chose to
make this sculpture.
o During a vernissage that will take place once the project
is finished, students will circulate around the classroom
and will be able to view, critique, and read about their
peers sculptures.

Cross-Curricular Competencies

OBJECTIVE(S)

C4: To use creativity

C8: To work cooperatively with others

Students will be able to work cooperatively to create a

collaborative sculpture. This sculpture will be created from
recycled material and ordinary household objects that are being
discarded
Students will be able to build a sculpture and be able to create
meaning to accompany it. They will be able to produce a small
paragraph that accompanies their sculpture, which aims to
explain the meaning and/or purpose behind their sculpture.
Students will be able to make decisions, as a team, as to what
their sculpture will look like, what it will stand for, and the
meaning it represents.
Students will be able to critique their own sculpture as well as
their peers

GROUP SIZE,
LOCATION &
MATERIALS

Group Size:
17 students
Location:
Room 14
Materials:
Collected recycled material (students may bring in their own
after the first day if they wish to contribute)
Scissors, tape, string, glue, scrap art supplies from home to
allow students to put their sculpture together
Examples of sculptures (indicated as attachments by: *)

TIME

LESSON

5-10 min

Introduction:
Students will be told that they are doing another team art project.
However, this project will be different. Up until this point, students have
used paint, and coloring utensils but for this project, they will be
building.
Before introducing the activity, ask students if they have ever heard the
saying One mans trash is another mans treasure. Ask for responses
and discuss what they think it means.
Introduce the term sculpture and ask what students think a sculpture is
and where theyve sculptures before. What did they look like? Where
were they? What were they made of? Did they represent anything?
Tell students they will be creating junk sculptures: Introduce the idea
that they will be creating their own sculptures made from recycled
material and relate it back to the original saying, explaining that although
other people didnt want this material (it was their trash), we are going to
turn it into our treasure to create wonderful sculptures with it.
Show examples* on the board and discuss how materials have been
manipulated to create the sculptures. Get some ideas of what their
sculpture can be (stray from the idea that it can only be a personit can
be abstract.briefly define the term abstract and explain that their
sculpture does not have to resemble a being or even a specific object, but
MUST have meaning).
Explain that they will be working on their sculptures for a couple weeks.
After the sculptures are complete, students will have to write an
accompanying paragraph to explain the meaning of their sculpture and
what it represents.

TIME

LESSON

25-30 min Development:

(x2
Distribute materials to students, giving each table an equal number of
periods)
recycled bits. Explain to students that they must work with what they are
given, however if they agree as a group that they would like to trade a
piece with another group (with the other groups permission of course)
they may. Students will be informed that if there is any disagreement or
argument over this, they will simply be revoked this privilege and will be
strictly limited to the materials their group was given.
Students will work on their sculptures for the remainder of the class,
ensuring that all group members are participating and are actively
involved in the creation of their sculpture.
Remind students that while they are creating their sculpture, they should
be discussing its meaning and/or purpose. What does their sculpture stand
for or what does it represent? Do not simply build a sculpture because it
looks cool.
Explain to students that they will be graded on their ability to explain
their work and to give their sculpture meaning.
Closure/Transition:
This project may span over several weeks of art classes. Once the
sculptures are finished however, students will write their paragraph
explaining their work, as a group (one person can volunteer to write, the
others will dictate and discuss what they will include). This will be filled
out on the handout*.
The last step is to have a vernissage in which students will display their
sculptures alongside their explanation. Students will have a chance to
circulate around the room to view the other sculptures and read their
explanations.
Lastly, each student will fill out an exit card*, writing 2-4 sentences
reflection upon which sculpture they liked best and why.

Names: ________________________________ ______________________________

________________________________

______________________________

Our Junk Sculpture!

Sculpture name:

__________________________________

Materials used (list 3):

______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

Meaning:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
*Exit cards (to be cut intro strips)

Which sculpture did you like best?

Why was it your favorite?
Did you enjoy this project?

Which sculpture did you like best?

Why was it your favorite?
Did you enjoy this project?

Which sculpture did you like best?

Why was it your favorite?
Did you enjoy this project?