Pinch Pots

This is the lesson I and Ms. Schafer taught to the class. We started by giving background information about pinch pots along with new terminology as the class had not worked with clay before. Once we gave each student a portion of clay, we had the class press it into the table to rid any air bubbles in the clay. Next, we had the students throw the clay back and forth between their hands to form a ball with the clay. Then, students were instructed to use their thumbs and "pinch" down into the center of the ball. The class then repeated this over and over until they have the desired thickness and shape to their pot. Students were required to add different techniques to their pot which included slip, texture, lines, and indents in the clay. I added slip to the top of my pot to make the edges smooth, a textured bottom, and added an H to the center using the slip technique. The H is for my fiance's last name.

An extension activity that could be done with the pinch pots is researching and writing a paper about the tribes that make pinch pots still today, what the use of the pinch pots are for and differnt kinds of pots that can be made.