This unit of work has as its foci the following skills:

•Use of web links to search the internet, collect information about totem poles and create a research
sheet.
•Ceramic hand-building techniques, in particular slab construction
•Joining
methods
•Creating line, texture and shape using clay tools
•Feature exaggeration
•Use of glaze to enhance feature exaggeration.

1.Students were presented with a Design Brief, outlining the Unit of work. They were also provided with an
assessment rubric detailing how the Unit of work would be assessed. These sheets, along with the
student’s resource sheet and design drawings would be collated in the Visual Art Diary, which
forms a detailed record of every Unit of Study.

2.Web Links were established on the school intranet to direct student research on Totem Poles.

3.Students used their resource documents to create a series of design drawings, and one completed, shaded
design drawing which is to be the template for their totem pole section.

4.The teacher modelled the technique used to build the totem pole sections based on the steps outlined
below. Students then followed these steps to build their own totem pole sections.

•Roll out a slab of clay and trim, using a potter’s knife, to a rectangular shape.
•Prepare a cardboard cylinder by wrapping carefully in newspaper and securing the paper with
masking tape.
•Roll the slab around the cylinder and join the edged securely by blending and
smoothing the clay until no join can be seen.
•Roll a second slab of clay and cut to the shape
of the design
•Add the features on the design and join each carefully to the slab using clay
slip and smoothing the join with tool or fingers.
•Once the “mask” section is
finished, add slip to the cylinder, drape the mask section over the clay slip and join on all sides
using a tool or fingers.
•Remove the cardboard cylinder carefully, and place the totem pole
section on a clay board to dry.
•The clay, when dry is bisque fired.
•Students use
glaze to enhance the exaggerated features
•Totem pole section is glaze fired.
•A
cardboard cylinder is attached to a wooded base using PVA glue. When dry, both pole and base are
painted with black acrylic paint.
•Glazed totem pole sections are stacked over the cylinder
– one facing the front, next facing the back – to create a Totem Pole.

Year 5 students were very engaged with Unit of work and are very proud of their resulting Totem Poles.

Download Design Brief & Assessment Rubics for this activity

Haileybury College
Suitable for Level 4