3rd grade students did two fish projects using totally different materials. 

 The first were clay slab fish.  To make these, each student started with a slab of clay and they had to cut the clay into different shapes and layer to make a fish.  Adding texture using different materials and techniques was the focus during this process.  Students used texture plates, knives, forks, stamps, marker tops, etc to do this.  After the fish were fired in the kiln, we used an oil pastel resist method to add color to the fish.  They started by using oil pastels to cover the fish in bright colors.  After the fish was nice and colorful, we used watered down acrylic paint to completely cover the fish.  When rinsed under water, the oil pastels show through and the paint covers the areas that were not colored.  These turned out AMAZING.  

For the second fish project, 3rd graders selected a photo of a fish that they liked.  They tried their best to use observation skills and create a life-like fish drawing.  They began by drawing the outline with pencil and moved on to use oil pastels.  Rather than covering the whole fish with the pastels like they did on the clay, they just drew the outlines and textures such as scales, stripes, etc.  After the oil pastel, students used watercolor paints-plain and neon-the create the most realistic fish possible.  Students had to focus on showing highlights and shadows seen in their fish image and tried to really capture the different colors seen in the photograph.  After these were all done, I spent time cutting them all out and hanging them in the hallway to create a fun underwater scene. These turned out really amazing as well.  Definitely a project that I will continue in future years.

These pictures do not even begin to do this project justice.  I was totally overwhelmed with cuteness as the third graders did this adorable clay snail project.

We began with pounding out a chunk of clay into a flattish blob.  This was to be about the size of their hand and to be used as the ground under the snails..
To create the snails, the students made a fat clay coil, then flattened all but the end for the head.  Then they rolled up the coil to make a cute little snail.  For the head, they pinched out antennae and gave them eyes and mouths.  The funnest part was watching the 1st graders use paper clips to make either super happy snail mouths or super grumpy snail mouths depending on which way the paper clip was held.
The students had to make at least two snails.  Some made two, some made 12.  After the snails were made, they had to give their shells texture and then scratch and attach the snails to the ground.  

The students had SO MUCH FUN with this project.  They were singing songs about snails, making up goofy stories about their snail families and working hard to create these awesome little clay snails.

After the clay was fired, we used neon and regular watercolor sets to make these snails nice and colorful!  I really focused on filling the whole space with color "Do you see any white area?  If yes, keep painting..."
They did such a great job and when they were done, I sprayed them with an acrylic finishing spray.  They ended up glossy and super bright.  

I spent a lot of time laughing as the students created these and as they sat on the shelf before going home.

The students began this Kimmy Cantrell lesson by looking at images of his ceramics, then creating their own by using clay slabs and making textured, layered masks.  The focus was on asymmetry.  

After the ceramics project, the students used Kimmy Cantrell's artwork for inspiration to draw large oil pastel masks.