Hanging Wire Construction

Tools and Materials:Wire clothes hangers (cheap bendable ones from the cleaners), tissue paper (a variety of colors, cut into 6” squares), yarn, sequins, small buttons or beads for decoration, glue, scissors
Introduction:
Review:
  • What makes a person creative?
    • They think of new ideas
    • They approach things in ways that are original to them
    • They are inventive and resourceful
    • They look at new possibilities to solving problems as they work on projects
  • How can you develop your creativity?
    • Do not worry what other people think about your work
    • Do not be afraid—of rejection, of being different, of not doing it right, or of getting a bad grade
    • Examine different ways of doing things
    • If you don’t have what you need, think about what else you can use
    • Try doing things a new way
    • Take time to think about it; pray about it
    • Talk about your ideas with someone else; get a second opinion
    • Practice and look at things you are interested in, study them
Ask students:
  • Why is it important to develop and use creativity?
    • Creativity helps you express your thoughts and ideas
    • It helps develop new ways of thinking and new ways to solve problems
    • It helps build self-confidence
Students will view artwork in article Artist who left 1,200 sculptures in an abandoned alley.
Take a coat hanger and show students how you can bend it into various shapes. Ask students whether the shapes suggested anything to them. Explain how the hanger makes an outline of shapes and tissue paper can be used to fill in the shapes.
Process:
  • Pass out coat hangers
  • Students bend hangers into various shapes creating recognizable or abstract objects
  • Put glue on wire and fold the edges of colored tissue paper around the wire (not all areas have to be filled with tissue paper; some can remain open)
  • If tissue paper isn’t long or wide enough to span a space, another piece could be glued to it. It can be the same or a different color.
  • After tissue paper is finished, add yarn, feathers, sequins, or beads for decoration
  • Before leaving, students will write their name on an Exit card and answer the following question: What can you tell me about your creation?
Assessment:
  • Formative: Assessment is done through teacher observation of student’s participation during group discussions, during assemblage, and during informal interviews. Learners should be able to demonstrate a basic understanding of what creativity means and if they consider themselves creative.
  • Summative: Individual artwork will be reviewed for thinking of new ideas, for approaching something in a way that is original to them, and for looking at new possibilities to solve problems that occur as they work.