4th grade Jewelers

This was a fun project to do with my 4th grade students, and it was certainly popular with both the boys and the girls! Several comments were made about this being "the best project" and "my favorite project." It is always music to my ears, when I hear students excited about what they have created. The neat thing about this project was that every necklace was beautiful! Not a bad one in the bunch.

HOW IT'S MADE.......
The students made just about every part of the necklace, with exception of a few small plastic beads used for spacing and extentions. They made the paper beads, using magazine paper cut in long, thin, triangles, then rolling them around a wooden stylist (beginning with the thicker end and ending with the thinner end, gluing the 2nd half to seal the bead). Then clay beads were made into different forms, with various patterns and textures etched in to the surface. Lastly, students used some rectangular sample chips (that someone gave me thousands of - literally), created a design in relief using shirtboard, covered in foil, and aged with india ink, to create the center medallion. After painting the clay beads with metallic paints, the students strung their necklaces thinking about how to "balance" the beads on either side. Some students chose to go a little asymetrical with their designs which made for some very interesting pieces.