5th Grade Clay Picture Frames

Last year, my 5th grade students created picture frames from clay. I had some great results, so I did the lesson again this year, but with a few minor adjustments. First, I printed the students' photos from Harmony and laminated them, rather than asking students to bring in their school photo. So many students forgot, or didn't order school photos, that I had to do that with many students last year, anyway! Then, since all the photos came from me, they were the same size. I made paper templates to cut the frame from a slab, which was much easier than having the students create their own template (I'm always surprised at how hard it is for students to use a ruler!)

Here are a few examples of student work:

Here is the back of a frame. After using masking tape to place the photo in the frame, I hot-glued a rectangle of cardboard (from a cereal box) to the back. The stand is a folded triangle of the same cardboard, which I also attached with my glue gun, holding it still while squirting glue on both sides.