Lesson 8: "Cracking the Science Behind Pottery with Mudfire Pottery Studio"

Turn and Talk

Have students take out A Single Shard and their annotations.

Say these Directions: Use the Turn and Talk routine to share your responses from the Reflection Journal homework about the following prompt:

• In your own life, what process or processes do you know well? Why do you feel confident in your understanding of them?

Take two to three quick responses from students to share with the whole class.

Connection to Today’s Learning: 

• Say: Today, you’ll read an informational text about the science of making pottery. You'll use morphology to define vocabulary words related to the science of pottery and develop a process document for preparing clay for sculpting.

Introduce New Words Using Morphology

Target Words: interaction, combustible

Say these Directions: We’re learning about the words interaction and combustible today. These words show up in the text "Cracking the Science Behind Pottery with Mudfire Pottery Studio" to describe the science of pottery making.

Part 1: Decode the word using morphemes

Introduce the Words

Present the words interaction and combustible on the board and pronounce them.

• Ask: Have you seen any of these words before? If so, where?

Identify the Roots

Underline the roots act in interaction and combust in combustible.

• Say: The root act comes from Latin āctus, meaning “doing” or “performance.” Combust comes from Latin combustus, meaning “to destroy with fire.”

Identify Affixes

Circle the affixes inter- and -ion in interaction, and -ible in combustible.

• Say: The prefix inter- means “between.” The suffix -ion means “state or condition,” and -ible means “able to be.”

Encoding Practice:

• Say: Now cover the words. In your Personal Dictionary [or on your whiteboard], write interaction and combustible from memory — use what you know about the prefix, suffix, and root to help you spell each word correctly. Check your spelling against the board.

• For MLLs: If the word has a cognate in your home language, write that version too and circle any morphemes that are spelled the same or similarly across both languages.

Part 2: Meaning Focus

Discuss Affix and Root Meanings

• Ask: How do inter- (“between”) and -ion (“state or condition”) connect the idea of interaction? (the state of acting or action between something)

Language Connection

• Ask: How does -ible (“able to be”) help you make sense of combustible? (being able to catch on or be destroyed by fire)

• Say: In Spanish, interacción means “interaction.” The prefix inter- still means “between,” and the root act still means “doing” or “performance.”

• Say: The Spanish word combustible is spelled the same way and has the same meaning as the English word combustible.

Give Additional Morpheme Examples

• Ask: What are some other words that share the roots combust or act? (actor, activate, activity, react; combustion, combustive)

Morpheme Encoding Practice

• Say: Now write two of these additional morpheme examples from memory — for example, one word with and one with combust. Use the spelling of the shared morpheme as your anchor: if you know how to spell the root or affix, that part stays the same across all the examples. Check your spelling.

• For MLLs: Notice whether any of these example words have a cognate in your home language. Write it beside the English word and note whether the morpheme spelling carries over.

Part 3: Verify Meaning

Determine Meaning

• Ask: Using what we know about inter-/act/-ion and combust/-ible, what do you think interaction and combustible mean?

  • interaction: an action of one upon another or others; a complementary or opposite action, influence, or effect

  • combustible: able to catch on fire and burn

• Say: Work with a partner to locate a verified definition for each word in a dictionary or online vocabulary resources.

Build Word Relationships

Write interact next to interaction.

• Ask: What is the relationship between interact and interaction? (Interact is a verb; when two things interact with each other, they are in a state of interaction)

  • Ask: What is the relationship between combust and combustible? (Combust is a verb and combustible is an adjective.)

Final Encoding Check

• Say: Listen to this phrase from the text and write it without looking at the board. [Read aloud a short phrase using the target word, e.g., “the combustible materials in the kiln” or “the interaction between clay and heat.”] Check your spelling, paying particular attention to the morpheme(s) you studied.

• Say: Explain to a partner how identifying the roots in interaction and combustible helped you to understand the meaning of the words.

Allow students to share their work and add the words to their Unit Vocabulary graphic organizer. Once sharing is complete, affirm the connection: 

Connection to Today’s Learning: 

• Say: Understanding language such as interaction and combustible will help you read today's information article with precision. As you read the text, notice how the authors use these words to describe parts of a scientific process and keep an eye out for other words that use the same roots or affixes to help decode their meaning.

Transition students to partnerships to discuss an informational text.

Part A: Reading a Scientific Text (RI.6.2) (15 minutes)

Introduce the article “Cracking the Science Behind Pottery with Mudfire Pottery Studio.”

Say these Directions: Today, you will read, analyze and discuss the scientific text “Cracking the Science Behind Pottery with Mudfire Pottery Studio”.

• Say: Quickly scan the article without reading it closely. What do you notice? What do you think the article is about?

  • It is organized into sections. It has headings and subheadings. It includes images related to pottery. It has a byline at the top and references at the bottom. Based on the title, I think it's about the science of pottery.

• Say: Based on what you've observed, what type of text do you think this is? Why?

  • It is an informational text. It gives the reader factual information about the science of pottery.

Briefly preview how to read an informational text.

• Say: Informational texts are written to inform readers about a topic. Scientific texts typically use formal language and technical jargon, or words and phrases specific to the topic. Sometimes these words are called domain-specific or academic vocabulary. In this article, the author uses words and phrases related to the pottery-making process, including ceramics, kaolinite, molecular, interaction, metal oxide, and combustible.

  • Ask: What are some ways to determine the meaning of technical vocabulary in the text?

    • (We can use morphology, context clues, and resources to determine the meaning of the words.)

• Say: This article, like many other informational texts, is organized into sections. Each section has a subheading that tells readers what the section is about. Each section helps develop the central idea, or main point, of the text.

  • Ask: How is the text organized? Which text features are included?

    • (The text is organized into sections and has text features including headings and pictures.)

Think-Pair-Share

Invite volunteers to read the article "Cracking the Science Behind Pottery with Mudfire Pottery Studio" aloud.

Say these Directions: Use the Think-Pair-Share routine to answer questions about the article by (1) independently forming ideas, (2) sharing and refining your ideas through brief discussion with your partner, and (3) sharing your ideas with the whole class.

• Ask: What important points does the author make in each section of the article? Support your response with evidence from the text.

  • The introduction explains that the article is about Mudfire Studio and explains who owns it. It also gives a brief history of pottery. “It All Begins with Clay” explains the science of what clay is made of, how potters shape it, and how it is turned into pottery. “Artists’ Experiment” explains the science behind different colors in glazes and how the potters at Mudfire Studio experiment to create different results. “Bracing the Heat!” explains three different types of kilns used to fire pottery and how they are used to create different results. “Where Clay Meets Community” explains how Mudfire Studio is a part of the community and how its owners are mentors to other ceramic artists.

• Ask: Using the important points in each section that you identified, what do you think is the central idea of the text? What details from the text support your answer?

  • The central idea of the text is that the pottery-making process is a scientific process. The details that support the pottery-making process are that “molecular interactions between the mineral sheets help to maintain the shape of the clay.” The text also states that pottery colors come from “metal oxides” that create color because of their “light-absorbing properties.” These are examples of scientific processes in the text.

Check for Understanding

Provide students with a confidence continuum (i.e., 1–5). As needed, model how to demonstrate a level of confidence using the continuum.

Part B: Create a Process Flowchart (RI.6.2) (15 minutes)  

Graffiti/Table Talk

Say these Directions: As a class, we will create a process document for the pottery-making process using information from Chapters 1–4 of A Single Shard and the article "Cracking the Science Behind Pottery with Mudfire Pottery Studio." First, you will silently write your ideas on shared charts or digital boards before orally summarizing the patterns. Then, we will organize our ideas using the Flowchart graphic organizer.

Remember to use technical and domain-specific vocabulary from the article to describe your ideas about the pottery-making process.

Ensure that students are using the correct technical or domain specific vocabulary from the texts.

1. The clay is gathered and purified by mixing it with water and then draining it through sieves one or more times. 2. The clay is sculpted using simple tools or a pottery wheel. 3. The clay is left out to dry to remove any remaining moisture, and then it finishes drying in the kiln. 4. The dried pottery is covered with different glazes containing metal oxides that create different colors once it is fired again in an electric, soda, or raku kiln.

Lead a brief discussion after students have created their process documents.

• Ask: What are some of the processes in the article that you also read in the novel A Single Shard? Support your response with evidence from the texts.

  • Both the article and the novel show the processes of shaping the clay, glazing the pottery, and firing the pottery.

• Ask: What are some examples of domain specific vocabulary from the article and novel that can be used to describe the pottery-making process?

  • Both the article and the novel mention the words sieve, glaze, kiln, and firing to describe the pottery-making process.

• Ask: How does reading the article inform your understanding of the novel?

  • The novel explains how at first, the celadon glaze was created by accident, then over time they learned how to make it on purpose. This idea is supported by the description of how potters at Mudfire Studio experiment to create different types of glazes.

• Ask: According to the article, why is pottery a difficult process to learn? What scientific details help explain why Tree-ear must practice and observe so carefully?

  • The article explains that pottery is a difficult process to learn because there are many different steps and unknowns. For example, a ceramics artist must make sure they've properly dried their clay before putting it in a kiln, or it could break apart. Depending on the different types of kilns they use, they may not know how their pottery will turn out. Scientific details about the balance between force and friction and the science of glazes help explain why Tree-ear must practice and observe carefully. These are skills that he will gradually learn over time through trial and error and by closely watching Min.

Transition students to partners to complete the Look Back activity.

3–2–1 Summary

Say these Directions: With a partner, develop a 3–2–1 Summary focused on the central idea of the article. You can use the graphic organizer to record:

• 3 important words/phrases

• 2 key details or ideas

• 1 sentence explaining what the article is mostly about (gist sentence)

Direct students to use evidence from the article in their responses.

Read the first half of Chapter 5, through “Two moons, perhaps, and the bridge will welcome us back!” As you read, annotate the ways that curiosity manifests, or shows itself, for Tree-ear.

Then, respond to the following prompt in your Journal:

• How does observation become important in this chapter? How does it add to Tree-ear's learning?