Hi Valerie, Thanks for your comment!
I introduced this project by showing the students images of real totem poles from the Pacific Northwest and we talked about the symbolism of totem animals.

Students worked in pairs on each section:
1. They constructed a coiled cylinder around a section of PVC pipe so that they would all be the same diameter… (cover the pipe with newspaper first so that it slides out easily). They must also cover the cylinder and keep it moist enough to add their animal design later.
2. Then I had them pick a totem animal out of a hat. They had to incorporate parts of the animal throughout the cylindrical design.
3. After researching the symbolic meaning of their totem animal, they also carved related words into some of the coils. (For example a frog totem might include words such as Spring, New Life, Stability, Magic, etc.) At the time I had a couple good websites to send students to, or you could print out some material to give them.
4. After bisque firing, we stained the cylinders with iron oxide and sponged them to create some contrast. Then refired to cone 10.
5. Finally, we had 2 old volleyball net posts that I scavenged to slide the individual sections on to. They were SUPER heavy with cement on the bottom, but I imagine that you could create the same type of thing with other materials as well.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have further questions, and I’d love to hear how your project turns out!