Overview:  In this launch, the teacher asks students to remember a member of the local community, a potter named Mr. Catori.  Mr. Catori apparently is an artist who creates Native American clay pieces, and he visited the school’s art classes earlier in the school year.  A couple of students in the teacher’s class were in the art classes Mr. Catori visited, and they remember an example of the art he creates.  Liza recalls that Mr. Catori was able to paint a pattern around the vase without doing any measuring or using any sort of stencil.  It seems Mr. Catori was able to work freehand to create a repeating pattern around the vase.  The teacher tells students that they will be creating a repeating pattern through their work on the problem, but they will be able to use a variety of tools to work on the problem.

Prior knowledge:  The teacher makes a connection with students’ prior knowledge of the context of the pottery problem.  The teacher seems to know that some of the students in the class have met a member of the local community who works on creating clay pieces with different patterns.  The teacher asks those students to share their experiences with the class.  Liza also brings up knowledge of a mathematical practice that Mr. Catori used – the practice of painting transformations freehand.

Other points of interest:  In this launch, Liza and Conrad are the only students who verbalize their recollection of Mr. Catori and his practice of making art.  We cannot assume that all of the students in the class share this prior knowledge.  When the teacher asks Liza and Conrad to share their recollections, and when the teacher shares the artifact of Mr. Catori’s visit with the class, she establishes this knowledge as part of the collective memory of the class (González, 2009).  Even though students may not have been present for Mr. Catori’s visit, they now all have some knowledge of Mr. Catori and his work.  Additionally, when Liza brings up the point about Mr. Catori’s practice of painting the patterns on the pottery, the teacher in a way devalues this practice by saying “I’m not going to make you do this freehand.”  The teacher makes it clear to students that they will be able to use resources to create the patterns.