International Dot Day

K-3rd grade students all worked on "dots" at the beginning of the school year and this year I wanted to make sure we did something fun as close to International Dot Day as possible. During that class period, students could choose to work on individual projects, to work collaboratively on dot paintings, or to make their own dot with a dot template. 

I made up my own "anti-coloring" page with "International Dot Day 2014"  at the top and a big blank circle at the bottom. This was SO popular. Almost every student wanted to make a dot using this template. I also read The Dot at my local library and used the same template.

*If you've never heard of Anti Coloring Books, they're activity books with a bit of information, that ask the kids to think and be creative instead of just filling in someone else's drawing.

2nd Grade Dots

 My primary students don't start off the year with full "choice". We spend a good amount of time just getting used to seats, procedures, etc. and I also try to do some projects that help me gauge where the students are and what I might need to cover to help them. The first project of the year for K-3rd was a "dot" project for International Dot Day. 2nd graders start off making a painting with a "dot" theme. However they interpret "dot" is up to them. In the second class period, the students have pretty much free reign when choosing other materials to add to their dots. Paper, oil pastels, markers, crayons, and yarn are popular. This year several students took advantage of the paper strips I had cut for weaving and used them in interesting ways.

I know that some more structured teachers probably see these photos and think of the mess... I used to worry about that as well! The students really do a pretty good job of cleaning up their supplies when they finish. That's one reason I call a single table at a time to line up. I don't call a table until they have everything cleaned up and put away correctly.

Dot Day 2014: Staff Participation

Last year as part of our Dot Day celebration, I asked other staff members at my primary school to make "Celebridots". I figured they are like the celebrities to the students so it made sense! The main reason I wanted to convince them to make art is that I think it's GREAT for students to see other adults besides the art teacher doing creative things. This year in my email request I included a little speech about not being allowed to say they're "not creative" because it gives students permission to make the same excuse. I love seeing the Celebridots, especially because it lets me learn something more about my coworkers than I can learn from the 5 second interaction when they pick up or drop off their classes. Check out some of the dots!

Theme: Junk Drawer. I love it!

 Can you guess which was made by our new music teacher? :)

This teacher knew we are learning about India so she made a mandala design in her dot. 

Appropriate for a school in Kansas...

And this textured monogram was the favorite of students! I let several classes vote on a favorite and that teacher will get a prize of some sort. I haven't decided what it will be yet. Congratulations, Mrs.Plemons!

A new addition to this year's Dot Day celebration was a spirit day. Yesterday students and staff were invited to wear dot clothing to celebrate. After school I convinced some of the staff members to show up for a picture. Check out all the awesome dots! I'm so proud of the participation we had this year and know we can keep growing Dot Day. I'll also be drawing a name of a staff member who participated in the spirit day for a prize and I'm going to "cook up" a little thank you for those that made a dot.

Dot Day 2014

Are you celebrating International Dot Day? Dot Day celebrates creativity, courage, and collaboration and is inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' book, "The Dot". This has become a tradition at school and I'm excited that this year our new librarian joined in! She read The Dot to K-3rd grade and they did some "dot" activities in library. It's nice to collaborate!

 I wanted to share my Dot Day bulletin board since it has an overview of our activities with each grade. I'll be posting more details about those projects some day when I get around to it. :)
The background for the "Dot Day" sign was a circle painting made by some 1st-3rd grade students. The Vashti cutout was made for my YAM bulletin board a couple years ago and she's been hanging out in the art room ever since, occasionally making an appearance in the hallway.

We're learning about India this fall so I tied the 3rd grader's dots to rangoli. They turned out really cool and have been a popular project, of course any project that lets the students use glue and sand is a pretty sure thing.

2nd grade's mixed media dots were the most open this year.

1st grade dots were circles filled with patterns, and boy did some kids make it a lot harder than it needed to be! I should have encouraged the students to focus on making one big dot since many drew a ton and then got tired of working on it half way through.

 I decided before I start TAB-ing with Kindergarten, I want to cover a lot of basics. In this first project they practiced writing their names and initials, traced a can, learned about and drew lines, cut a round shape, and used a glue stick. Now they've practiced making different kinds of lines with a paintbrush, "dipped the tip", and explored color mixing. 

I was given a ton of used crayons so I picked out some that looked nice and used them to make a Dot Day decoration. I feel a little guilty using crayons with so much life to make a decoration, but I was given about 10 gallons of crayons so I hope these won't be missed.

I can't wait to read about other teacher's Dot Day activities. I already read one hilarious account this evening that left me literally laughing out loud (LLOL?) and made me want to try out the project. Thanks for the laugh, Cassie Stephens! See her post here: http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2014/09/in-art-room-string-stitched-dot-for-dot.html

If you don't own The Dot, get your copy now! You don't even have to use my affiliate link, I just figured it might be a convenience for someone! I got the Creatrilogy for my birthday a few years ago and I treasure it. Thanks, Mom! :)

3rd Grade Dots

The 3rd grade dots for International Dot Day were inspired by Celebridots (www.celebridots.com). The students planned in pencil, traced with sharpie, and painted with watercolors.

2nd Grade Dots

I'll keep this short (for once) since I've already written lots about International Dot Day (see search HERE). My 2nd graders started off painting circular designs with tempera cakes then used oil pastels to add details. We talked about radial symmetry and looked at some examples before the students did their thing. Some students ended up adding collage elements and even REAL YARN! They get so excited about yarn and always throw in the "real" adjective. Pretty cute. :) 

These circle guys were made in another 2nd grade class that didn't have time for paint. They were inspired by the color wheel.

#DotDay Murals

We had a lot of fun celebrating International Dot Day! After the 1st-3rd grade students finished their contributions to our collaborative mobile, they helped work on one of 3 murals: a play on our school logo, an imaginary solar system, and an underwater scene.

 We looked at a famous painting made of dots- Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte and covered the first mural with pointilist dots. We did cheat and paint the background first given the age of the students.

I laminated the strips so it doesn't photograph well.

The other murals were a combination of paint, stamping, drawing, and collage.

Look at all those planets (dots!)

Helping to tape the pieces together was a popular job.

Painted background with cardboard tube stamped bubbles (more dots!) The little bitty mermaid was one of my favorite details. The underwater mural was the smallest and the only one made on just one big piece of paper. It was the last afternoon and the first two were finished so we started another that could be completed that day.

The students really enjoyed "connecting the dots" and working together on these murals. The teachers and visitors to our school have enjoyed seeing them in the hallway almost as much as the students do.