1) Dress to Impress:
I knew that I wanted to hook my students without giving too much away. So, instead of telling them what I had planned, I invited them to wear their most "Dot-tastic" clothing! We all wore polka dots and it was so much fun to look out into a sea of dots all day! Plus, everyone showed up on time and ready to learn! A total win-win!
2) Read "The Dot" By Peter Reynolds
This story is truly beautiful and it is perfect to tie into "Growth Mindset" and community building lessons that we will be continuing with all through the month of September!
3) Respond to the Book
Laura Candler has an AWESOME Dot FREEBIE! You can find it here. I simply printed out the task cards, put my students into groups and had them discuss. After about 10 minutes of discussion, I put two of the task cards under the document camera and had students reflect in their reading response notebooks. A quick and easy assessment!
4) Make some Dot Art!
I decided to make two dot art projects with my class!
The first project was a watercolour dot.
Step 1:
Draw a large dot on a piece of white paper.
Step 2:
Use masking tape to make a design on your dot. I chose to do stripes but some of my students wrote their initials, symbols and even words with the masking tape!
Step 3:
Use watercolour paint to cover all white space.
Step 4:
Let the paint dry and then remove the masking tape.
Don't forget to sign your artwork like in "The Dot".
The next art project that we did involved using Q-tips to make the dots!
Step 1:
Students trace their hands on black construction paper.
Step 2:
Use Q-tips dipped in paint to make dots around the hands. I encouraged my students to create unique patterns. Early finishers drew a different image and completed the project again. Some chose to draw houses, trucks, and some even traced their feet!
I hope that you will be able to use some of these ideas when you celebrate Dot Day! Remember, Dot Day is September 15th ish so it's never too late to celebrate!
5) Help Students Make Their Mark on the World!
The last activity that we did for Dot Day was to brainstorm all of the ways that kids can make a mark on the world! My class came up with some great ideas like:
- making sandwiches for the homeless
- taking Valentines to a Seniors Home
- Playing with kids who seem lonely during recess
We are going to try and use as many of their ideas as possible throughout the school year to make our mark on our school, our community, our city and the world!
If you like these ideas and want more simple ideas to use in your classroom, be sure to click on the icon at the top of the page to follow me on Instagram and on Pinterest!
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