Our International Dot Day Collaborative Mobile is Complete!

Looking up from below

Our first art class project for all of the grades I teach at FCDS was based on the book "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds. After some thought I decided this would be a great introductory project that would give each student the chance to express him/herself as an individual and then also combine their work with others in the spirit of collaboration which we all know is a valuable "21st century skill". 

After researching all kinds of ways art teachers have incorporated "The Dot" into their classroom I decided that I like this one the best - thank you Katie Morris of Adventures of an Art Teacher!

The lesson went like this: 

1. I read the book to the class and we would stop and discuss the content throughout the reading - I was trying to have them discover the message of the book, that an artists "makes his/her mark and sees where it takes him/her"

2. I played this video: an animated reading of the book.

3. Students used markers and colored pencils to color in their own dot on a handout that I created.

4. Then they cut them out and turned them in to a box on my desk.

I also offered the rest of the school and the faculty and staff the opportunity to participate - several did and I was so happy about this! Once I had all of the dots I laminated them to construction paper and cut those out and strung them up with yarn to a wire contraption I made using hangers.

Our awesome facilities guy, Danny, hung this up from the ceiling in my art room and the kids have been amazed!

I'm so thrilled with how it turned out - what a great way to begin my teaching tenure at this wonderful school!!