Monday, September 9, 2013

Dots, Dots, Everywhere Dots! Getting Ready for Dot Day 2013 #IMWAYR 9-9-2013




It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts. 

Sure I read a few books this week, but the only one I am talking about today on #IMWAYR is 
The Dot by Peter Reynolds. I read this book to every class and they all loved it. We had a small Dot Day Celebration last year but this year we are doing it up big time.
I met with our new art teacher who was very intrigued by the idea and immediately agreed to collaborate with me. She is teaching students the art technique of Pointillism. Every grade level will approach their dot projects a little differently. For example, three year old PK students will be adding dots to a Pete the Cat page. Older grades will create a in depth project consisting only of dots to create an image of an object or person. We liked the part of the story when Vashti's dots were featured in a school art gallery so our Fifth and Sixth graders will be in charge of setting up our very own "Dot" Gallery to display ECDC students' works of art.



Most kids found this dot fascinating. I think they might decide to try their arts skills at a "dot without making a dot"








Do The DOT!

Peter Reynolds shares The Dot book related activities

Be inspired by the gorgeous Dots at Celebri-Dot

This website features dots created by authors and illustrators. It is remarkable to see the originality and personality in each dot. These dots are good examples for students to see and begin to come up with their own creative dots. 


We really liked this Celebri-Dot  by Cynthia Lord. Her book Rules is one of our favorites. 

If you want to see more amazingly creative Celebri-Dots, click here
 

It's not too late to sign up for Dot Day 2013! You can sign up HERE


Check out my International Dot Day Pinterest Board
I have had a lot of fun collecting resources for Dot Day and saving them to my Pinterest Board. (love Pinterest almost as much as I love Twitter).






Pointillism

This beautiful example of Pointillism art "Touch the Sun" was created by Hungarian artist Sakura Chrno 

Pointillism: 15 striking examples of dot art 

I am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful dots created by our students but I needed to learn a little bit more about Pointillism too. This is what helped me a lot.  Click HERE

Mr. P Studio demonstrates Pointillism, Great idea for Dot Day using paint and Q-Tips.


Here is a very nice Pinterest Board "Pointillism for Kids"

Pointillism technique using pencils as stampers from Classic Play


Good-bye my Angel Boy!


This week, I plan on reading lots and lots of pictures books to my grandson who is moving away to Tennessee. The choice of books will be his to make. How will I ever survive without my little angel boy? My heart is broken. I will make sure to become his new school's best book donor and send a new book or two each month on his behalf. Hopefully that will make his transition a little easier and maybe he won't forget his BB (Best Buddy). 


11 comments:

  1. I am so excited to participate in Dot Day for the first time. Thanks for the ideas!

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  2. I am also intrigued by the art of pointillism - you might want to also explore Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel Pickles to Pittsburgh to provide further examples of this artistic style - I think Annie and the Old One may have also used a bit of this style. So sad to hear about your grandson moving away. I am sure he would visit often. :)

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    1. I did not realize Cloudy With a Chance Of Meatballs was Pointillism. I am trying to visually recall it. I remember lots of variations of oranges and reds. Yes, my heart is breaking.

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  4. Since I'm at a new school this year and the kids just came back last week, so I've decided to do up Dot Day next year when I can prepare for it ahead of time. I'm bookmarking this post--thank you for the great ideas, as always.

    As for your grandson--my husband's family is in Italy and mine are here in the US, so we use Skype often. It's great for things like a first lost tooth, or even reading stories. :-) Hang in there, Julee, and hugs to you!

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  5. Thank you Natalie. I have been worrying over his first lost tooth. He is almost at that age. I am about the most devoted grandmother you will ever see. I am trying so hard to be brave. I will teach him how to Skype. He is so smart that he will get it.

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  6. How absolutely beautiful is that peace of art- Touch the Sun! Thank you for sharing that and all the other connections... celebrating Dot Day on my end... :)

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    1. Thank you. Touch the sun is so gorgeous. I can hardly wait to share it with students.

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  7. We'll be doing a very simple Dot Day this year in my classroom... maybe a bigger event next year.

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    1. We ventured in a little deeper into the Dot this year. I collaborated with our art teacher. She is teaching pointillism and creating projects with students while I am reading the The Dot and doing Dot crafts in the library. It has been so much fun for everyone.

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