Dot Day...Make Your Mark!

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Today we celebrated International Dot Day! We read the story, "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds, and learned about the theme of the book. The main character, Vashti, said she couldn't draw, so she just put a dot on her paper. The teacher framed it and encouraged her. So, she started to draw a lot and began to believe in herself too. Together, we can make a large mark on the world! After reading the book, the students decorated dots and used the app called colAR Mix to make their 2D dots come alive (3D)! Then they reflected on their creativity and ways they could make a difference in our class, school, and world. We would also like to make an impact in some area as a class. In the past, my students have adopted a manatee in Florida, made periodic visits to a retirement community, sent a letter to a child with cancer, sent him a cookie bouquet, and even wrote to the president to tell him what we are passionate about. After recess, we were able to find out how the author came up with the idea to write "The Dot" by watching a video he created. He said that it started out as a mistake in his notebook. Great things can occur from mistakes too. He spoke about using creativity in other areas of learning. So, we used creativity to drive our thoughts as we made our own subtraction story problems. I posted three examples below too. This project really extended the students' thinking. Though they are second graders, it's never too early for them to make an impact in other peoples' lives!

Our First Week

Our first week of school went well!  I must say that the students and I are very excited to start second grade. :) They come up with the cutest sayings!
We are starting a new writing program that I am eager to dig into. It's called The Units of Study by Lucy Calkins.  For this weekend, the students were given an assignment to take their composition notebook home and create a personalized writer's notebook.  They will personalize it by decorating the cover with pictures or items that reflect who they are as a person. We looked at many examples online, and I can't wait to share their creativity with you next week. The notebook will be used as a place to capture all of their thoughts.  If they'd like to, they can take it with them wherever they go.  I will be decorating mine this weekend too.  I hope to capture a lot of the students' sweet sayings.
What inspires you to write? Please make a comment below.

Our Silly Picture

Room Design

This year I was able to be flexible in designing my room.  Usually we have a BIG theme, but this year we are focusing on community partners.  Therefore, I got my inspiration from another blog, and thought I'd focus on the color scheme of teal, purple, and green.  I went to Teachers Pay Teachers to find some of my goodies too.  The Polka-Dotted Birthday Cupcakes, and the cute Word Wall letters were all free!!!  I created the iHelp Chart using the iPad.  I started with iChalk to create the boxes and then went to PhotoGridPro to add the picture overlay and the text.  After that, I saved it to photos and uploaded it to BlockPoster to create a larger size.  Voila!  All I have to do now, is create all the student names for the iHelp Chart.  I love the fun, teal boa that I purchased from Hobby Lobby.  It ties all the colors together nicely.  The Daily 5 Math Headers were created by me, (Check it out here), and tried out for a year.  I LOVE the rotations, because it allows for more time to work with individuals and in small groups.  We usually have time for two math rotations a day.  The students keep track, so they can choose different rotations the next day.  The "keeping track" part is as simple as recording what they have done already in their math notebook.  I try to eliminate as much busy work as I can.  One last place I received a lot of my inspiration from was Pinterest.  Surprise, surprise.  Anyway, I have this obsession with patterned duct tape.  What better way to use it than to create a "Check Out" station?  I reaallly wanted to create it for the kiddos that leave for Specials and don't verbally tell me.  The other idea I got from Pinterest was the I CAN and D5 Math headings.  I found the teal paper plates from Dollar General.  Hopefully, I will be able to keep this color scheme for a few years, as the boards are covered with material.  I'd love to hear what you think!