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!