On September 15th we celebrated International Dot Day!
In addition to displays throughout the school, we also encouraged students to wear dot-themed clothing! Even our staff participated!!
Each grade created a different dot themed project:
Kindergarten: Only One You Circle Fish-
We read the book "Only One You" by Linda Krantz
Using a black oil pastel, students drew a large circle on their paper, and then used LINE and SHAPE to create PATTERN. Then, we used watercolor paint to add color! Students really enjoyed this project.
First Grade: Kandinsky Snails-
Students were inspired by the circle art of Wassily Kandinsky
We used circles and lines to create the snail's shell, and colored them with watercolor paint. Then, students drew the body, colored it with crayon, and cut and glued it together. Then came the best part- googly eyes and antennae! (Well, technically they are 'tentacles' ;) The students had a great time with this project!!
Second Grade: Positive and Negative Dots-
Third Grade: Kandinsky Concentric Circles-
Students looked at the concentric circle art of Wassily Kandinsky. First, we discussed mixing primary colors to make secondary colors. Students chose two primary colors to mix and make a secondary color and painted a white square and let it dry. The next week, they chose a primary colored construction paper square, folded it in half and drew 5 curved lines on the folded edge. We called them 'rainbow' or 'taco' lines!
Then, they did the same thing to their painted paper, and cut both of the papers. Then they ended up with concentric circles! They traded colors with other students at their table group and glued different circles in different sizes onto a black paper. Finally, they added oil pastel circles, lines, and shapes to finish these awesome layered concentric circle designs!
Fourth Grade: Spheres in Space-
I found this great lesson on
http://goartsmarties.blogspot.com/2014/05/gr-3-spheres-in-space.html and thought I would give it a try with my 4th graders. It was a little tricky, but the end results were very nice! And I think it really helped students to understand the concept of SPACE and Vanishing Point.
Fifth Grade: Jen Stark layered paper sculptures-
This is one of my FAVORITE projects! We looked at the art of Jen Stark
http://www.jenstark.com/
and discussed the difference between 2-D and 3-D, how she plays with the idea of infinity as well as how we can use color groups to create pattern and interest in our work.
Students were able to decide if they wanted to create a 2-D or 3-D layered paper sculpture. I suggested they use a circle shape, but if they wanted to explore an organic shape or a different geometric shape they could totally do that. The 2-D dots were fairly simple- You start with a small circle (or other shape) and then glue it on to your next color. Then you cut around your shape and leave a border. You continue until your dot (or other shape) gets as big as you can make it! See steps below:
For the 3-D dots, students started with a black square. Then, they decided on a color group and gathered colored squares. Next, they folded their first color in half, and on the folded edge they drew half of a circle/shape and cut it out. For the next layer, they folded the paper and lined it up with the previous layer. Then they cut out a slightly larger circle/shape. They continued this process until they ran out of room.
While the 3-D version was a bit trickier to start off with, they eventually "got it" and their end results were fantastic!!!
At the end of the day we gathered in the gym to sing "The Dot Song" by Emily Arrow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_I43cxDQ-o
Finally, the entire school collaborated on a bottle cap dot mural! It still needs the finishing touches, but I'm loving how it looks so far!!
We truly love celebrating Dot Day at our school! We are so thankful for the Dot Trilogy of books, and to Peter H. Reynolds, Terry Shay, Fablevision Studios, The Reynolds Center for Teaching Learning and Creativity, and many other creative thinkers and supporters of Dot Day! It was a successful day and we can't wait to celebrate again next year!!
http://www.peterhreynolds.com/
http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/
Thank you and have a colorful day!
~Mrs. Wagner
