International Dot Day

On Monday we celebrated International Dot Day.  We had a great time!   We started the day by changing into our dot day t-shirts.  Just to get into the mood.  The front of the shirt has the students name in a colored dot.  Then on the back it says, International Dot Day with the date, 2T (it has each of the students names on a colored dot) and How will you make your mark?  

Then we watched the interactive story, The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds.  You have to buy it and it was not cheap but the kids liked it.  There are discussion questions you can have the students answer or write about.  We can also listen to the author explain how he gets his ideas for writing.  He is very inspirational and the kids really understand him.

Then the kids put their ideas of how to make their mark on the world on the backs of these cards.  Then we put the cards in a tub so the kids will be able to pick one out when they need a little push.

Then we discussed what is the one mark they would like to make on the world.  Really think about what they like to do and how they can make the world a better place.  Then they used the iPads to type up their plans and draw a picture to support it.  Some of their ideas are below.  Then we used a program called present.me (you can find it here) to show the student work on one side of the screen and then the students telling how they will make their mark.  It turned out really neat and I would do it again for another project this year. (I would post it but I am not sure that putting my kids on here is the best idea.)

The last project we did was a collaborative dot created on HUGE paper.  This was one of the creations.  They turned out really well and now we need to find a place to hang them.  The kids made sure they signed their work just the like Vashti in the book, The Dot.  Their work was amazing!

Class pet? I think not.

During the first weeks of school my new class listened to multiple stories about my favorite little sidekick, Solomon.  He is just about the funniest little guy I have ever seen.  This begging you see below?  That is becoming a regular occurrence.  He is a total showman!

Since the kids kept asking about me bringing Solomon to school I thought they should try to convince me whether or not we should have a class pet.  They gave me multiple reasons why we should so I came up with the next be thing.  Let me introduce.......ROOKIE!

Cute right?  He travels in the little cage Solomon fit in when he was a whopping 4 pounds. The students have a journal with instructions to complete during their weekend with Rookie.

So far one student took Rookie home and came back with everything intact.  The kids loved what she shared.  They went to a soccer match and for ice cream.  Now the kids can't wait to see who takes him home on Friday.

This is my first big map project for our mapping unit.  We have been learning about important parts of the map like a key, compass, title and color.  This student included a scale for depth.  I loved it!  This happens to be a very neat example of a map.  I am working hard to get my students to have more pride in their work so it will be a bit neater and easier to read.  

The kids finished these treasure maps up with some pirates but that is for another day!