The Dot

Description: As a class we listened to the story "The Dot" and created out own dots. It was a create activity to show students they can achieve anything as long as they try. The story was a perfect example of what it feels like being a teacher and seeing some of your students unsure of their work or not confident in themselves. Instead, she praised the student and framed her work to make her feel special. This motivated the student to create more art work that revolved around The Dot and she became extremely confident and proud of her work. I thought it was really sweet at the end of the book when the student who created the dot passed on the teachings from her teacher to inspire another young student to be creative. 

Extension Activity: Have the students create a class mural. I would start reading "The Dot" to students and talking about the book and what they learned from it. Then, get into the project. I will start off by making a small dot in the middle of the paper, so we don't have any arguments about who gets to draw the first dot. Then, students will be able to use their own art materials and create different dot art around the center dot and create something that is unique to their own class. After the mural is complete, I will hang it up outside of the classroom on our class art wall and share a small description of what "The Dot" is and different student responses. After they finish the mural, I would like to reflect on what they created and what was the most interesting or dun part about creating a piece of art with your classmates, to get them thinking about the bigger picture and not just the fact they are drawing and coloring with their friends. 

*I got this extension activity and picture from a classroom, and I was not able to be in class the day of this activity!