Our Pinteresting Project!

The fifth grade students proved to be the perfect group for my "Pinteresting" Dot Day project! I featured the pin that inspired our work in our display cabinet with the finished projects.


Our Pinspiration

And here is how we did it using colored construction paper cut into 1-inch strips, glue sticks, extra colored paper, 9x12-inch hardboard panels, and lots of ModPodge! The students worked in groups of 4-5 students, so it was a great exercise in collaboration and teamwork as well as creativity.

 

 

 

 

And here are some of the results!

 



 

These projects are getting rave reviews in the display case across from the main office of the school!

 

 

Dot Day Zentangles

This project took a little longer to complete than I had originally planned, but I love the way it turned out! I like to begin the seventh grade year with a unit about Zentangles. Every year is a little different, but for the most part, this meditative drawing activity makes for a calm, focused art period on Friday afternoons, which is when I see my seventh grade students. This year, after the traditional four-inch square Zentangles were completed, I pulled out a box of old CDs and DVDs (courtesy of our computer lab) and we made Dot Day Zentangles.




First, the students created a round Zentangle, the same size as the CD or DVD.

 

A simplified version of the Zentangle was then drawn on the shiny side
of the disk using colored permanent markers.

 

 

We used Mod Podge to glue the paper to the disk.
A white twist tie was sandwiched between the layers for hanging the finished work.

 

 

 

The students also had the option of glazing the paper with the Mod Podge
to create a shiny surface and protect the paper drawing.

 

 

Now that most of the projects are finished, the last step will be using fishing line to hang the pieces in the window to catch and reflect the sunlight. Should be quite lovely!

 



Dot Day Success Stories!

September 15, International Dot Day, has become International Dot Month for my classroom! I only see each group of students once a week and I have a tendency to start with a "small" idea that seems to take on a life of its own once the students get started. Here are just a few photos from our finished projects. We had a few schedule changes, so not every grade level is represented yet, but we're working on it!

Many first graders had never used oil pastels before, so this was a lesson in using them with pan tempera paints. The fun was in seeing their pleasure at realizing that the tempera paint could not cover up the oil pastel work....new vocabulary word...resist!

I love the expression on this face!

The second graders created "tie dye" backgrounds for our Dot Day bulletin board using super-sized coffee filters. This was a team project, so each student also made a "personal size" dot to take home using standard filters. Great fun!

This third graders have been working on "long and tall" art, so their groups worked together to make long or tall collage Dot Day projects using a variety of art materials and full access to our collage box of abandoned, unclaimed artwork from the previous year. It was like being on a treasure hunt as each group looked for the perfect bits to add to their creations!

 



   

The sixth grade students worked in teams using iPads to photograph dots found in the art room. Once they had created their album of dots, they used their best photos in the PicCollage app to complete the project.

 

 Our middle school art club, known as Muse Club because of our affiliation with Dayton's Muse Machine, created some Dot Day paintings at our September club meeting.

So, all in all, September has been a month filled with creativity and collaboration...thanks to the inspiration provided by Peter Reynolds and his little book, "The Dot"!
                                             

Dot Day with iPads

Although I've used "The Dot" in past years as an introduction to first grade art at the beginning of the year, this year was the first time I heard about International Dot Day. Since the official day was on a Sunday this year, and since I also only see my art students one day each week, I decided to just run with it and make September our "Dot Month" in the art room.

Now that I have nine iPads for use in the art room, I thought it would be fun to introduce them to my sixth graders right away with this simple group Dot Day project.











After sharing the book with the class, groups of four or five students spent the rest of the class period photographing examples of dots and dot shapes in the art room and using their images to create a photo collage using the PicCollage app.

It took a second art period for most groups to perfect their collages, adding backgrounds, borders, stickers, and text.




This was an easy introduction to using iPads in the art room for my students. Since many of them were already familiar with iPads, iPhones, and other similar technology, the students were able to help one another with using the camera, creating albums for saving photos, and making the most of the PicCollage app.

 

 We will be printing out the collages tomorrow and adding them to a Dot Day bulletin board background that was created by my second grade students. I'll post photos of that later this week!