We kicked off the school year by making our own dots. Classes began by reading the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. Each grade level, preschool through fifth grade had to work within a certain color family. Students could use crayons, colored pencils, markers, and paint to create their dot creations. I plan on making a mural on the wall with all of the various dots. First grade also had a second lesson where they got to make dot universes.
We all enjoyed singing and dancing to the "Dot Song" music by Emily Arrow. Students were encouraged to "make their mark and make it matter." We discussed how this not only applied to art but other areas as well. The message was to start by trying and keep trying to get better. The older classes also talked about a deeper meaning of how each person can make a mark good or not so good on this world. Helping others and being the best you that you can be in life was decided to be the right choice. I then left them with a parting question, what kind of mark are you going to make today?