Happy Dot Day!

This past week and a half we've been celebrating Dot Day which is based on the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. We watched the story on BookFlix and then discussed ways that we could make our mark on the world in both big ways and in small ways.

I didn't know this, but the Disney Channel has been running short commercials or PSAs about making your mark. The kids had seen several of them and they gave us a great discussion about how kids can make a difference and make their mark. I found a playlist of them online, and there are some great stories.

After brainstorming as a class, each student filled out one of these "Make Your Mark" papers with something that they could do to make a difference. I told students that it could be something as small as helping your mom or dad set the table for dinner to as big as what they want to be when they grow up.

Our kids had lots of great ideas. Some of them made me tear up. A few kids wrote about going into the Army and fighting for our freedom and a few wrote that they want to be teachers. Several also chose service positions, such as police or firefighters, and some wrote about working in hospitals as doctors and nurses and radiologists. I love that even our youngest kids are thinking about these things and have dreams in mind for when they grow up. I also loved reading the ones that focused more on the present and wrote about being a good friend, or helping brothers and sisters or parents. There was also one that simply said, "I want to do the little things." I had talked to them about how even little things can make a big difference, even if they only make a difference to one person. I told them about how I rescued a kindergartner last week in the commons during the crazy time before school when we have K-12 students in there at the same time, and explained that doing that was an easy, simple thing, but that really helped out this little guy. I truly believe that the "little" things are some of the biggest things in life.

After filling out that paper, kids colored dots. Many of them chose to use the dot coloring page from the ColAR website and a few used plain paper. I bought some new watercolor color pencils that you dip in water to give it the effect of watercolor paints. Those were really fun!

Here's a video of just a few of our dots & ways that we hope to make a mark! The rest of these are on display in the hallway outside the library.