Library on the Hill: Dot Day (Day One!)

Today we started our Dot Day celebration! Actually, we started last week by reading the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. The Dot is a book about creativity, trying new things, and making your mark!

Last week, we colored dots and played with the ColAR app on the iPads to make our dots turn into fun spheres and other things.

I loved this dot made by a 3rd grader. Her class read the story on 9/11 and she made her dot to help everyone remember. So sweet, and such a showing of empathy.

Today we had our first Skype session with Mrs. Kauten's group of kindergarteners and Mrs. Powell's group of first graders. We talked with Jennie Ford's kindergarteners in Pocahontas, Iowa. It was a little crazy with so many kids, but we managed! We showed off some dots that the kids made during art class this week.

Photo credit Kendra Hanzlik (@khanzlik)

Next, we met with Cristol Kapp's 4th graders from Chatanooga, TN. It was fun to talk about our time zone differences and to hear their Southern accents. We talked a little bit about our cities, but our time got cut short. We will have to try to connect again. Our students had a lot of questions about their lives in Tennessee.

Next, Mrs. Ward's 2nd grade classes met with Esther Uribe's class from Austin, Texas. We took turns reading from Ish by Peter H. Reynolds and talked about it inbetween. This was such a great learning experience for our students, and they really loved it! How fun to share books across states!

Photo credit Kendra Hanzlik (@khanzlik)

Next, Mrs. Bird's 4th grade class met with Ms. Bery's class in Massachusetts. Again, we talked a bit about our towns and schools. We found out their town is so small they don't have stop lights! The kids loved hearing about the differences and similarities between our two schools. We also shared some bookmarks that we made that we are going to send to them, and they'll send us some back. how fun!

Next Mrs. Hilgenkamp's kindergarten students met with Carol Scrimgeour's class in Vermont. The kindergarteners loved sharing a little about where we live. We compared maps with the students out in Vermont and talked about how long it would take to get there. We also shared some of our dot clothing we were wearing and listened to the Dot Song.

And lastly, Mrs. Mehman's 3rd graders Skyped with Mr. Traxson's class in Inman, Kansas. We made a collaborative dot, where our students would make a mark on our dot, then one of their students would copy it onto their own dot. Then they would make a mark, and we'd copy it. It was so fun to see the creativity and fun we had!