International Dot Day and Read to Self

For the past week we have been learning about 1 of our Daily 5 components, Read to Self. We created an anchor chart (a chart that goes on our wall to remind us of what we talked about) with our 5 expectations which are: 

1. Read the whole time (stretch arms out while saying "whole time")
2. Stay in 1 spot (use super glue) 
3. Read quietly (shhhh...) 
4. Get started quickly (swing arms like you're walking fast) 
5. Build stamina (stack hands alternately)  

Ask your child what stamina is and how it helps us with reading. :-) Have your child show you our actions to go with each expectation (see orange above) 

We also took part in International Dot Day this week which is a celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration. You can read more about it here We read Peter H. Reynold's book, The Dot to help us understand just how important it is to have courage and to make our mark in the world. You can watch the book by clicking on this link. You can also listen to the song by clicking here.

We did a couple of activities this week. First we all colored a dot in our own creative way.You can see an example on the desk in the picture to the right. We then used the free app called, Quiver to make our images come to life in 3D. Look carefully on the picture at the iPad and the image popping out. Your child will be bringing their dot home this week if you want to try it at home. You can also go to the Quiver website to download other coloring sheets that utilize Augmented Reality to pop out. It's amazing and the kids were in awe.

We also created our own dot artwork but instead of using paper and pencils, we used our iPads and the wonderful drawing app called, Drawing Pad to create digital dot pictures. Here a just a few pieces of our artwork. I'll be working to get the other pieces off the iPads next week to share with you. Kiddos leared how to navigate the app, switch between tools, and how to save their images onto their camera roll.

After we were finished, we shared some of our creations with Mrs. Simmons class in Ohio via Skype. They also took part in Int'l Dot Day and wrote their own rendition of Ten Black Dots. We ended up with a few tech glitches for our connection (they could hear us, but we couldn't hear them) so we improvised and used "sign language" to share our learning in addition to utilizing the instant chat feature. It was still a great experience and they are going to send us a copy of their book in the mail (snail mail that is) so we can enjoy firsthand ourselves!