Host your own class art show while reading "The Dot"! ***BEST ACTIVITY OF THE YEAR***

In our reading series, my FAVORITE story comes from the book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. My sweet little firsties decided that we need to have a class art show.  The story is about a little girl who doesn't believe she can draw, but her teacher changes her mind.  :)
  At first, I thought- we are waaaay behind from all these snow days and there is just no way we would have time to do ANOTHER thing!  But then I thought about it some more....  and decided it was a fantastic idea.  I sent home a letter on Monday that we would have an art show during lunch on Friday in our classroom.  All family/friends/staff were invited.  One of my sweet darlings made this amazing sign that we ----->
 hung around the school.  The students would complete any type of art project on their own and bring it in on Friday.  Participation was optional- this was not for a grade- and EVERY one of my kids brought in a project!

We had entire families show up- even lots of Dads!  They were sooo excited to be invited to the classroom and celebrate their children's work.  The principal, vice-principal, office staff, and even an entire Kindergarten class came to view our work.  See that sweet lady in the middle of the picture (below)?  She just happens to teach K and she just started an awesome blog you should check out.  She is one of my bestest buddies AND she was teacher of the year last year!

To set it up:  I hung a closeline around the edges of the room and attached the artwork with clothespins.  A table was set up for sculptures and models as well.

I was blown away by how artistic my kiddos were!

Check out this Styrofoam sulpture!  Ewww and my old center management board in the background.  If you haven't converted to The Daily Five yet, please do yourself a favor and check it out!

Oh my gosh ya'll.  This student made Mario out of modeling clay and some of the other characters- completely by himself!  Love it!

  I also had a "teacher table" to display my artwork and show the kids that teachers have hobbies, too!   

Don't judge my library.  It was my first year teaching.  It's now in labeled bins. :) 

One of my favorite things was our class created "Jackson Pollock" art on the whiteboard.  If you go to Jackson Pollock's website, you can create your own interactive class masterpiece in just a few clicks!  It is super fun and the kids love it.

Again, this is something that the kids do at home and just bring to school.  We had lunch in the classroom and people came to view the work.  This took barely any class time, but it helped me connect with parents and motivate kids.  I hope you will give it a try this year!  Also, if 'The Dot' isn't in your reading series, you can score your own copy on Amazon for less than $5, or go check it out at your local library.  Enjoy!

On a side note, check out this contest from Google:  Welcome to Doodle 4 Google, a competition where we invite K-12 students to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google’s homepage logo for millions to see. At Google, we believe that dreaming about future possibilities leads to tomorrow’s leaders and inventors, so this year we're inviting U.S. kids to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, "What I’d like to do someday…"

Whether students want to find a cure for cancer or take a trip to the moon, it all starts with art supplies and some 8.5" x 11" paper. And, one lucky student artist will take home a $15,000 college scholarship and $25,000 technology grant for their school, among many other prizes.  Registration ends March 2nd, so get your students entered today!

PS- Sorry to those that have already covered this story.  We are way behind because of all the snow, and I have been craaaaaaazy busy with graduate work lately.