Dedham Public Schools Celebrate Dot Day

Students at the Dedham elementary schools celebrated Dot Day around September 15th. The Dot, written by Dedham’s very own Peter Reynolds is famous around the world. Dot Day was celebrated in over 82 countries by over 1 million students. It is a global celebration of creativity and courage. The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “mark her mark.” She begins with a small dot on a piece of paper, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing.

At the Oakdale School, students and staff were encouraged to wear dots and “make their mark” on September 15th. The entire week in the library, students listened to The Dot and then participated in dot-inspired activities. These activities included, working on a large dot with a buddy, making a dot trading card that we will exchange with a school in Newton, creating a picture frame dot, and turning a dot into something else (an object, animal, person, etc.). The students had a lot of fun working on these and showcasing their creativity.

Avery School students and staff also wore their dots to school on September 15th. Each grade participated in Dot Day in their own way. During library time 1st graders contributed to a class dot. 2nd graders created digital dots on the iPads using Doodle Buddy. 3rd graders made “buddy dots” by creating a paper dot, cutting it in half, and reassembling a dot with 2 unique halves. Students in grade 4 made a dot and changed it into a 3D form with the colAR Mix app. Students in 5th grade published statements about how they will “make a mark” this year.

The Greenlodge School kicked off a new Makerspace area in the Library Media Center to celebrate Dot Day. All students in the school are preparing a customized Dot Necklace for an upcoming assembly on How to Make your Mark.

At the Riverdale School all students read The Dot and created many beautiful dots. The 1st graders made dots using coffee filters and the 2nd graders made “buddy dots” to be shared with students at schools in Florida and Georgia. The 3rd graders created dots using Microsoft Paint and the 4th graders animated dots by using ABCya! Animate. Finally, the 5th graders made Dot Day trading cards that were sent to students at a school in Carlisle, Ma. Dedham students then received trading cards from these students.

Dot Day is a wonderful way to start the school year because it encourages students to think about how they want to “make their mark” during this school year.