Rockin’ it on Dot Day!

If you have been following JTL Art classes for any amount of time, you’ll know that Dot Day is a tradition I and my smART partner Mrs. Shemansky have started with our kids, and we celebrate it every September 15th (or around then).  Last year we pulled out every crafty material we could find and let the kids go nuts making colorful and sculptural dots to hang in the halls.  That was great, but my gosh, by the end of the day we were SPENT!  

This year we are approaching the whole Dot Day celebration from a different angle.  We knew that the message of Dot Day, the most important part of the whole thing, is that every kid, no matter how young or old, can do an act of kindness that can spread through their class, school, or community.

Making paper dots last year was fun, but it may have fallen short of truly achieving that goal.  This year, we came at this with a whole new approach, and it’s awesome.

Kindness Rocks

If you haven’t heard, Kindness Rocks are a really cool idea that has spread from one woman outward to states and countries near and far.

The idea that our students could make rocks that they could hide in their school or community- with the intention of spreading kindness- was an awesome opportunity and logical connection to Dot Day.  A dot, a rock.  Close enough!

Part 2: The Rock Garden

Make it/take it is a great way to do these art projects, but it leaves nothing behind for us to admire and appreciate months or years later.  We want to remember this Dot Day.  That’s why we’re having kids make 2 rocks- one to take, one to leave.  The one they leave will be joined by rocks made by every other 6th grader and half of the 7th graders in a rock garden that we’ll be ‘planting’ outside JTL as soon as construction is done.

This is an example, not our finished work:

Stay tuned….

It’s a work in progress, and we’re going to keep at it.  We have lots of rocks to finish painting, and an installation to assemble.  Most of all, we look forward to hearing stories of where our kids hid their rocks, and who found new rocks!

And finally

If YOU find a rock, take a picture and send it to me (@jtlart on Instagram/Twitter or michelle-christopher@esasd.net)!  Also, post it to @PoconoKindnessRocks, and get in the game!!!