Friday, September 13, 2013

Quilting our Way to International Dot Day at USA

International Dot Day, a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration, began when teacher Terry Shay introduced his classroom to Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot on September 15, 2009.
The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark”. What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing, which has gone on to inspire countless children and adults around the globe.
Teachers and future teachers in my five graduate & undergraduate art education classes in the College of Education at the University of South Alabama (USA) celebrated creativity, courage, and collaboration as they "made their mark" for International Dot Day
We used 81/2 X 81/2 squares of white copy paper and crayons to "make a mark and see where it takes us"...each square was crumpled and smoothed out multiple times to break down the stiffness of the paper and crayon, creating a fabric-like texture. Of course each artist "signed it!" We then used a hole puncher and yarn to tie the pieces from each artist, and five classes together into our "Dot Quilt." A binding experience!





Peter Reynolds Interview: 

Celebrating 10 years of 'The Dot' with Dedham, Mass. Author

http://www.necn.com/09/13/13/Celebrating-10-years-of-The-Dot-with-Ded/landing_features.html?blockID=852325

Thursday, September 5, 2013