3D Dots - What better way to celebrate Dot Day

I have been researching possible projects to extend our Dot Day lessons (You can read about Dot Day here!) with my students, and as always, my focus remains on all things digital.  During my research, these pictures caught my eye.

I wanted to know more!  I followed the trail back to an app called colAR Mix.  This mobile app begins with coloring pages from the colAR App website.  

I was so excited to show students the YouTube video explaining how to create an animated coloring sheet. 

Once students saw the video they couldn't wait to create 3D pictures too!   I gave each of them the specially created Dot Day coloring page from the colAR App website.  Once they colored their pages, they used the iPads (I had already downloaded the free colAR Mix app) to watch their drawing come to life!!  Twirling, spinning, multiplying and turning into 3D objects!  They investigated the buttons within the app to find all the possibilities!

Here are just a few examples!

 

These were the BEST DOTS EVER!!!  A wonderful celebration of creativity!

5th Graders Make Their Mark Using Google Sites

The 5th graders are already making their mark on the world using Google Sites.  Using several really awesome digital tools, students are making their marks inside the library and outside the library walls too.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, students used Recite This to create posters about how they wanted to impact their world this year.  This week, we added their posters to their Google Sites Digital Portfolio.  They loved making the posters, so sharing it with the world seems to add to it's value.

It's That Time Again.....Time to Remind Students How to Find Books on Our Shelves

At the beginning of every year, I review with our students the steps they need to remember as they look for a book on our library shelves.  I am reminded just how many steps and skills the student need in order to navigate any library!  It is in this locating that students have to put all their skills together - search terms (which transfers to Google searches!), alphabetizing, number order, fiction, nonfiction, call numbers, and shelf organization, just to name a few.  Our greatest tool is our library catalog Destiny Quest, a perfectly named database because students really are on a quest to find their books.  At the end of the quest, they have a wonderful book to read.

I thought I would share a bit of this lesson to demonstrate!

  

Students Make Their Mark... On Each Other, The World, and Me

With International Dot Day coming, we have been talking about the uniqueness of our own marks! (Find out more about Dot Day here!)   It seemed like the perfect time to show students a new digital tool I recently learned about called ReciteThis!  It is very easy to use by typing in what you want to quote and then picking the template from the bottom of the page.  

Once you have your quote, the site gives you the option to share it through a variety of social networks and email.  You can also download the image right to your computer, which is what we did for this project.  I am trying to have students gather their digital work, in the hopes of creating student digital portfolios!  Stay tuned for that, but for now, these posters were unique, a reflection of their own creative self and the mark they leave on others!!  Happy Dot Day!

I was inspired by how the students chose to "make their mark" this year.  

We Are Making Our Mark In Celebration Of Dot Day

It's a new school year and the perfect time to celebrate Dot Day.  What is Dot Day you may ask?  Dot Day is on September 15th, which is when The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds was first published in 2003.  On this day, Peter challenges people all over the world to "make your own mark and see where it takes you." To find out more visit Peter's website -  International Dot Day Website.

We began by reading the book and watching the video on YouTube  http://youtu.be/t5mGeR4AQdM    

After we brainstormed the themes of this very simple but powerful book.   The first and second graders celebrated their creativity by designing their own dots in TuxPaint, our "go to" draw program for students.  We were able to decorate our for Dot Day with their beautiful art work!!