Stories inspired by the Quiver app for International Dot Day

My Grade 1-3 classes have thoroughly enjoyed being part of a team blog doing activities together for International Dot Day on the 15th September 2018. The lesson I am going to describe now is possibly the last activity we'll do for Dot Day seeing that today is already the 13th September! Dot Day is based on the inspiring children's book written by Peter Reynolds. You can find it on YouTube here.

On our collaborative team blog the Australian classes formed themselves into teams. Each team wrote some words on dots and challenged us to make a story with the words. They called this activity 'Connect the Dots'.  Here is one of the Australian teams:

Team Shark
pen, splash, China, shark, potato

This is what today's activity sets out to do - create those stories. However, in a previous lesson we used the wonderful AR app called Quiver and those 3D balls that my class loved viewing through the app led to the inspiration for the following stories.

The task:

• Using the provided world map (which is royalty free map) write a quick imaginative story about the journey of your dot as it comes alive and leaves the classroom taking you with it.
• Make sure you use the words from your assigned Australian team. Underline or colour the words that they ask you to use.

The result

I was really pleased with the outome. The class wrote some imaginative stories showing the dots travels, I have embedded them below using PowerPoint online.

Write some amusing 'dotty' rhymes for International Dot Day with grade 3

We are loving our Dot Day activities in preparation for International Dot Day on 15th September. We love being part of the collaborative Dot Day project with three other countries (see http://dotday.edublogs.org/)

We had a fun, dotty lesson recently that involved grade 3. What happened is… the Grade 3’s wrote some DOTTY RHYMES!  Let’s say it another way - amusing nonsensical rhymes!

This is how Google defines 'dotty':

This is what happened in the lesson.

In a previous lesson the grade 1s listened to the Dot Day story by Peter Reynolds found on this page. They each had to think of two or three words, which I then wrote lightly in pencil on their coloured dots and they traced over the writing in khoki pen.

The Grade 3s then chose one of these coloured dots and created a dotty rhyme from the two or three words on the dot.   They wrote their dotty rhymes in PowerPoint. You’ll see, in the example below, that the two or three words on the dots they chose are underlined in each dotty word.

Here are the dotty words:

What I did after they wrote their rhymes is I copied and pasted them all into one PowerPoint. PowerPoint is great for this because it allows you to keep the original formatting. I then uploaded the PowerPoint file to Microsoft OneDrive where it became a PowerPoint Online document. PowerPoint Online can be embedded into a blog or website so it was easy to embed into this post.

Here are the dotty rhymes.

Dot Day fun with the Quiver App in Grades 1, 2 and 3

Do you know the Quiver app? It is a 3D colouring-in application based on augmented reality technology. It is available on both the Apple and the Android store. My Grade 1-3 classes have had a lot of fun with this app as part of our International Dot Day Global connection via a collaborative blog with three classes in Australia, the United States and Canada. QuiverVision has partnered with Dot Day, so it is added as an activity on our 'International Dot Day project' blog.

My Grade 1 lesson using Quiver
We used Quiver in conjunction with Paint 3D. My Grade 1s created colourful dots on our Windows 10 computers and watched them come alive. My students were amazed to see what they saw! I loved the shouts of excitement

This is what happened in our lesson.

• I downloaded and imported the Dot Page from the Quiver site and converted it into a JPG image. (This sheet is also available for download from our International Dot Day project blog).
• The students imported this image into Paint 3D. It was the first time that we had used Paint 3D so that was a fun experience as well. In this instance we used it as a 2D application.
• The students coloured in their dots using Paint 3D.
• We then looked at them using the Quiver app on my cell phone.

Importing the Quiver dot image into Paint 3D

Viewing the dot on the computer screen through the Quiver app.

The dots come to life!

The brief video below shows the ball 'quivering'.

When using the selfie mode on the app, the ball became small. I was amused at the way some of the grade 1s tried to get the ball into their mouths!

Our Grade 2 and 3 lesson using Quiver
In this lesson I printed the downloaded Quiver Dot Day PDFs and we coloured them in during our computer lesson. We then used the Quiver app to make the dots come alive. The Grade 2s and 3s hadn’t used Quiver yet and they were very excited about their dots that turning into 3D balls. Here are some pictures with their comments:

This is amazing!	The ball keeps growing!	It is bigger than my head
I wonder if this is a chocolate	This is such fun	I have got to get this in my mouth

Here is a video I found on Vimeo showing Tina Schmidt's class colouring in Quiver dots and then using the app to create 3D images. This will show you more or less what my class experienced.

Celebrating Dot Day 2014 from Tina Schmidt on Vimeo.

How to use the Quiver app for educational purposes
The Quiver website has a number of different drawings that can be downloaded and transformed into 3D drawings for different subjects. I thought I would use the photos of my students with their 3D dot day balls in one of the following ways:

• as a story prompt for a quick imaginative story about a dot that came alive. 
• for a guided poetry-writing activity.
• as a mapping adventure showing the journey of the ball as it leaves the classroom.
• to create a story by selecting from a number of headings such as:
  "The princess's magic ball''
  "A trip to China with a magic ball'
  "Travelling in a hot balloon''
  "The day my team won the soccer match"
  'Flying around with my magic ball"
  ...along with any other headings that the class suggests

Could you think of any further ideas? 

Our Grade 3 'What happens next?' stories

Can you add an ending to any of our stories?

My Grade 3 class has been having such a lot of fun with prepare preparing for International Dot Day.which is on the 15th September 2018. What has made it an extra amount of fun is that we are part of a team blog with classes 3 other countries - Australia Canada and the United States and we are all doing fun writing and other activities together, connected related to Dot Day.

If you take a peek at our collaborative blog you will see that one of the activities is Connect the Dot stories. My Grade 3 class has done a variation of this activity and we have called it 'What happens next?'

This is how we went about the lesson.

• We all listened to Peter Reynolds reading the DOT STORY (we unfortunately do not have the book yet).As we listened to the story we wrote down words that had caught our attention during the reading of the story, on a piece of paper.
• After that we chose 3 or 4 of our words, plus we added 2 random words that were not in the story, and we swapped papers.
• Whoever received the new set of words needed to write a story using those words. The story needed to end with 'What happens next'.
• We did this lesson using a collaborative Google slides presentation. We used two slides from the Slides Carnival free template Eglamour because the template contained two lovely dot slides.

We had fun reading each other's stories. However we did not have time to write about what happens next. Can you help us? If you would like to help us just add the the name of the story in the comment ox along with another few sentences. We would love that!

Here are our stories:

 

My Grade 1 class asks - How will you make YOUR mark on International Dot Day?

Dot Day is around the corner...15th September-ish! I have already started the fun in my classes. My Grade 1 students discovered a way to make their mark on International Dot Day on the 15th September and they challenge you to come up with your ideas for making your mark!

Let's tell you about our lesson. 

My first plan was to introduce the class to Dot Day, and to get them listening to the story, The Dot,  via YouTube (as we unfortunately don't own the book yet). The class loved the story. In this particular lesson I got them listening to the author Peter Reynolds reading his story 'The Dot'. I wanted them to see Peter so that we could bring into the discussion the fact that he has also made his mark by writing such an inspiring book!


The idea behind the story, is to encourage students to discover their talents and energy, and use these to help make the world a better place. After listening we discussed how we could make our mark on the 15th September. Most of them thought of ideas revolving around their families, which is a great start.

I used and adapted the template created by Di Benner called 'About Me Google Slide Activity'. which comes from her wonderful page of Emoji links http://bit.ly/2M6Dhmc.

Since this was an ICT lesson we focused on the following skills:

• Working collaboratively on a Google slide presentation.
• Changing font
• Adding circles and writing in them
• Using online names
• Adding colour to a slide 

We'd love to know how you'll make your mark! Head over to the blog 'International Dot Day project' http://dotday.edublogs.org/ for some more Dot Day challenges.

International Dot Day 15th September - get your classes involved in this fun learning event

Have you heard of International Dot Day? Recently I have been researching it, and honestly, my eyes got bigger and bigger as I flipped through the Internet. It is HUGE around the world. International Dot Day is simple: “Start with a dot and see where it will take you,”  It is an encouragement to children to make their mark in their community. I love this positive approach Children all over the world celebrate International Dot Day. If you are from South Africa and you are reading this...think about joining in this fun event. Dot Day takes place every year round about 15th September 2018 http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/.

What is Dot Day all about?

The author Peter Reynolds wrote this delightful book which has become famous and is enjoyed by children all around the world. The story is about a young student who doesn’t think she can draw. Her teacher tells her to just make a mark which she does with rather a bad attitude. She makes a dot. The teacher asks her to sign it, which she does and the next week she finds the dot framed in a lovely gold frame. This inspires the young girl and it marks the beginning of her journey of self discovery and sharing. She starts to inspire others and makes her mark in her community. The message of this book is GREAT - for both student and teacher. Terry Shay introduced his classroom to Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot on September 15, 2009, and that marks the beginning of the first International Dot Day.

I enjoyed watching this video of Peter Reynolds reading his book on YouTube.

Why should we celebrate Dot Day?

This is a real fun way to encourage our learners to 'make their mark' on the world along with a huge community of other students around the world. I love the positiveness of this project. The idea is to encourage students to discover their talents and energy, and use these to help make the world a better place.

How did I get involved?
Well, I was given a very exciting opportunity to link up with a Quad blog along with three international blogging greats - Kathleen Morris from Australia, Linda Yollis from the USA and Rebecca Versteeg from Canada. Our quad blog, set up by Kathleen,  is called 'International Dot Day Project - four classes making their mark'. There are some lovely ideas on the blog:
 http://bit.ly/2oLCxW2. 

Getting started with Dot Day

If you would like to get started with Dot Day, head over to  http://www.thedotclub.org/ and sign up. It is all free. I signed up at http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/register and downloaded Peter Reynold's handbook which has loads of ideas in it:
https://www.reynoldstlc.org/international-dot-day-handbook

Ideas for Dot Day

Since I am the ICT teacher at my school, my interest is in digital expressions of Dot Day.  Here is what I came across in my Internet search.

1. Display your school Dot Day activities on a Thinglink/
You would need to head over to 'A Thinglink Synopsis of International Dot Day' on the Tech tips blog http://bit.ly/2wNPKkG to see how effective a Thinglink can be for displaying the work of a number of classes in a school.. For the record, a ThingLink is a web tool that allows users to tag images and add links, videos, text, notes and many more. The tagging is simple and easy to use.

2. Connect on Skype or Google Hangout
This is a great idea. Why not connect with other classes via Skype or Google Hangout and read The Dot together or share your ideas. If this appeals to you, head over to a Google Doc titled 'International Dot Day Connections' http://bit.ly/2ColNxJ to link up with another class. 

3. Get some Ideas from Peter Reynolds' free handbookI was interested in some of the digital ideas mentioned in Peter Reynolds' handbook.

• Create dot artwork in MS Paint, then upload the pictures to www.blabberize.com to give their artwork a voice. Upload to www.schooltube.com
• Create some Dotty stories or poems and upload them to an app similar to Padlet https://padlet.com/khodgson1/ppanregi1rnx. 

• You and your class can have loads of fun with the Quiver app which can be found at http://www.quivervision.com/dotday/ Transform your dots into 3D using augmented reality. Take a look at this class making use of the Quiver App. This video Celebrating Dot Day 2014 from Tina Schmidtcan be found on Vimeo.
• Use Flipgrid and get your class talking about their Dot Day celebrations.
• Make a video using Animoto.com::
  https://animoto.com/play/umF0C3DpHgxL0mVA3bLeYg 
• Take a look at the ideas in A DotDay Hyperdoc http://bit.ly/2oKdsL9 
• Get your classes singing the Dot Song. http://bit.ly/2oId5AR  The vrsion below is the result of a collaboration between singer-songwriter Emily Dale and Peter H. Reynolds, author and illustrator of The Dot. Listen and sing along as the lyrics appear on the screen. 

Further Reading:

• Kathleen Morris has written two superb articles which are full of ideas on the Edublogger: "International Dot Day: Get involved': http://bit.ly/2oH31Il
  "International Dot Day 2018 - your guide to getting involved' http://bit.ly/2oK92E5
• International Dot Day is just around the corner: https://www.smore.com/cyt2-international-dot-day

This is defintely an event worth following.