Dot Day Fun 2015

We made our creative mark once again at Northside for International Dot Day!  Each year, this global celebration takes place on or around September 15.  Established by a teacher after introducing his class to Peter Reynolds book The Dot in 2009, this event has turned into a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration.  The Dot tells the story of a caring teacher who encourages a student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to "make her mark".  What begins with a simple small dot on a white piece of paper turns into a journey of self-discovery and sharing.  Now each, year people use this story to ignite creativity in their own students and share that creativity with others in a myriad of ways both inside and outside the walls of their schools.  To learn more about International Dot Day click here.

This year's Dot Day at Northside was filled with students bringing creatively designed dots to life using the 3-D augmented reality app Quiver, creating thumb print dot characters they later built stories around and adding their distinctive mark on our library Makerspace tables.  In the past we have had fun getting creative using the 3D app, but this year we brought in a new element. Students experimented using their faces as dots and bringing them into 3D view.  Students also looked for other objects around the library to frame in their dot and bring it to life.  It was a hit with students and a great way to see how they approached the use of this digital tool.   As we made thumbprint dot characters, we modeled our creations after the thumbprint art of Ed Emberly.  We explored various examples and visited his website to learn more.  

 

Ms. Ronetta's PreK Students explore 3D Dots

Liam's Dot - Ms. Dixon's Class

Zarielle's Dot Exploration 

Tyshaun's Dot

In art class Ms. Keene shared the story The Dot with each class before having them explore their own creative marks.  K-2 students designed coffee filter dots while 3-5 students explored symmetry while collaboratively designing large dot art.  These creations now hang on display in our school library.

What I love about Dot Day is it gives students a chance to explore their creativity and share it with those around them.  In an educational arena filled with standards, mandates, and deadlines, it's nice to take one day to simply explore, create, discover and share with others.  Our library is now littered with the remnants of this special day as dots line the walls and hang from our windows.  A colorful and daily reminder that we can all make a mark on this world even if it starts with one small dot.