The 4th Graders Are Making Their Mark For Dot Day With Photography Haiku Deck Projects

Today the 4th graders and I kicked off their celebration of International Dot Day in the library throughout the next two weeks.  This is the fourth year of celebrating International Dot Day for this group of students so they are just a little excited.

They definitely know there is lots of fun in store for them!  

For the fourth graders we decided to focus on photography to create a digital story to share using apps on their iPads.

To make it even more special, I invited my dear friend Diane Cordell to the library through a Google Hangout. Diane is an incredible photography and I especially love the way she captures nature.  

                                       
Over the last couple of years, Diane has Skyped with us for Dot Day and has shared slide shows of her work....always having the theme of Dots of course.

This year her presentation is called Seeing Spots....And Dots.

You can see her show here in Slideshare.....Seeing spots and dots from Diane Cordell.

These were a few of my most favorite Dot pictures that Diane showed us.  

She couldn't leave out little Morgan, her sweet granddaughter, too.  

After we said goodbye to Diane, I shared with the 4th graders that we would be using an iPad app called Haiku Deck.  With this app (and also available online), you can create beautiful presentations with slides and text.  It is easy to use and a wonderful way to tell your story....

especially for Dot Day.

For this project, each student will be finding and taking pictures of dots around them.  They will think about how they make their mark on the world and what that dot might represent to them.  They can edit, change, create, and find images that will work with their Haiku Deck project.

On the 4th Grade Symbaloo, I added a tile for the Haiku Deck website and a tutorial on using the Haiku Deck app on an iPad.  We watched the video tutorial together as a class before we logged into the app.  

I also showed them the Haiku Deck website in case they wanted to check that out too.

The kids often go home to show their parents the new digital tools they learn about and this would be a great one they can do together.

Once they got onto the Haiku Deck app, it didn't take them long at all to start filling in their very own Haiku Deck with text and images.

When I walked by these three girls I just had to smile.  They were taking pictures of their mouth, shirt, and pony tails.

These two were taking pictures of their clothes and shoes.  They were then putting them together in a collage.

He not only created sets of Dots, he also created a heart with this cool shot.

The perspective of this Dot is awesome!

It was fun listening to and watching the collaboration that was taking place within the library.  They had a lot of fun creating and finding Dots together.  Also, the conversations about photography..... lighting, composition, color, perspective, size....it was great.

Our Skype with Diane was just what we needed to get our creativeness in photography to come out.

This was fun for my friend to take a picture of a Dot and then ask me where I thought it was.  He then showed me it was from his own shirt.

I love how even freckles made it into the Dot Day projects.

They really liked how within Haiku Deck one can also search for images.  There were a lot of different Dot pictures to be found and they will add to their projects.

My 4th grade friends amaze me all the time.....And this was definitely one of those days.  To see how much they enjoyed being creative, working with friends, and learning with someone was inspiring.

Throughout this week they will continue to take pictures of the Dots around them.  They will think about how they want to represent making their mark on the world.

Next Monday we will be putting their projects together in Haiku Deck.

After they have created and presented their Haiku Deck projects, they will write a post on their Related Arts KidBlog Portfolios.  You will be able to read Mrs. Skahill & Mrs. Bryne's class here and Mrs. Braun's class here.

They cannot wait to share their Dot Day projects with the world.....and their friend Diane.  They already invited her to come back to the library and see the Photography Haiku Deck projects.

We will also be sharing these with other classrooms as we connect to celebrate Dot Day.

Our 4th graders will make their mark this week......Just like they do all year long.