Dot Day Ideas for STEM
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What is Dot Day?
Dot Day is an international celebration of inspiration and creativity. After reading the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, help students express their creativity in a variety of ways by creating their own ‘dot’.
Click here to read more about it on the official website.
Creativity is such a large component of success in STEM. Here are 3 activities that I tried that went well in my K-5 STEM classes that your students will love as well!
These were all one day, 45 minute lessons, which is just enough time to celebrate! After reading or listening to The Dot, try one of these experiences with your class.
Dot Day Ideas #1: Augmented Reality
I taught this lesson to my Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. This lesson requires tablets and having the free app, Quiver, downloaded before-hand.
Next, print out the free Dot Day coloring sheet. Make sure to have extra printed because students will want to color more than one! I printed mine 4/page to save paper and to make it easier for students to capture the whole image on their tablet camera.
Discuss with students the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality. I have this anchor chart and response sheets that you can use to make it easier to explain!
This dot will be transformed into augmented reality; it will look like the object is in OUR world.
Students will color their dot page. Markers work best and really make the colors stand out. Within the app, they will hold the camera over their dot and see it magically appear in the classroom!
Dot Day Ideas #2: Spirograph Dots
I taught this lesson to my 2nd and 3rd grade classes.
There is so much beauty and symmetry to well designed spirographs. This lesson helps students so much with their touchpad control.
Beforehand, figure out how you will share this link with students for this online spirograph. When I taught this lesson, a login wasn’t required.
If you don’t want to use the digital version, I’ve snagged plastic spirograph sets from Dollar Tree before.
Explain to students what spirographs are. You can use the anchor chart from this post I made that you can use with your students to help explain this concept!
This video also shows artists who create spirographs for a living which is interesting for students to see.
Finally, students will create their spirograph dot. If they want to save their design, taking a screenshot works well and uploading to the platform of your choice (Seesaw, Flipgrid, Google Classroom…).
Dot Day Ideas #3: Dot Launchers
I taught this lesson with 4th & 5th grades.
The Dash robot is a wonderful asset to have in your classroom. If you happen to have the launcher accessory, this lesson is for you!
Students will launch their ‘dot’ (the ball), aiming towards a STEM identity word that they view themselves as. Some words include: mathematician, innovator and creator.
Aiming for a target with the launchers is more challenging than you think! If possible, have students in groups of 3 and assign roles and have them rotate through:
- Driver: Tapping the code on the device
- Navigator: Ensuring that they agree with the code and give suggestions
- Retriever: Finding the balls once they are released
You can get the target board here from my shop (with other ways to use these STEM identities in your classroom!)
Other blog posts you might enjoy:
5 EASY WAYS TO INTEGRATE AUGMENTED & VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE CLASSROOM
Best Robots for Kids for STEM & Technology Lessons
What Dot Day activities have you tried in your classroom? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!
Want more resources to support Technology & STEM all year long? Grab this FREE downloadable guide that I’ve put together for you!