The much awaited Literacy Technology day has been a great success. After months of preparation from all members of staff and the support teachers, the school doors opened to parents for them to get a taster of what teaching and learning is like at St Nicholas College, Mgarr Primary.

The parents participated in hands-on workshops and lessons using various equipment promoting digital literacy. All lessons were linked to literacy activities including reading, writing and spoken tasks.

The light table was used with kindergarten students to trace letters and to learn about texture. This innovative way of teaching enhances students to explore literacy through technology.

Linking traditional teaching methods to digital literacy enhances students to become well equipped for their future careers. Students had various table top activities linked to the story of the Three Little Pigs.

Apart from learning through story telling, with the helpof Big Books and the interactive whiteboard, students had follow-up hands on activities to enhance learning through various media.

Beebot, a very popular robot at our school, helped students learn the letters of the alphabet, while they had to program this robot to reach a desired letter. This being the first step to programming and to future potential programmers.

Following the introduction of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears using the interactive Whiteboard, students were given play dough to place on templates of tree trunks, while counting and learning about colours.

Various workshops for parents were held including maths, nutrition talks, assisting students with homework and the importance of reading to students at home. Internet safety talks were held for all year 4, 5 and 6 students.

Students learnt new vocabulary through the use of a large crossword grid.

The above students had a numbers of activities to explore cvc words and to create cvc words using various sounds.

Trouble in Space was the book following a pre-reading session on the interactive whiteboard. Students were later asked to sequence the story using Beebot and also created their own rocket.

The Yr 2 students had a comprehension lesson based on the book As I Looked Through My Window. Classcom voting devices were used to answer comprehension questions.

An online story of Jack and the Beanstalk was used for a comprehension lesson in yr 3. Students made of Beebot to sequence the story. Other stations included sequencing flashcards and matching them to parts of the story. An interview with the Giant followed, and finally students had to write an alternative ending to the story.

I Want My Mum was used to role play a story. The students were asked to sequence the story and comprehension skills were used through a Beebot activity. Students finally read phrases to their parents telling them why they love them.

Students in year 4 made use of web 2 tools to create a comic strip which was later uploaded on the cloud. The activity was inspired from the book Quest for the Golden Crystal. Students made use of their tablets during this activity.

The other Yr 4 students learned about personal hygiene inspired by the story Pinu jżomm Ruħu Nadif. Again a comic strip was created using Picsay (a web 2 tool) and the tablets.

Story Jumper was the online tool chosen by Yr 5 to make creative writing fun for kids. Students prepared their books prior to the event, but still had to finalise their projects. The various projects were shared among students and parents.

The Diary of a Whimpy Kid inspired the Yr 5 students to write their own diaries using Story Jumper. The projects were shared with classmates and parents.

The Yr 6 classes made use of LEGO WeDo to create their own cars. Students had to build the cars and program them. A race was held in the school corridor to see whose car would run fastest, based on the program created. A writing task followed where students had to recount their day’s experience.

This event was appreciated by the parents and relatives who only had words of praise for all that is being done by the members of staff at our school.

The success of this event is dedicated the class teachers, kindergarten assistants, learning support assistants, senior management team, elearning support teachers, literacy support teachers, maths support teacher, HoD for Assessment for Learning, the college principal, parents and students alike who ensured the success of this event which was linked to the College Based Literacy Fest.