In our class, children are learning new letters and vocabulary in English. They often participate in games and activities which enhance their learning activities. In this activity children matched a picture card to the corresponding initial letter written on bottle caps.
In another game the children played a memory game where they needed to match the letter/word to the corresponding picture. They also played a board game where they are asked to read words and they were also asked to find words starting with particular letter from a given book.
Submitted by Ms Marilyn Bugeja, Yr 1.1 Class Teacher
The Kindergarten 2 students visited Mdina for a session of symbol literacy. The students walked around the Mdina ditch, followed by a lunch break. With their tummies full, the students entered the wall of the Silent City and were asked to find the door to the main entrance of the Cathedral Museum. Once inside the museum, the students had to find St Michael. Upon finding him, a story telling session and follow up activity kicked off. The students were prepared in advance about the character of St Michael.
The students were also involved in watching a short video clip about the origin of chocolate and answering questions about it thus enhancing their listening and comprehension skills.
Finally they proceeded to write instructions for making hot chocolate (in English) and toast (in Maltese) using the correct step-by-step way of doing so.
While working on their literacy activity, the students enjoyed at hot cuppa!!!
Submitted by Ms Sharon D’Amico, Yr 6.2 Class Teacher
The K2.1 students of Ms Lucienne have been working for the past week around the theme of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The activities for this week have all be inspired by the classic fairy tale.
The students followed the story on the interactive whiteboard. As a follow up activity students played a games where they had to sort furniture in the correct rooms of a house. finally children made their own drawings about the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Students were presented with the story The Doorbell Rang. Each group was given 2 paper plates and a packet of biscuits/sweets. The story began with 2 children taking 6 biscuits each. First, the students had to find the total amount of biscuits Mum had baked. Quickly students came up with the answer by using multiplication or doubling. They also pointed out that the children (from the story) took the same amount of biscuits. Students realized that the learning intention of the lesson was division (sharing). The story continued with more children coming to the house to eat the delicious cookies Mum had baked. Therefore, students had to get more plates and share the biscuits/sweets equally. After the story ended the pupils had to write down the division problems.
This helped students understand the concept of division.
The school hosted the launch of the book L-Ingwanti Magiċi. This book has been recently written by an emergent author, Ms Anabelle Warrington, who also happens to be the school’s support literacy teacher. The launch kicked off with a short play about the pleasure of reading directed by Ms Angelique Attard, Yr 4.1 teacher. Following the recital, a presentation was held by Ms Eleanor Vella, HoD, whereby she explained all the work being done by the national literacy agency.
Later, a number of students interviewed the author. Corazon Mizzi, who is both a local singer and a reading ambassador, read a chapter from the book. A workshop for parents and students followed. The show came to an end with a beautiful song by Corazon herself. We hope that in the near future we may have students from our school who might become authors.
The school would like to thank Mr David Muscat, CEO from the National Literacy Agency and Horizon Publications for presenting all students with a free copy of the book and for attending this event. Special thanks goes to Ms Josephine Mifsud, college principal and Ms Corazon Mizzi.
Finally the school would like to thank all members of staff, especially the assistant heads, and the students and parents for their constant support 🙂
Congratulations to Ms Anabelle Warrington… We look forward to the sequel of L-Ingwanti Magiċi.
The K1.1 students of Ms Josianne Camilleri participated in various hands-on activities to learn about letter and numbers. These activities were prepared by the student teacher.
In the first activity, students had to write the letter ‘d’ in a sensory tray. The media used included sand, flour and ground cinnamon.
In a separate activity, students made the number 4 out of dry clay.
In the last activity students set up a colourful table with blocks, straws, plastic and wooden pegs, etc. Children had to create their own works of art, thus enhancing their creativity.
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.
Every educational institution tries its best to provide the learners with the most effective learning programme. However for this to become a reality, professionals need to further develop their skills through on-going training. The Kindergarten Assistants, together with their Learning Support Assistants had a hands-on session regarding literacy strategies and the use of story bags. The session was animated by the Head of Department, Ms Cristina, together with the Literacy Support Teachers, Ms Azzopardi and Ms Galea.
On 17th February 2014 I had the opportunity to visit the Kinder 1.4 class of Ms Janice. Although at such a tender age, the children’s independence and eagerness to learn struck me immediately.
Students revised recognition of letters done so far in Maltese namely a, b, ċ, d, e and f. The KGA then introduced the letter ġ. The students enjoyed finding the letters corresponding to items which begin with that particular letter.
As a follow up activity the children had fun painting a big slice of cheese and a mouse. Thank you for sharing this experience with us 🙂
Submitted by Ms Marilyn Bugeja, Yr 1.1 Class Teacher
