Primary News

About Digital Literacy… in P1! 

Browsing the BDS library Delicious tags (available in our Virtual Class), I came across quite a number of resources that fit the needs of my P1 learners. These resources are used to serve different purposes: to practice fine motor coordination skills, for language recognition or to build language, to work with reading strategies and, with all of them, to develop thinking skills. Kung Fu sentences, videos on parts of the body, building our class farm, colour by number, what’s the missing number, weekdays game, Tumble books, National Geographic for kids are some of the resources we have used. Children come forward and interact not only with the activity shown in the interactive board but also with the class who is attentively following the activity and help if needed, a clear example of collaborative work.

Besides, these activities provide a safe environment for those students who are not that daring or are afraid of making mistakes because, who doesn’t make a mistake when playing? It’s part of the game, isn’t it?

What I found absolutely enriching was working with the netbooks to teach students the different internet library routes for kids to be able to read books independently at home. To my surprise, some of them came to share with me the fact that they had read non-fiction as well as fiction books from the BDS Library at home, on their own from their parents’ ipads or tablets! That, certainly made my day!
Cecilia Echaburu Dutren, P1B Teacher

Another teacher’s comment

The children loved working with the netbooks in class! They basically enjoyed being able to CHOOSE the story they liked best! The Oxford Owl source was great for this because the layout is clear and appealing and they could visualize very easily the stories they liked. We worked on how to choose the appropriate level of books and they could manage wonderfully. Besides, they recognized the characters from the big books we read in class and they were interested in reading further about them. A huge success! As for non-fiction books, they were a HIT amongst boys! They loved them and had fun looking at the pictures and trying to follow the stories, even though they found more difficult. We also tried Tumble books and my impression was that they got a bit confused with the layout; it was not as easy for them to go about the page as with Oxford Owl stories. But they liked the stories, though! All in all I feel that the experience was highly enriching both for the kids and us, teachers! And I’d dare say Oxford Owl books are P1D’s favourites!

Alejandra Bustillo, P1D Teacher

More about Mobile Literacy Apps & Media Literacy

P2 teachers have also started to make use of tablets -explains Headmistress Andy Pelliccia- as one more tool for their literacy practices. In this case, the app chosen is “The Trip”, by Mercer Mayers, and the teachers expressed that “the children were deeply enthused following an interactive story at their own pace, and developing their skills and abilities. We all profited from this experience, learning from one another”.

Marcela Cerini, Coordinator (English)