Christmas catch up!

Before I get stuck into all things 2015, there were a few Christmas activities that we did at the end of the year, that through the hectic rush of finishing up, I didn't manage to post about. Because I love Christmas so much I just couldn't not share them!

The first activity I found on...have a guess...Pinterest! I'm going to be honest and tell you that it was a lot more work than I had anticipated. There were quite a few steps involved, but I was so happy with how they turned out that I think it was definitely worth it.

Being a Catholic school it was important what we continued to talk about the reason behind the celebration. I found the inspiration for this craft on Pinterest as well. It didn't have a template so I made one myself, and also found 'The Legend of the Candy Cane' poem that we stuck at the top. 

I absolutely loved this craft and the little wonders enjoyed making it.

This next one was also inspired by Pinterest...seriously what did teachers do before Pinterest?!

They were super cute and very easy. The kids had a great time decorating them with glitter and pom poms. Some of them also added moustaches to their tree's faces hehe.

By the end of term 4 my kids know the Christmas Story like the back of their hand. To test how well they knew it we played a game of celebrity heads using the characters from the story. There were lots of giggles when I'd write cow or donkey. I was very proud of the questions they came up with. 

This years parent Christmas gift was 100% inspired by Maria Manore at Kinder Craze. I've wanted to do this for years and finally got myself organised early enough to do it. Head over to Kinder Craze and listen to Maria's gorgeous class recite the carol. 

The children each used decoupage to cover an iPad box with Christmas paper, and placed tissue paper inside it along with their CD. This has got to be my favourite Christmas gift ever.

I hope you can take some of these activities and do them with your own class this Christmas. 

Thanks for reading!

Organising My Themed Units

Around the middle of the year I came across this post on Mrs Terhune's First Grade Site showing how she organises her thematic units into binder folders. When I saw this photo I was immediately drawn to the uniformity and functionality of the folders. 

At the time I kept digital copies of all my sheets and activities in folders on my computer. While this did save on space, I was always forgetting what I had! So I decided to spend some time organising my own units and putting them into folders. This means that when I teach the unit again, everything I have will be at my pretty little fingertips! 

Here are a few photos of my folders, which are kept in the office I share with the teacher in the room next to mine. 

I cannot explain how much time this system has already saved me! Since taking these photos I have added a number of new folders, and as I find new resources I simply add a copy to the folder and it's there for next time. 

I hope I've inspired you to do some organising of your own :)

Happy blogging!!