There are lots of activities that you can do in the classroom to bring about Christmas and the importance of Christmas. Lots of children don't celebrate Christmas which is completely fine. But there is lots of Christmas themed activities I have created for free for use in the classroom. 

Money is always a fabulous fun concept to teach, with so many resources out there to make it happen! Last year, I developed my own money pack (in NZ$) for my students and others across the country. Full of interactive games, activities and resources to implement concepts about money. 

Today I started the beginning of this unit pack again, using some of the initial activities to implement key money concepts. My students had lots of fun and were able to interact with money in a way they hadn't before. Lots of my students didn't even know all the coins!!

This resource below is what I used to teach from. It has a variety of games and activities that students can use in whole class, group or individual work to learn key money concepts. The one pictured above I used as a whole class buddy activity, where they needed to find the buddy in the room that had the matching coin. 
There is also a preview of another activity in the pack that I used in a lesson also. 

I have a few different money resources available on my Teachers Pay Teachers store so have a look at it if you think it might be something you are after. Lots of fun, opportunities to learn and be engaged in the concept of maths. 

This Sunday spotlight is a great activity you can use in your classroom in the lead up to Christmas time! I created this activity last year for Christmas, with students completing a different Christmas activity each day! There are lots of different types like literacy, maths and art. Each activity is attached in the pdf, being crowdsourced from Teachers Pay Teachers. Links to the individual activities are provided in the pdf too. 

There are two ways you can get this for your classroom! Click on the link here to be taken to the version saved in Google Drive. You can download it from there. Or download the pdf that is uploaded to this post below. 

Epic! is a fabulous app that students can use in the classroom. It is basically a giant online library of books that students have access to across the world for free. There are fiction, non-fiction, read to's, chapters and more. Lots of range, lots of topics and even quizzes that test your students after they have read the book. 

The great thing about epic! is you can log in as an educator and see what your students have been reading. It shows you how many books your students have finished, how many hours read and videos watched. You are able to click on the book each student read and see how many pages they flipped through and how far they read! Great stats if you are wanting more information on their independent work. 

The limit is endless with the online library epic! has. So many books to choose from to link into your topic studies. Or just to choose from as free choice! Visit the website, get set up and use epic! in your classroom today!

This sunday spotlight shares the link to these great QR stories with audio links for the ready to read books in New Zealand. A great resource to use in 'listen to reading' time if you are do daily 5 in the classroom. Or just a great independent activity to have going for students to listen to stories. Even better if they can read along with the text version handy. 

Google slides has added a new update - audio! You can now add audio files directly into your slide presentations. No more finding links, using QR codes, or uploading to youtube and then inserting! Simply use these straight from your Google drive! Easy to use and know when you have them on the slide, there will be a little speaker icon showing you where the file is. 

Happy grams!!! A quick and cute note for parents on how the day has gone. With so many things that go on during the day, it can be hard to make contact with parents to let them know about the amazing things their child might have done! Could be around attitude, perseverance, assessment or just a general awesome day!

Bitmoji is just one of those things I have to use in the classroom! I love incorporating Bitmoji into my class resources, on the wall or in things I am presenting! It is free, easy to use and just lots of fun!

There is many ways you can use Bitmoji in the classroom or in your resources - with lots of templates, resources and pre-made examples you can go off. I have many free resources that you can use as templates in your classroom - ones I have personally used in my classroom on a daily basis. Check out these two of my favourites!

New Zealand Educators! Are you a forward thinker? Are you a boundary pusher?
We are looking for educators across New Zealand to come and join us at The WIP Hui - bringing together forward-thinking educators who would like to share, connect, disrupt & challenge each other to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible in education. Embracing the “Yes and” thinking.

What does WIP stand for?
Work in progress. 
Teachers are always working on things and progressing in their learning, work and achievements. This Hui is a place for teachers to continue to work and progress themselves. 

When is it?
9am Saturday 18th January- 1pm Sunday 19th January.
Check out the schedule for the Friday night social event!

Where is it?
Sunny Hawkes Bay!

Who can come?
Those who are doing innovative projects, teaching and thinking in the education space who would like to contribute to and be a part of the forward-thinking tribe!

Did you know that you have free access to slides I have used in presentations?
These are shared in my free to access, Google drive shared resource library. A google drive folder with resources, ideas, links and templates anyone can access, download and make a copy of!
Finding resources to help up skill can be tricky. And everyone has their own take on things. But i love presenting and sharing my ideas with others so have created copies for others to use in the classroom. 
This is countless hours of presentation creation - free for you to use to up skill or read through. If you would like to use something in your own presentations, please contact me to let me know and ensure you leave all credit (or make credit back) to Mrs Priestley ICT. Have a peek - there might be something you can learn!