Did you know that there are only 73 days left until Christmas? I need to start my shopping soon! Please don't tell me you are already done your shopping. I am one of those middle of December shopping people. Although being on maternity leave, I can take baby Zoe shopping in the middle of the day while people are at work! Woo hoo! ;)
Anywho, the reason I talk about Christmas is I am sooooooooooo excited about my newest pack! I have been working hard on it for months now and it is finally ready! Christmas Around the World is one of my favourite units to teach. It gets students excited about Christmas and incorporates many Social Studies standards into it! I loved my scrapbook & craft pack, but I wanted a solid way to teach about the countries that we studied. I had a file folder full of video links and pictures and websites, but wanted a way to tie it all together. Insert my new pack.... It is called "
Christmas Around the World Interactive Slideshow or Informational Text".
It is a companion pack to my best-selling item "
Christmas Around the World Scrapbook & Craft Pack". It is a non-fiction text/slideshow that teaches about various countries and their Christmas traditions. It is listed separately from the
scrapbook & craft pack. {Or you can purchase the two as a
bundle.}
Inside the zipped file you will find three PDF files. The first is just an introduction that shows you how to use the other two files and lists the credits and other information. The second file is an interactive slideshow that is designed to be used with a projector or interactive whiteboard. There is an interactive menu and links to various YouTube videos that correspond with each country. The third file is exactly same as the slideshow, but without the interactive features and links. It is meant to be printed out and bound as a book that you can read to your students while studying the various countries.
In the slideshow/text, there is a title page, introduction page, all aboard the Polar Express page (with a link to the theme song), and a menu of all the countries.
Then there is the starting/home country to begin your trip around the world. There is a U.S.A. or Canada option. Students discuss (or write about in their scrapbook) their own family Christmas traditions.
Each of the other countries has four pages. The first page is a welcome page that has a real-life picture, a map that shows which continent the country is located in, and a coloured version of the country's flag. The second page has some basic information about the country, such as the capital city, languages spoken, traditional food, and other cultural facts (with real-life pictures!). The third page shows how to say "Merry Christmas" in the language of that country. On this page is a link to a YouTube video that corresponds with the country (some are Christmas songs or short videos about a tradition). The fourth page describes some of the various Christmas traditions of that country. If you are using the
scrapbook from my other pack, the answers to the fill-in-the-blank sections are in red font, so students can easily fill in the answers!
The slideshow/text has pages for all the countries that are included in the scrapbook: U.S.A./Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Italy, England, Australia, The Philippines, China, and The North Pole. You can still pick and choose which countries you want to study.
The slideshow ends with arriving at The North Pole! Students can imagine what they think happens at The North Pole during Christmas time!
This
companion pack is SEPARATE from the
scrapbook & craft pack. If you have already bought the
scrapbook & craft pack, it is not necessary to purchase my new
slideshow/text pack, but it is an excellent way to go a bit more in depth into the country studies. It definitely makes teaching this unit a bit easier because all the resources are there for you in one neat little package! And there are fun extras, such as links to Christmas songs and videos on YouTube! If you haven't seen my
scrapbook & craft pack, you can check it out by clicking the picture below. It includes a scrapbook for all the countries listed, 12 craft instructions, a suitcase to keep students' crafts in, and country stickers to decorate the suitcase with! It also includes Polar Express train tickets to make your trip around the world even more enjoyable!
These two packs are meant to complement each other. I designed the slideshow/text so it would correspond with the scrapbook. It shows which continent to colour on the world map, how to colour the country's flag, how to say "Merry Christmas", and the answers to the fill-in-the-blank section. It does all this PLUS gives more information about the country and more about the Christmas traditions.
You can purchase these two packs separately, or I have listed them as one big bundle {in which you save $1!}. Check it out
here on TpT!
Now, for being such awesome blog followers I have two early Christmas/Canadian Thanksgiving presents for you! First up, seeing as it is Canadian Thanksgiving today, I am having a short two-day sale! Everything in my TpT store is 20% off for today and tomorrow! Go check it out
HERE!
And now I have a little Christmas freebie for you. This is a little Polar Express Sight Word Game. Students take turns reading sight word cards (Pre-Primer, Primer, and First Grade words included). If they get the word correct, they roll a die and move that many spaces. The first player to move their marker from Santa to the Polar Express is the winner! Click any of the pictures below to download it for free on TpT!
Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving, and see you soon! :)
