Sleigh bells ring are you listening! Wow, what a busy month of December we had in Junior Infants. The boys were working very hard to earn their place on Santa’s nice list. We had a very special visitor in our classroom for the month of December, as Santa sent ‘Jingle’ the elf to Junior Infants so the boys could teach Jingle all of the wonderful things they learn at school. Although Jingle loved joining in on some of the activities that the boys engaged in, he sure did love playing lots of tricks on the boys too! Let’s have a look at Jingle’s adventures….
During Aistear time, the boys got into the roles of Santa and his elves, fixing broken toys and wrapping lots of gifts at the workshop. They engaged in wonderful Christmas art and craft activities, making some Christmas decorations as well as jolly Santa faces.
Literacy time was spent working on our fine motor skills, writing letters to Santa and posting Christmas cards. The boys even made their own stamps for their envelopes. We also had wonderful winter books to choose from in our class library for the boys to pick during D.E.A.R (drop everything and read) time and class story time. The topic for oral language this month was of course, winter and through listening games such as ‘I Spy’, the boys acquired lots of new winter vocabulary.
We partnered up during Maths stations and played dice games in pairs. The boys have become very independent in their work and enjoyed adding up their own scores. These hands on maths activities keep the boys engaged and they were able to enhance their counting skills.
On the last day of school before Christmas holidays, the boys had a real treat, where they visited the staff room to make some yummy hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. The boys learned step by step how to make a cup of hot chocolate and how important it is to make sure an adult is present when making this delicious drink.
Sadly we had to say goodbye to our fantastic classroom helper Angela as she returned home to California for Christmas. I know that the boys and I will miss Angela a lot and we are so grateful for all the help and support she gave each of us in her time at Togher BNS. 
Until the next post, we would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2019!
Togher Boys' National School 