GIVEAWAY!! ONE DAY LEFT!! HURRY!!

Just a reminder!!  The super adorable Kristen over at Easy Teaching Tools has a GREAT giveaway going on right now and it only has one more day to go!!  Over 20 teachers {including me!} have donated their products to make this happen.  Check out the amazingness you can win and then enter in the giveaway BELOW!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Superb!  Right?  Can't WAIT to see who wins this!!  :)

Math is Real Life {Time Change}

Today I'm linking up with a monthly REAL WORLD math linky hosted by 4mulaFun, Fourth Grade Studio, Teaching to Inspire in 5th, AND MissMathDork!

I am definitely a math dork.  I love it.  When I was a little kiddo I would do extra math problems for homework at night.  Just ask my Dad- he thinks it’s hilarious and makes fun of me for it all the time J 

Living in Spain can sometimes be very inconvenient.  I have family and friends all over the world and if I want to talk to them, well, I need to use math.  My mom and dad and best friend all live on the East Coast and so they are 6 hours behind us.  I always need to subtract 6 hours from our time in order to find out if it’s too early or late to call them.  Then, my brother is in the Central Time Zone, so he is 7 hours behind us.  So that’s more math if I want to call him!  If I want to talk to my friends from Colorado, I have to subtract 8 hours.  And the most crazy one of all- we have two amazing friends who are teaching in South Korea right now.  You can read all about them here.  But they are 13 hours AHEAD of us!  So if we want to talk to them, I have to do more math!! 

It’s such a simple thing, calling your family, but it can really present a challenge.  I loved talking to my mom on the way to or from work back in the States.  Well now I can only call her after and it’s always her lunch time, not the best time for us to catch up.  I’m hoping we’ll fall into more of a routine soon! 

Math is around us all the time!  There you have it- that’s how I am using math every single day! Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to link up with these wonderful bloggers!

What Does the Turkey Say?

Dog goes woof

Cat goes meow
Bird goes tweet
and mouse goes squeak

Cow goes moo
Frog goes croak
and the elephant goes toot

Ducks say quack
and fish go blub

and the seal goes ow ow ow ow ow

But there's one sound
That no one knows
What does the turkey say?

That's right!  There's no gettin' it out of your head now!  Maybe it's a Spanish thing... or maybe it's a kid thing, but my little Spaniards love the song.  I have some serious doubts on whether they know what they're singing... but hey- it's catchy!  So why not use it to your advantage?  What Does the Turkey Say? is my newest TpT Mini-Unit!!

Basically- James the Turkey is thrown out of the sky when he loses visibility in a blizzard! Luckily, he lands in the Carnivora Family’s yard and they thoughtfully take him in. But with food getting low and the blizzard keeping everyone cooped up, I looks like James could be tonight’s dinner. Uh oh!  

Using reading and writing activities, students read all about James’ dilemma and then choose how James’ story ends- and more precisely, what the turkey says!  Then they wrap it all up by creating a Turkey Glyph that incorporates their stories and some multiplication practice! 

 When it's that time of the year it's so easy to get sucked into the holidays and forget to focus on the learning and think more about the parties.  Well this unit will help you get the best of both worlds.  Have some fun and celebration while  still hitting the Common Core!

Until midnight tomorrow, my new unit will be 20% off- making it only $2.00!!  Check it out here or click one of the pictures above!

Please don’t hesitate to e-mail me with any questions or concerns you may have!  Appleslices4th@gmail.com.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TpT

Small Moments

November Currently!!

Hola!  I'm late for the party... two whole stinkin' days late... but late is better than never!  So I'm linking up with Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade!

Can you seriously believe that it is November?  Which means next month is December and I get to see my family!!  NEXT month!  Ahhhh!  So crazy!  2013 has FLOWN by.

I've had one beautiful week and I hope that you have as well.

In Spain they celebrate Halloween but it has not yet reached the commercial/advertising insanity that it has in America.  So it was fun- but not out of control.  *Whew* I'm not gonna lie- I am not too upset about that part.

I'm babbling so I'll move onto the reason you're here...

I am currently listening to some Spanish music.  I will learn Spanish one way or another... and what better way to hear Spanish than listen to some music!

I am LOVING these long weekends.  Spaniards are all about relaxing and taking it easy.  Case in point- Friday was a holiday in Spain.  So most of the schools just took Monday off so that everyone could have a four day weekend instead of a three day weekend.  I'll take it!

I am thinking that we need to travel more.  My reasoning for this is simply because we can.  We're living in Spain and there are so many places near us that are screaming to be visited.  On Friday we took the bus 45 minutes away to the town of Pollenca.  It was beautiful and so much fun.  We went on a hike to the top of a mountain and ate delicious food and just enjoyed ourselves.  But on Friday morning, before we left,  I was starting to gripe about traveling.  You know, the whole hassle part of it all?  It's expensive... You have to pack... You have to unpack... There's so much I could be doing around the house... I have work to catch up on... The excuses are endless.  But for some reason I hopped on pinterest and this guy caught my eye...

Source

And I realized how ridiculous I was being.  Memories can be formed around the house... but they will not compare to the memories we can make while we're here in Spain.  And so I got off my butt and off we went.  Our friends even met up with us for a few hours.

I am wanting to learn all there is to learn about Writing on Demand.  I am working on my next Writing Unit and it's all about W.O.D.  That wonderful state testing stuff.  Oof.  It's always rough and I just want to find the best way to teach how to do it.  In upper elementary grades it's so important.  How can students apply for college or jobs or even form a simple e-mail if their Writing on Demand skills are lacking.  So anyone have some good sources?  I am trying to read, read, read right now!!

I am in dire need of some real sweets.  Some sour patch kids or sweettarts would be fantabulous.  Spain is all about super sweet stuff but their candy is just not fixing my huge cravings I have going on.  Help!  I need some sweets!  Help, not just any sweets, Help, you know I need some sweets!  Helpppppp!

And of course, a YUMMY pin...

Erica's Sweet Tooth

Birthday cake jello shots!  These look absolutely delicious but I just really love how festive they look with the sprinkles on top!  These could be made with or without alcohol and topped with festive sprinkles for ANY occasion!  Now I just need to find some jello in Spain...

Be sure to check out all the fabulous bloggers who joined Farley on the correct day :)

And before I forget!  Kristen over at Easy Teaching Tools is hosting an AMAZING giveaway!  You could win up to TWENTY FIVE different products!  Be sure to check out her blog this week so you can join in on the fun!!

Happy Sunday!!

Hooray for Sundays

Hey all!  I was going about my business scouring TpT for lesson plans this morning when what did I see??

ME!  It caught me off guard and I may have even shouted a little.  Buuut, in order to celebrate and just because I'm loving everything about today... everything in my store will be 10% off for today only!

Nerd Alert, Nerd Alert!!

Y'all... I am such a teacher nerd.  Like, TpT Lovin, marker hordin', pen obsessed, binder enthusiast, and clipart addicted.  {Aren't we all though?}  However, I'm slowly realizing that while this is the norm for me in the schools back home.  It is SO not the norm here.  And by the people surrounding me.  WHAAAAT???

The program I am working through is organized by the Spanish government.  In order to teach English in Spain, you do not need to have an education degree.  So almost all of the people who do this program come straight out of college and have different degrees.  I do not know of any other actual teachers in the program.  I feel like I definitely have an upper hand because I am comfortable in a classroom, but nobody else gets the teaching aspect.  Nor do they have a love for all things TEACHER!  Like, when I suggested that we create a tub full of all our lesson plans and games we make... I got blank stares.  That would've killed in a teacher's lounge!  And when I purchased an uber cheap printer at a local store... I got asked why I would spend the money.  And when I told them to let me know of any game ideas they have so I can make them online and share them... they thought I was crazy.  And the teachers here are not much different.  At least the teachers I work with.  They love themselves some workbooks.

My collection of teacher supplies so far.. Meager but a start!

So maybe this isn't the same teaching environment.  Maybe I really am a SUPER teacher nerd.  I think I'm okay with it.  Who's with me?

Five for Friday!

I'm linking up with the adorable Doodle Bugs' Five for Friday!  Be sure to go check it out!

(1) I am really enjoying teaching esl.  It's allowing me to work with so many different ages AND do fun stuff that you couldn't exactly get away with in 5th grade :)  Such as The First Grade Parade's adorable Are Bat's Cute or Creepy Graphtivity and this book I made all about Bats!

(2)  This is the view from my classroom window.  It's cloudy but in the distance you can see mountains :)  I try to get a glimpse out that window as frequently as possible.

(3)  Mmmmm... I really can't think of a much better way to spend a morning but drinking apple spice tea and updating the blog!

(4)  My hubby and I celebrated our **4 Month** anniversary this week :)  We went out for some yummy tapas!  One of my favorite things about living in Spain is the TAPAS!

(5)  My bookshelf which is slowly starting to fill up with fabulous school supplies!  Just need some colored paper, colored pencils, and a hole puncher... and maybe a few {thousand} more items :)

HAPPY FRIDAY everyone!!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.