Five for Friday!

Hey y'all!  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday {just a tad late!}!!  It's almost Turkey Day y'all! Wohoo!  I hope you're looking forward to a much overdue break :)  {Spain obviously doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving!  Shucks!}

But this has been one of those weeks that just flies right by you.  Without any warning.  Like, you blink!  And it's gone...

I feel as if FOOD should be my theme for the week!  We have eaten SO MUCH FOOD this week.  Such as this:

tapas, tapas, tapas!

Or this:

Saturday brunch with friends :)

It's time to lace up those gym shoes and go for a run!  This time of year is always so hard!  

Luckily!  My hubby and I become official residents of Mallorca this week- so we are able to take the city bikes out for rides!  Last night we took them to dinner!  So much fun and SUCH a timesaver!  Love it!

Hubby riding around!
I was dying to take a selfie but decided this was probably dangerous enough for one ride.

I've been teaching all about Thanksgiving this week!!  I am so excited- even if it's not the same in Spain.  I am having a hard time explaining to my students just how we celebrate Thanksgiving.  I've shown pictures, taught vocabulary, and tried explaining it as best I can- but I still don't think they get it.  And I'm okay with that.  I mean, how can you possibly explain a holiday when you stuff your face with all sorts of food, thank those around you for everything you have, and watch football  :) #America

Speaking of cultural differences, I have been reading a professional development book about how different cultures learn to read and write.  SO COOL!  Click on the picture below to learn more about this book.  I am still at the beginning so I do not have much to report yet- but I will write about the book when I finish.  Has anyone else read this?  If so- what did you think?

Amazon

And I don't really have much to say for #5- but this seems to fit pretty appropriately!  Enjoy the break, don't work too hard or too much, {or better yet- at all!} because before you know it- it's gone!!

Source

Brrrr- it's cold in here!

Yikes, y'all!  I said, Brrr!  It's cold in here!  There must be some teachers in the atmosphere.  Yikes... some horrible/cheesy "Bring it On" throwback for ya.

But really, winter has officially hit the Balearic Islands.  Fall completely skipped us and the weather has become this rainy mess of a winter.  The humidity, rain, and chill in the air come together nicely to make your bones feel completely frozen.  I cracked and went out and bought a coat this weekend {who brings a coat to an island!!?} and THANK GOODNESS that I did!!

The rainy, gray, day that was my Monday

Turns out my classroom has ZERO heat!!  None, nada, NOTHING!!  And it was COLD today.

Me freezing my tushee off!

 Some of the teachers grabbed this small space heater for me to use.  After three hours it had heated the three feet all around it.  And nothing more.

And it was raining so my kiddos were of course going up the wall with zero recess time.  Love that.

BUT, in all seriousness, it's rainy and gross but all else is great here.  When all I seriously have to report is that it's COLD, I guess that means things are going pretty well :)  It is winter after all...

ESL is lots of fun and I am loving pulling together activities for my kiddos to do.

Today we played a game with the alphabet.  I was so into it that I completely spaced on taking pictures.  The kids were pretty into it too...

Hope your Monday was a great one and it's off to a great start!!

Healthy Holiday Tips...

The holidays are coming up upon us and it's a stressful time with so much food, sweets, and drinks readily available.  I seem to always add several extra pounds this time of year just because I have a hard time saying "no".  When I saw this awesome advice on Chef G and Rachel's Facebook Page, I knew I had to share it!  I love how simple and easy their tips are, especially number 5!  I can do lots of veggies!  What do you think?

Spontaneous Twenty Frames!

Happy Monday everyone!!  Just wanted to pop in and share a quick activity I came up with today for my super adorable first grade Spaniards!  We are working on saying numbers in English.  As first graders, they have a decent grasp on numbers but I still wanted to make sure I wasn't confusing them by giving them new names for these numbers.  So I quickly drew up some 1-20 flashcards, ripped up some paper, and went to work.

I reviewed the numbers with the kiddos using the flashcards and then separated them into two groups.  I had one person from each group be "it" and in front of them was a small pile of the ripped up paper.  I called out a number (1-20) and had them build that number from the little pieces of paper.  The first person to build that number out of the paper got a point for their team.  {The points had no purpose but they made these little competitive kiddos focus.}

Side note- the flashcards were there to support them if necessary but I tried to focus on listening
for the numerical name .  They already know the written form of the number!

This went really well and helped build their fluency with numbers in English AND math :)  Win-win.

To make it even better, I ran home and created some counters, a twenty frame, and some number flashcards that are printed up all nice-like.  I plan on using this next week to play our game again.  You can pick it up for free in my TpT store here.  This would be a great game to send home with kiddos who need a little extra practice working with numbers 1-20.

Hope you're enjoying the start of your week!

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