Vistaprint Rack Cards Double as Bookmarks

Are you tired of waiting for Vistaprint to offer bookmarks? I've suggested it many times, but they still do not have that option. Instead of using business cards, I make my own bookmarks. And while I love doing it, the printing and trimming gets tedious. So when I decided to take the plunge and have business cards printed up via VistaPrint, I noticed the dimensions of the rack cards would be a great length for a bookmark. I am sure others have had this idea long before me, but in case you needed to know how to make your own, I created this visual with dimensions. (I use the full bleed dimensions and put those in Photoshop.) I save my images as .tiff files for the best quality.

The great thing about these is that you can have a the back printed in black/white free. I use the back to put the bulk of my information. On my Hunger Games bookmarks I added my favorite quotes from the novel. 

The drawback to the rack cards is that they still have to be cut. I really wish they would offer this option, but until then, I will keep printing with the rack cards. I plan to make additional ones for my students in various themes from throughout the year. 

This can also be something you could do for graduation. I think it would be very cool to have an entire class sign their names (or just use their names in a word cloud, like I did HERE and HERE) and have them printed for your students.

UPDATE: Vistaprint is having a flash sale today (2/20) only until 4 p.m. EST. Fifty percent off everything!

Do you have any Vistaprint tips? Share in the comments below!

Love is in the Air...Valentine's Day Freebie Link-Up

Valentine's Day is less than a month away, so I thought it would be fun to have a link-up of Valentine's Day freebies from my teaching friends. 

I have a new free download I wanted to share with you: 

"Love is Owl You Need" Valentine's Day Bookmarks

Click image to download your freebie on my TeachersPayTeachers store.

I used my new Valentine's Day Owl Clip Art Graphics and

 Kimberly Geswein's heart font to make them.

I also have several additional Valentine's Day freebies. Just click on the links below to download.

Do you have a freebie for teachers that you'd like to add? Please link up below either your blog post or free download and share this post with your followers and friends. Thanks & enjoy!

Help Your Students With Reading Comprehension With Simple Bookmarks

We all have students who are hesitant to speak up in class; perhaps they do not want to ask questions in front of their classmates, or they are just shy. Regardless of the reasons, we can't help them unless we know that they are struggling.

To help combat this, try these bookmarks the next time you assign reading (or during read-alouds in class). Instead of students speaking up, they jot down the question on the bookmark. Have them submit at the end or beginning of class. This way you know what they may be struggling with and can address it in the next class period or the next day. It's a simple idea and can be done on any piece of paper or post-it note. However, I did create some free printables you can try.

Just print on regular paper and have students grab a new one when they turn one in. They can be printed on front/back, as well. One format has 6 bookmarks on one 8.5x11-inch page, the other has four per page. I also featured two different fonts (one is more appropriate for lower grades) and each with lines or without.

You can download them FREE here:

Reading Bookmark Aid for Chapter or Text Books - Any Content Area

Don't forget that the Teacher Appreciation Sale starts tonight at midnight! You'll be able to get all of my products 20% off and take an additional 10% off by using the promo code TAD12 at checkout. This is our way of giving back to our fellow teachers to kick of Appreciation Week! THANK YOU for all you do!