Diamond Patterned Paper-Digital Scrapbook Paper Freebie

For Teachers Pay Teachers, I use a lot of different papers to build products. Here is a freebie for some papers I've created.

 Download here!

These papers can be used for personal or commercial use.

Three Things Thursday-New Products!

This year, we went to Illinois to visit my parents for Christmas. Since we were on vacation, I took a break from actively keeping up with Teachers Pay Teachers products and blogging. Now that we're back, I have some more products to introduce. 

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 There were times where prepping for guided reading was a real pain. During my first year of teaching, I would be up until 2:00 am several nights in a row trying to get the lessons done for each of my groups. I created this product to save myself and other teachers the headache of working on guided reading plans for The Sign of the Beaver. Just print the packet and you can be on your way. Each chapter has comprehension questions for students to answer, chapter summaries for teacher use, end of book activities, plus more! This product can be used for individual student study, small group instruction, or even whole class instruction.

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This next product is a continuation of my math task card series. The task cards here are specifically for 4th grade, but can be used as a review for upper grades. There are 28 task cards that have problems that help students practice reading, writing, rounding, and comparing multi-digit numbers. Perfect for fast finishers, centers, or games!

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Finally, I created another Spanish product. This product is based off of the popular card game, Spoons. During play, students are looking for an AR verb, its correct definition, the correct conjugation, as well as a picture that matches the definition of the verb. Great for beginning students or those that just need a review!

I'm leaving, on a jet plane or Packing is a nightmare

We are heading to Chicago this afternoon to spend Christmas with my family. Packing is one of the most stressful activities ever.

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I agonize for hours as I lay everything out for Baby A and myself. Last time we flew to my parents house, I read some tips online that said to bring 2 extra outfits for each day. By the end of the trip, I had maybe used 1/3 of the clothes I packed for her. Plus, I didn't think about using my parents' washer and dyer. Life could have been that much easier had I not over planned....but I am too much of a worrier to learn from that mistake. I'll update later on how much I pack vs what I use for this Christmas vacation.

What are some of your packing tips for babies?

Flying with Babies: What I've learned so far

We have now been on 4 flights with Baby A and she is just over 9 months. I can't say I'm anywhere close to being an expert on flying with a baby, but I've learned a few tricks that have made it a lot easier. I'm adding tricks other people have shared with me too.

Tips, Tricks and more to Flying with a Baby under 1
1. Baby items fly free
     I can't speak for pack-n-plays, but strollers, car seats, and a diaper bag fly free! We deposit our car seat when we drop off our luggage. Then, we gate check the stroller as we board the plane. I put my carry-on in the container above our seats and stick anything I absolutely need during the flight in the diaper bag.

2. Boarding the Plane
    Once you have little kids, you can start boarding the plane in the families traveling with small children group. Having the extra time to get settled is super nice. Definitely take advantage of it if you can.

3. Layers, Layers, Layers
    On flights, you never know how warm or cold the flight is going to be. I've been on flights where it has been freezing and on other flights where I thought I was in the Sahara. During the summer flights, I had Baby A in a bodysuit and shorts and had pants and a jacket in the baby bag. In November, I put her in pants and a long sleeved bodysuit along with having a back up jacket and warmer pants.
     Be sure to bring a couple back up outfits for the baby and a back up shirt for you so that if you get soaked, you don't have to stay like that the entire trip. I didn't need the back ups, but another lady on the flight went through 3 outfits on a 4 hour flight.

4. Prepare for anything
     Have plenty of extra diapers. Going on flights can make a baby's system go nuts and it would stink to run out of diapers in the middle of a flight. I figure out how many diapers Baby A will go through in the length of the flight, and then bring 1.5 times that many.
     Bring plenty of things to distract the baby, but they may sleep through the whole flight depending on their age. Try to keep it to things that are "new" (aka haven't been seen in a while) to help keep the baby's interest. I brought things that Baby A hadn't played with in a while to distract her.

5. Takeoff with a snack
      I was pretty worried about the takeoff on the first flight because when I was younger, I always had ear pain. I asked around and people suggested timing a bottle for take-off or having Baby A use her pacifier until take off ended. It worked like a dream! The first set of flights after the bottle, Baby A passed out for the whole trip. During the second set of flights, it still worked but it took her longer to fall asleep. For landing, do the exact same and you'll be all set.

    Those are the most useful tips and tricks that I've picked up. Does anyone have any other tricks for traveling with babies?

The Sign of the Beaver: A Work in Progress

I think I have been over-ambitious about my next product. I have been working on it for a while, but I haven't had very much time the past week or so. It's going to be a novel study of The Sign of the Beaver. I keep thinking of things to add to the packet. Does anyone have any projects that they are a bit too ambitious about?

Three Things Thursday

1. Vidangel 
About a year ago, we found Vidangel. It has been wonderful for date night. You start off "paying" $20 to rent the movie. Pick any filters you want. For example, if you don't want to hear swear words, pick the words you don't want to hear and the filters will mute them out. Once you're done with the movie, you sell it back for 19 credits that you can use for other movies. So in the end, you're really only paying $1 per movie. It's a really great deal and WAY better than Redbox.

2. The Shadowhunter Chronicles
Back when Twilight was popular, if you didn't read it and have a team, you were a little ostracized. These books were awful, but I still wanted to see what happened. Is that a normal reaction??
I never thought that I would find a book that caused a similar reaction until I started:

I will admit that they are way better written than Twilight and I do like them a lot more, but they are still pretty bad. Yet, I can't believe I still want to read them to find out what happens. I wouldn't judge someone quite so harshly if they admitted to liking this series as I do when people admit they like Twilight. Maybe I secretly like both series and haven't admitted it to myself yet. 

3. Christmas

I am so excited to go back to Chicago for Christmas this year! I miss snow this time of year, but I don't miss having to warm up the car or defrost it at all. It will be Baby A's first Christmas. We leave the 21st and get home about the 27th. 

Fuller House: A Review

Growing up, I would watch Full House reruns on ABC Family, so of course I was interested in the remake on Netflix.

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The first season came out right about when Baby A was born, which made it great for late night feedings when I didn't feel like reading. The season wasn't too bad. I liked it for the most part, but the Bachelorette references were a bit annoying for me. 

Season Two was a lot better! I liked how they handled adoption and infertility, plus I liked how they resolved DJ's relationships with Matt and Steve. The kids were a lot funnier too. There are a few dirty jokes, but I don't see kids catching them. However, I wasn't the most observant kid, so who knows. It would probably be a great idea to watch it first before letting your kids watch it first. 

The problem with finishing this season is that I need another series to watch during downtime. I guess there is always Gilmore Girls again....any recommendations?

2017 Reading Challenge Level 3: Running

Things have been crazy busy the last two weeks! I've finally had time to come up with the final level for the 2017 reading challenge.

The final level has 50 books in it. I didn't have enough room to combine the YA/Adult edition with the children's edition so they are in two separate images. 

If you start from level one and read through until the end of level three, you'll have read 80 books for the year. For level three, I broke it into a few genres to make it a little easier...or possibly trickier. I guess I'll see. I'll keep track of what I read here on the blog and on Goodreads. 

Any recommendations on books to read? 

Array of the Day Morning Math

I finished putting this product together yesterday and you can find it here. When I was teaching 5th grade, I needed a way to help my students practice their multiplication facts. Another teacher had used this in the past and it worked great. It has students practice with arrays, factors, and prime and composite numbers. 

The Littlest Reader

This happened yesterday. It was story time before bed and she was grabbing for the book. I handed it to her on the page we were on and she held it perfectly. We started her pretty early and now she gets excited at the mention of stories and going to the library. 

2017 Reading Challenge: Jogging Level

2017 Reading Challenge Continued

I've finally come up with level 2 of the 2017 reading challenge. The jogging level can completed in any order you'd like. This round has an edition for children again, so your kids can participate too! 

Some of the options are similar to level one, but there are thousands of books to pick from so there shouldn't be any trouble finding a match. 

For this challenge, I'm going to be using this Pinterest board to keep track of book ideas so be sure to follow along. I am getting really excited about this challenge. 

What books are you looking forward to reading in the new year? Do you have any set goals for reading?

Adding Decimals Task Cards and A Sale

I have a new product up in time for the cyber sale on Teachers Pay Teachers. Help your 5th graders practice and review adding decimals with these task cards.

There is a sale going on at Teachers Pay Teachers, so be sure to hit it up!

Thanksgiving
We went up to Idaho for Thanksgiving and my grandpa's birthday. We had a great time! I'd post pictures, but my family may one day see this blog and it will be a nightmare if I post a picture that one of my siblings doesn't like.
At Thanksgiving, we mainly just ate a bunch and then hung out at grandpa's. One of the cousins brought the best yams I've ever had. It tasted like I was eating candy.
My mom set up an activity where the great-grand-kids learned more about grandpa and the time when he was growing up. She even had a snippet from an old radio show called The Shadow. When she has a project, she really throws herself into it and comes up with some pretty cool things.

What's your favorite way to celebrate Thanksgiving?

Adding Within 100-First Grade Task Cards

New Product!
I've developed two more sets of task cards, this time focusing on 1.NBT4&5.  One set focuses on adding within 100 and mental math, while the other is just adding within 100.

                                

You can find them here and here.

Coming Soon!
Teachers Pay Teachers is going to have a site wide sale from the 28th-29th, but I'm starting mine 2 days earlier for the holidays. It will be 20% off of all products in my store!

Thanksgiving
We are heading to Idaho for Thanksgiving this year. What is your favorite part of the holiday?

The 2017 Reading Challenge-Walking Edition

         I love Goodreads! It's a great way to keep track of what you've read and get recommendations on future reads. Goodreads has also helped me find Christmas and birthday presents for family members. I can't quite speak for everyone, but every book I've found for my husband has been a success. It's like Facebook for books because you can see what your friends are reading too!

     Each year, Goodreads has an option where you can say how many books you are going to read that year. I've done it this year and last year, successfully so far. However, there have been other reading challenges that I fell flat on. They tell you book descriptions to read for the challenges. I started off okay, but then I was distracted by other books and my new edition.

     This year, with all of the new things that I am trying out, I'm going to try making my own 2017 Reading Challenge! This will also include a Kids' Edition so your kids can join in as well. There will be several different levels that I will come out with. The first level:

     In order to move on to the next level, you need to read all of the books in this level...or just move on anyways, but I'm going to try and read all of the books in each level. 

     Read the books in any order you choose! The categories are:

Adult/Young Adult Edition:

1. A bestseller

2. A nonfiction book

3. A fantasy book

4. A recommendation

5. An author you've never read

6. A book you normally wouldn't read

7. A book that will either be a movie or has been a movie

8. Re-read an old favorite 

9. Read a book with a kid

10. Read a book that you've never finished

Kids' Edition:

1. A bestseller

2. An award winner

3. A picture book

4. A recommendation

5. An author you've never read

6. A book between 100-200 pages

7. A fairy tale

8. Re-read an old favorite

9. A poetry book

10. Read a book that your teacher recommends

Does anyone have books that they would like to use for this challenge?

Multi-Digit Multiplication Unit for 5th Grade

Multi-digit Multiplication
I just finished my biggest project yet: Multi-digit Multiplication Unit.

I haven't decided if this will be a growing bundle or not, but I'm pretty happy with it at this point. I included task cards....

a project based learning activity....

vocabulary posters....

and more!

I'm really excited about the Excel book that I included. You can input students' names and their pre and post test scores and then it will tell you the percent change in the score as well as a chart showing the change in student scores. When teachers have to report student progress, it will make it much easier. 

Christmas Vocabulary-Spanish Edition

Meeting Update
The church meeting I went to was pretty good! It was mainly a Broadcast where they talked and answered questions about teaching. It reminded me of this talk by Elder Bednar that was given back in 2007 that one of my college professors had us read.

New Product

I really liked all of the Spanish classes that I took in high school and college. My last year of teaching, I ran the Spanish club for the 4 h program. This inspired my latest bundle for vocabulary practice and this freebie. 

Perfect for upper elementary or secondary education, it contains a word search with an answer key, a crossword with an answer key, Taboo cards, a Flyswatter PowerPoint, and a vocabulary matching game. 

Exercise and Racing

My family is going to Idaho for Thanksgiving and my grandpa's 88th birthday. Instead of the usual football game, we're going to participate in a 5k charity race. I have never been one for running, so this will be a challenge. I didn't do too bad for my first day. Hopefully I can keep it up!

Multiplication and Division Dominoes

Finally finished!
I've been working on a dominoes game that incorporates all of the multiplication and division fact families and I finally posted it last night. To balance out my product availability, I removed a freebie and I'm going to share it here! That way, I don't have too much of the same thing on Teachers Pay Teachers and I can keep a freebie I like available for people to use.

If I goofed up, please leave a comment so that I can fix it. The link is to the dominoes bundle, however, there are separate files for facts 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12. I also have a game up that has a mix of multiplication and division problems. 

More to come....

I wanted to a complete set of multiplication and division dominoes out before I set out on my next project. I'm hoping to get out my Christmas Spanish Vocabulary set out in the next few days. I've done a bit of research and this edition will have more than my Halloween things. 

Meetings

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I have to go to a meeting. on. a. Saturday. Too many meetings could have just been an email. It's not a school/work meeting either.

Reading, Writing, Comparing, and Rounding Decimals Task Cards

New Product!

A few days ago, I added this product to my store. When it comes to math, as well as many other things in life, practice makes perfect. These are similar to the addition and subtraction task cards I made a few weeks ago here. My students liked using these cards before a test to practice. Another good game to use these for is SCOOT.
To play:
1. Place a task card on each student's desk. Have everyone solve the problem on their desk.
2. When the teacher says "scoot," all students move to the next desk and solve the next problem.
3. Repeat until everyone makes it back to their desks.

Teething
Poor Baby A is teething like crazy! Her bottom teeth are still working their way through, but now the top teeth are starting to work their way through. Any recommendations? We're going through teething rings, Orajel, cold wash clothes, and more.

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Coming Soon

I've been slacking on this blog, so there is a lot more coming up. Look for Halloween Spanish vocabulary activities, multiplication and division dominoes, and more!

Addition and Subtraction Dominoes

Another Teachers Pay Teachers Update
I finally posted my last stock item: Addition and Subtraction Fact Family Dominoes

I made the game for facts 0-10, 11-15, and 16-20 as well as a bundle selling all of the games together. This would be great for centers or fast finishers!

Before starting on Teachers Pay Teachers, I spent several weeks making the products to start off and now I can go back to my ideas for posts. The trouble is, where to start now?

Baby A
I'll have to see if I can find a picture later, but my little girl just turned 8 months and is teething up a storm! Hopefully soon she will be a bit more mobile.

Multiplication and Division Dominoes

Dominoes!
I used to love this game growing up. We would play for Family Home Evening a lot. It got pretty competitive. I saw a version of this for homophones and got the idea to make them for math facts.

The Fact Family Dominoes are my free sample with just a few of the multiplication facts. The Multiplication and Division Fact Family Dominoes include both multiplication and division facts for students to practice. These games would be great for centers, fast finishers, or anything else you may think of!

Coming Soon:

I have three sets of these coming: Facts 1-10, Facts 11-15, and Facts 16-20. I have some editing to finish and then over to my husband for the quality review!

November No Prep Journal Prompts: Three Things Thursday

1. November Journal Prompts
My next product that will be added to Teachers Pay Teachers: November Journal Prompts!

When I have students write, I've found that it comes in handy to have extra options for prompts for them to choose from. In this packet, there are 2 prompts for each day in November, along with bonus prompts in case more are needed. On each page, there is also space for a picture to be drawn to accompany the writing. 

2. Flipp

If you shop at Walmart, this app is very helpful. Based on your location, it will look up deals based on what you add to your list. Then take it to check out and the cashier will price match for you. To make things go faster, we organize our cart based on whether or not we have a deal on that item. That way you aren't going back and forth in the line. 

3. Baby A

So our daughter is almost 8 months and is a rolling tease. She gets almost completely rolled over from back to stomach, but then rolls back over. Last night, I found her sleeping peacefully on her stomach. Here's hoping she'll roll over while she is awake!

What's going on: Addition and Subtraction Task Cards

Teachers Pay Teachers
Within the next few days, I plan on starting a Teachers Pay Teachers store. My first items:

                                    

I've used math task cards for test reviews, with substitutes, for fast finishers, and more. One of my students' favorite ways of using the task cards was to play Musical Task Cards.
Directions:
1) Set out the task cards all over the room. Each student needs a piece of paper and a pencil.
2) Everyone starts out standing by a task card. Once the music starts, students must move around the room until the music stops.
3)  When the music stops, students must find a task card and solve the problem on it before the music starts again.
4)  As soon as you are ready or the majority of students are done, start the music again and have the students start moving even if they haven't finished solving the problem.
5)  Repeat until everyone gets a chance to solve every problem. Review the solutions as a class.

Halloween 
                             

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At church, I work with the girls age 12-18. For our Tuesday night activity (mutual), we started making Halloween themed wreaths to give to girls who haven't been able to come very often. 

                                                               

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I'm excited to see how they turn out. Several of the young women (what girls ages 12-18 are called) made extras so they could take one too. Happy to say it was a successful part one!

Four Months and Counting!

Why does my 3 month old hate tummy time and why is she in love with her legs?

I like making these announcements in Photoshop. I think it's a bit of a step up from just posting one picture and commenting on things that are new.

My mom and I struggled to get pictures of Baby A on her blessing day, so she thought I should try and take a few. Baby A hates her blessing dress! She cried most of the time, but I did get the funny one where she is sticking her tongue out at me, so at least there's that.

We are supposed to do tummy time every day, and we do, but she cries the whole time. I've tried all of the tricks in the book and on the internet....any recommendations? I try and have her in different positions, different surfaces and toys to grab her interest. I am at a loss.

When Baby A was first born, she had a lot of trouble with gas. Doing bicycles with her legs was the only thing that worked. Now, she plays with her legs and swings them up all the time. Is this normal?

Every week I feel slightly less and less like a zombie and more like a human being again. While I do love Baby A, I can't wait until she starts sleeping through the night. I've always had trouble sleeping, but this is a lot, even for me.

Baby Must-Haves:Swaddling Blankets-Aden + Anais and Ideal

Aden+Anais muslin blanket

Ideal by Aden+Anais

      While I was pregnant, people were always giving me advice on what to do. Some of it revolved around swaddling blankets. Doing research on blankets, I found a bunch of different brands. However, I was given a ton of blankets for my baby showers to use. We live in California and it gets pretty hot here (this last summer hit 107+ degrees), so a lightweight blanket would be best.

    One person gave us the first blanket pictured and it was perfect! Nice and big, plus super soft and light so I didn't have to worry about Baby A getting too hot.

Aden+Anais blankets

         I really wanted back up blankets in case something happened to the first. I searched and found them, but we are on a pretty tight budget since we are saving for a house. So I did my research and found this:

Ideal by Aden+Anais

         I found the Ideal by Aden+Anais at Walmart and immediately snatched them up. I thought there would be more similarities, but these are pretty different blankets. Both lines are lightweight and fairly big. However, the original Aden+Anais blankets are significantly larger than the Ideal line. The quality is similar, but in this case, you get what you pay for. Baby A can't tell the difference, which is great! She is happy with any of the blankets and loves to chew on them .

       In the end, if you want a higher quality blanket, go with Aden+Anais. However, if you are fine with anything, Ideal will save you some money.

Graco Baby Swings: A Review

a bit blurry but a better view of the whole thing

           My parents gave us this wonderful swing for Christmas! Baby swings are a must have it seems. There have been a few instances where Baby A has an explosion and I can just stick her in there while I clean everything up. It's also nice when she is fussy. 

           She hated it for a while until Calvin figured out that you can switch the direction it swings and now she loves it! She loves staring at the teddy bears on the mobile and the music option. 

Pros:

+I picked this one mainly because it has the highest weight limit of any other option of baby swing that I found. The weight max is 30 lbs when most swings were 20-25 lbs. 

+It swings in two different directions.

+You can take off the seat portion and have it as a little rocker, which is nice if you want to keep an eye on the baby while you are getting ready.

+It comes in a gender neutral color, so you can use it for a boy or a girl.

+It has 6 different speeds of swinging. 

Cons:

+It takes up a ton of space. I have no clue how we are going to store this once Baby A is done with it.

        We got it at Babies R Us, but you can find a similar one here at Amazon. 

        Does anyone have a baby product that they really love?