Primary Sources and SMORE

SMORE

https://www.smore.com/

We love to use this tool -- Flashy, fun, and a little qwirky it offers great way to communicate with students, parents, and each other inside and outside the classroom. Try some of these primary source ideas out! 

Ways to use this tool with primary sources:

Infographic: SMORE Infographic

Written Ideas: 

• Have students create a newsletter with a collection of primary sources and related links and then share it with peers.
• Students can create a primary source newsletter and list for a local museum, park or community group and show the history timeline of those groups.
• Create a Primary Source of the Week Newsletter and send it out to history classes with tips on how to analyze that source.
• Using the snip-it or (on a mac command shift 4), digitally “cut apart a primary source and load a sequence of smaller pieces of one picture in order to focus on one part of a picture or source.  
• Have students collect an annotated resources list of primary sources tied to their favorite book and share with colleagues in the classroom to illuminate places that area and in the text they are reading.
• Students can share a newsletter with parents and the community showcasing their annotated resources sets of primary sources to an authentic audience
• Have students use SMORE to collect a variety of primary sources resources available on a topic for a common month of study like women’s history and include links from the LOC.gov website that encourage further investigation or study.
• Students can collaborate with a local historic site to create a series of newsletters highlighting the primary sources in the collection so that the historic resources can be viewed by the community.
• Have students contact local historic sites to ask about resources on a particular subject and create a newsletter highlighting the buildings and resources in a collaborative nature. Then, each of these sites can share the newsletter and build capacity using authentic work from students. (IE: Students can use photos from the Loc.gov site on Japanese internment, then collect resources from Heart Mountain, Manzanar, and Amache to showcase the historic sites now being preserved)