Communication

Celebrate Special Days with Smore

Smore Team
4 min read
Solar eclipse Day newsletter template.

Use special days to jazz up your calendar

Dot Day 2017

by Roland Rois, Director of Technology, Ft. Sam Houston ISD, @drrjrios & Jeannine Freeman, District Instructional Technology Specialist, Ft. Sam Houston ISD, @TechTimeWithJ9

What we love about this newsletter: This newsletter is a great example of using a lesser-known day as a theme for special activities. Having special days and events helps break up routine and gives students a chance to try new skills. The newsletter is very theme-focused with the spotty background, complemented by the simple beige overlay.

Tips from Roland:

What are your tips for creating a Smore newsletter about special days?
When creating Smore for special days think like a “viewer.” That is, if I went to this Smore what would I want? Do I need links to other resources? Do I need videos? Do I need pics? Smore offers it all! So include as much as you can. And never be afraid to go back and add more after the fact. People will access your Smore long after your special day.

What tips would you give our user community for creating great newsletters for students, parents and colleagues?
My advice for users is to have fun with it! Smore gives you the ability to easily create stunning web pages with lots of great graphics and interactivity. Make it fun and liven up your Smores with cool pics, videos, sounds, links, etc. And, share this incredible resource with your students! They can use Smores for projects, special events, and more. Our students love it!

See Roland & Jeannie’s flyer here

Refocus special days to discuss important issues

Be My Valentine

by Tracy McMeans, Highschool Counselor at Stamford High School @mcmeanst

What we love about this newsletter: What a great use of special days for important conversations! Take a simple theme like love to discuss hate, bullying and abuse — help kids connect these topics and have a real understanding of such crucial issues.

See Tracy’s flyer here

Channel curiosity into learning

Solar Eclipse Day

by Diana Bush, 5th Grade Teacher at Holston View Elementary School

What we love about this newsletter: Definitely one of the prettiest Smore newsletters we’ve seen, this one really catches your eye and entices you to learn about eclipses. It’s not every day (or year) you see a solar eclipse, so students (and adults) are interested in understanding what’s up. This gorgeous newsletter feeds curiosity and explains how eclipses come to be.

See Diana’s flyer here

Use special days as a theme for your class

St. Patrick’s Day Science

by Laura Riley, Instructional Coach at Westmont Junior High School @lauramriley60

What we love about this newsletter: Using a special day as a way to make classwork a little more interesting is a great way to engage students especially if your main focus is green science experiments for St. Patrick’s day.

See Laura’s flyer here

Lay out a full week of small activities

Red Ribbon Week

by Rebecca Bostic, 2nd Grade Teacher at Turner/Bartels K-8 @QueenBostic7

What we love about this newsletter: Red ribbon week is about drug awareness, with a growing tradition of observing it with special clothes, beyond just red ribbons, to make the observance obvious around campus, even without special events. This newsletter is a great example for introducing a theme-packed week with bold images in an organized, clear way.

See Rebecca’s flyer here

Give students tools to create their own content

National History Day

by DeAnna Jackson Stalnaker, librarian at Chesapeake Bay Middle School

What we love about this newsletter: National history day could be a topic for a boring lecture, or you could send your students on a hunt for information about a topic of their choice and make it a day (and topic) they’ll remember. This newsletter is full of history related resources that can help students find all the information they need while introducing them to useful historical archives.

See DeAnna’s flyer here

Observe awareness days

Children’s Grief Awareness Day

by Danielle Audet, School Counselor at Corry High School

What we love about this newsletter: Observing awareness days is a great way to create conversations about the challenges people around us face. Host an event, ask students to wear a certain color in solidarity and create a Smore newsletter to spread the word.

See Danielle’s flyer here

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Smore Team

Smore makes it fun and effortless to create engaging newsletters that keep families informed and involved in their children's education journey. At Smore, we're passionate about empowering K-12 educators, schools, and districts to foster strong connections with families through vibrant, user-friendly newsletters, easy-to-use technology, and resources from education experts.

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