I was drawn to the article from the Library of Congress Magazine (which is free online) called Postcards From America in the July/August edition. It was interesting to learn that postcards were not only a form of communication but a prized possession of some who collected them and placed them into albums.
What a great way to start the new school year with students creating a “real" postcard of their own about their vacation or about their family. I think this is a great way to introduce children to primary sources and to also learn about the beginning of the postcard. https://guides.loc.gov/postcards
Cheryl Best
- Wonderful article from the Library of Congress Magazine Page 2 (pdf). I love your lesson idea for the beginning of school and it is a great way for students to get to know each other. They could either create a digital postcard using a slide program or choose one of the Library of Congress newly online postcards that they liked. They certainly paint a picture of American in the 1900’s.
My favorite so far is the one of the dog driving the car:
We love using postcards in the ELA classroom! Here is a link to a list of lesson plans and teaching resources sharing how to use or create postcards: https://www.readwritethink.org/search?s=postcard. Those resources are from ReadWriteThink.org. We also have an online Postcard Creator: https://interactives.readwritethink.org/postcard.
On a personal note, my husband's Godmother collects vintage postcards and I love the hunt of trying to find her unique cards that match her hobbies and interests.
So many great resources and ideas here, which I've included in an update to a post on the Primary Source Nexus.
Be sure to also take a look at Reminders from the Ceiling Breakers: Create and Share Postcards Showcasing Women Who Defied Stereotypes and this animated postcard from
Cheryl Davis
.
Another great discussion thread is Postcards and Maps, started by
Soline Holmes
.
Feeling the love for postcards, and sharing this on-point article from yesterday's Public Domain Review.
After reading the article about postcards shared by
Wendy Stephens
, I tried finding postcards in the Library with books in them, and I completely failed at my task! The article did get me thinking, however, about taking photos of students reading and then printing the photographs as postcards for some kind of Library display. Another idea would be to have students write short book reviews on the postcards.