Spotlight on Sources:
Welcome to Renzulli Learning’s Spotlight on Sources, some of our most engaging resources to excite and inspire your students!
Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? Poetry can be a valuable tool to teach writing as well as reading comprehension. This week we are featuring our favorite Poetry related activities! It’s a great opportunity for your students to learn about a new Poet or style of poetry!
Looking to enter poetry competitions? Check out upcoming Contests & Competitions! If the deadline is too close, get ready for next year’s competition.
Check out a few of our favorite activities below!
Don’t forget, if you want to assign a weekly activity simply search the title of the weekly activity from your Teacher Dashboard and then send the activity to a student as a favorite! To locate these activities within Renzulli Learning you can SEARCH Enrichment Activities and type in the title of the activity you would like to locate. For more ideas to infuse enrichment activities with your curriculum, please visit the Unit Supplements on the Teacher Site, under “Teach.” We can also link these enrichment resources to your regular curriculum if you send us a theme or topic.
K-2
Poetry in Action: Anansi Does the Impossible
Websites
If you like the book "Anansi Does the Impossible," then you'll love this site! View photographs of an outdoor dramatic interpretation of the book, featuring brightly costumed dancers.
Unique Shel Silverstein
Research Sites
The author of "The Giving Tree" brought poetry to readers who didn't expect to like poetry! Learn more about poet and illustrator Shel Silverstein.
Creative Communication Poetry Contest
Reading / Online Activities
Do you enjoy writing poetry? Visit this site to find out details as to how to enter your poem into a poetry contest. Winners share thousands in cash and prizes, and there is no entry fee. Some entries will be selected to be published in an anthology created from the contest. There are three contests a year, so any time is a good time to enter! Students in grades K through 12 are eligible.
3-5
Independent Study
Lyrics are the words that are put to music. A songwriter may write both the music and the lyrics, or a lyric writer may put words to a tune that someone else has written. Either way, the same skill is required in choosing and arranging just the right words. Have you ever written words to a song? Have you ever thought about the different ways in which messages are communicated by songs? If you are interested in writing lyrics, this project will help you write some of your own.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Virtual Field Trip
Do you love writing poetry? Get an up-close and personal account of one of Maine's most famous poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, without leaving your seat! You'll be inspired after learning about his interesting life and wonderful works!
PoeticPower: Creative Communication Essay Contest
Contests & Competitions
Do you love writing nonfiction? This awesome contest is looking for writers like you to write 250 words on any nonfiction topic. The fun part is that you will be competing against other writers your own age, and more than $3,000 is awarded for each contest! Just be sure to stay under 300 words and write your word count at the bottom. Students in grades 4 through 12 are eligible. Good luck!
6-9
Contests & Competitions
Become a published poet! Writing haiku is fun, and it's great practice in saying a lot in just a few words. If you're in grade 7-12, submit up to three haiku. You might win $50! Read some winning entries from past years at this website, along with the judges' comments.
Creativity Training
Chants, raps, cheers, and poetry can be performed anywhere, even if your voice is as bad as mine! I encourage you to incorporate chanting into your lessons, and see how it builds energy for learning.
Virtual Field Trips
This online exhibition from the National Library of Ireland allows you to tour the life and writings of W.B. Yeats. View a timeline or wander from room to room. You will find videos, manuscripts, and artifacts related to the great Modernist poet and playwright.
10-12
History / Virtual Field Trip
This course prepares you to read more deeply and write more clearly about works of literature. Through an engaging collection of videos, authentic readings, and support material from a variety of sources, you will learn to appreciate literature from different genres. You will learn about different genres of poetry and the history of some of our greatest poets. You will broaden your vocabulary while you sharpen your academic and creative writing skills. Interaction with other students will help you to refine your thinking about the reading and writing as well. You will learn to write under time pressure, and have the opportunity to complete practice assignments that are similar to those you will find on the AP examination. There are no prerequisites; you don’t have to take the AP exam to join the course. If you want to learn about poetry, literature and writing, this course is for you.
Creativity Training
This is a site for people who love poetry. Robert Pinsky, a U.S. Poet Laureate, created this site to bring together people who feel that poetry has had an impact on their lives. The site includes poems, videos, books, a community homepage, as well as letters that people have written about what the poems have meant to them.
Contests & Competitions
Enter free online poetry contests which are managed by PoetrySoup Premium Members. Poetry contests are held every day and anyone can enter. All competitions are free and you can enter as many contests as you want. You keep copyrights on all of your poems. Some poetry contests even have prizes! See Contest Submission Guidelines.
Each week, we will send you a few examples of our best and most popular resources. For more ideas to connect enrichment activities with your curriculum, please visit the Unit Supplements on the Teacher Site, under “Teach.” We can also link these enrichment resources to your regular curriculum if you send us a theme or topic. Use the Submit Your Resource button on the Teacher Dashboard to send us the resources you already have or submit an idea for a new Super Starter Project!