Spotlight on Sources:
Welcome to Renzulli Learning’s Spotlight on Sources, some of our most engaging resources to excite and inspire your students!
What are you teaching? Renzulli Learning has activities for every subject area! This week we are highlighting resources for History. Are you studying the American Revolution? World War II? Ancient Civilizations? Try using the Lessons feature in Renzulli Learning to find amazing differentiated resources all about this topic.
To create Lessons, go to your Teacher Dashboard and click Teach, then, select Lessons. Click New Lesson and use the drop down menu to select the Grade Level, Subject Area, and Topic for the lesson. You can select the number of differentiated resources that you would like the system to provide to your students. You can choose comprehension questions from our database or write your own!
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
National Geographic for Kids: States- Alaska
Websites
Alaska is nicknamed "The Last Frontier." Do you want to know more? Visit this site to learn all about Alaska's history, geography, first inhabitants, natural resources, landforms and more!
Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government
Research Sites
Do you have questions about the U.S. government and how it works? Let Ben Franklin guide you through it! Here is a place where you can learn about the branches of government, the election process, and how laws are made. It includes debate topics, word puzzles, historical documents, and more! Click on the kite to find information for your grade level!
American Government - History for Kids
Websites
The federal government of the United States, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution, is divided into three branches. Find out all about American Government.
3-5
Benjamin Franklin
Research Sites
Research Sites
Without electricity, our lives would be drastically different! Thanks to Benjamin Franklin, we can now enjoy watching television and reading by a lamp. It was Ben’s belief that electricity and lightning are one and the same that led to his kite experiment and his invention of the lightning rod. Click the link to learn more about Ben’s discovery!
The Ohio State University- Back to History: Primary Source Activities
Projects & Independent Study
What can you learn from old stuff? Find out at this website, where you'll find activities for all ages, built around primary sources. Discover what a flint knife reveals about ancient Paleo-Indians, how a political cartoon brings the American Revolution to life, how a photograph or an automobile part can help us understand the Industrial Revolution, and much more. Click any blue link to find study questions and a link to the primary source.
African American Inventors
Research Sites
Venture through history with this timeline! Meet great African American inventors who pioneered modern technology. Click the link to read more about notable African American inventors!
6-9
Victorian Timeline
Websites
Websites
The period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 1837 until her death in 1901 was marked by sweeping progress and ingenuity.
Electric Car History
Online Activities
Online Activities
Here you can find the interactive timeline giving a brief overview of some of the developments within the electric vehicle industry. Electric vehicles (EV's) were invented in the 1800's, but mass-produced petrol-powered cars like Henry Ford’s Model T, introduced in 1908, quickly became more widely available and affordable. The electric vehicles had all but disappeared by 1935 – until the realization that fossil fuel is a finite resource. This, combined with growing concerns about the damaging effects of emissions from petrol-powered motors, has led to a resurgence in interest in electric vehicles. To use this interactive timeline, move your cursor or finger over any of the labelled boxes and select to get further information.
National Geographic: Alexander the Great
Research Sites
Research Sites
Alexander the Great, a Macedonian king, conquered the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, the Middle East, and parts of Asia in a remarkably short period of time. His empire ushered in significant cultural changes in the lands he conquered and changed the course of the region’s history. Learn more!
10-12
A Closer Look at Jefferson's Declaration
Research Sites
This essay compares Thomas Jefferson's various drafts of the Declaration of Independence, and describes how the Continental Congress removed a passage denouncing the slave trade.
Research Sites
This essay compares Thomas Jefferson's various drafts of the Declaration of Independence, and describes how the Continental Congress removed a passage denouncing the slave trade.
1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire
Websites
Websites
The morning of April 18th, 1906, awakened people in San Francisco, California to violent earthquake shocks and devastating fires! Check out this website for images of primary documents. These documents include personal letters and testimonies from that fateful day. Relive one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history!
BBC Home: Prehistoric Life- Cavemen Facts
Websites
Websites
What would it be like to have lived with cavemen? Explore the life and times of cavemen, and take the caveman challenge! Find out if you are a chimp or a champ with the caveman challenge. BBC has archived this resource, but there is still some amazing information on this page!
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!