Spotlight on Sources:
Welcome to Renzulli Learning’s Spotlight on Sources, some of our most engaging resources to excite and inspire your students!
Looking to avoid that “Summer Slide” for your students? Look no further than Renzulli Learning for engaging, enriching ideas! Students can “Type I and II” explore the Enrichment Activities Database on their own, embark on a “Type III” Passion Project, or you can use the “Stop Summer Slide” Assignment Templates to send out work to them before you grab your flip-flops and run off to your own summer adventures!
As a teacher, you can decide to take this to whatever level you are comfortable with. If you are a Gifted and Talented teacher who will work with the same kids next year, this is a fabulous way to stay connected over the summer. If you are a grade level teacher, you can consider whether you want to stay connected to your current students or if it’s time to transition the classes over so that you can get to know next year’s kiddos and hit the ground running in the fall! They can stay connected to you AND also select next year’s teacher if you want them to. There is no wrong way to approach this – be creative!
You might simply suggest to students that they continue Type I and Type II exploring the Renzulli Learning Enrichment Database for interesting activities, creative and critical thinking, and reading based on their Profile results, or by searching for various topics. Taking it a step further, you might suggest topics they should search for and/or request that they submit reflections to you throughout the summer in their Renzulli Learning Journal. You will be able to comment back to them – if you want to, that is!
How about suggesting they try a Type III Independent Investigation - aka a Passion Project - using the Project Wizard to organize their research? They can start with a blank slate and design their own inquiry-based investigation or get a head start by utilizing one of the Renzulli Learning Super Starter Projects, available in a wide variety of topics and for every interest area.
If you want to be more specific in their requirements, you can check out the many Assignment Templates for “Stop Summer Slide!” Assignment Templates give you the ability to distribute to your students electronically for completion. Watch the video above for instructions on how to access the Assignment Templates as well as examples of the above suggestions. Students can also use Renzulli Learning to locate and engage with ebooks and audio books, and use their RL Journal for reading responses. You can revisit this previous Sharing Showcase post for more details on using Renzulli Learning to engage with books!
Encourage parental involvement by having parents set up their own accounts in the Parent Portal. Visit the Teacher Site, Resources tab and locate Partnering with Parents for the customizable Summer Letter and Parent Quickstart Registration Directions. If you have not yet sent home Student Profiles to parents, this is a great time to do so!
Whichever level you take it to, you will be providing your students with the opportunity to practice and apply their learning throughout the summer, reducing the tendency to “Summer Slide!” Please share what your students are doing this summer using #stopsummerslide and tag @RenzulliLearn!
For more on Summer Slide, see: PBS Nova: How to Minimize Summer Slide
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.
Science Activities
Design a Habitat
K - 2
This totally fun simulation allows you to create up to five different habitats with a selection of customizable, cartoonish animals and plants that belong in the habitats. In addition, you can enter the "lost dimension" where they can craft their own animals from the parts of different animals!
Critter Craze
K - 2
Different animals can occupy the same habitat, especially if they have certain traits and characteristics in common. They may need the same food and shelter resources. Learn more about animals' basic needs, some ways to group animals based on their similar characteristics, and some different habitats.
The Water Cycle
K - 2
Water is always on the move. Rain falling where you live today may have been water in a distant ocean days before. And the water you see in a river or stream may have been snow on a high mountaintop.
Reading Activities
Chunk that Word!
K - 2
Mr. Turkey needs your help. Click on this site and help him sing "Chunk that Word". Then, you can practice some word chunking on your own.
StoryPlace Pre-School Library
PreK - 2
This website offers you many, many online books and corresponding online activities. This library database is full of stories that will be read out loud as you follow along reading the words. All the stories have animated pages, so you can see the stories unfold right before your eyes! Happy reading!
Lit2Go
K - 12
This website presents hundreds of texts in MP3 format, that you can listen to or read along with. Find poems, novels, and nonfiction, or explore collections such as texts by African Americans and women, or texts about science and math.
Math Activities
ABCya: Adventure Man and the Counting Quest
K - 5
Click the link to join Adventure Man as he races to find the hidden treasure before his arch nemesis, the sinister Mr. Thief gets to it first! You'll put your knowledge of multiples and skip-counting to the test as you make your way through swamps, canyons, and temples in this exhilarating counting quest. Will Adventure Man get to the treasure in time or is he doomed to meet his untimely demise?
Arrow Cards
K - 5
Practice making two- and three-digit numbers with this activity! Click on a card in each row. Then hit the red button, and the cards will be summed up.
CoolMath: Connect the Dots
K - 9
Without lifting your pencil, can you connect all of the dots with four straight lines? Visit the page practice your critical thinking skills.
Each week, we will send you teaching suggestions and a few examples of our best and most popular resources. 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.
Thanks for being a part of the Renzulli Learning family and we hope you find these resources helpful.
Your Renzulli Learning Team