Spotlight on Sources:
Welcome to Renzulli Learning’s Spotlight on Sources, some of our most engaging resources to excite and inspire your students!
Renzulli Learning has Enrichment Activities for every occasion and every subject! We know that engaged students are motivated students! This week we bring you some of our favorite Writing resources to enrich and engage your students.
Have students explore our favorite activities and then utilize their journals to share their own writing whether they are in person, virtual, or in a hybrid model! Students can find their journal by going to the Student Dashboard and selecting Journal in the upper right hand navigation. Provide Students with a prompt in their Inbox, or have students respond to the activity. Once students have completed their journal you can provide feedback and comments from the Teacher Dashboard!
Check out a few of our favorite activities below!
K-2
Cinquain Poems - Website
Writing poetry can be a lot of fun! Follow the pattern of Cinquain Poetry and you can make your own poem, just like the students at Pocantico Hills School. They wrote about bears, but you can choose any topic you like!
Make-A-Character - Creativity Training
Imagine that you are a cartoonist who is creating a character for a comic strip. This activity gives you drawings of different parts of faces for you to put together an original character. Then, you can develop your imagination and writing skills by writing a brief story about the character.
New Directions in Creativity Mark 3, Make-A-Character
2 Bee or Not 2 Bee - Online Activities
What's the buzz all about? Help the bees make their honey! Find flowers for them by choosing the correct verb tense that completes the sentence.
3-5
Truth and Fiction: A Memory Exercise – Creativity Training
What does it mean to write a memoir? How do you know where to draw the line between truth and fiction? Try this memory exercise to enhance your memoir writing!
Cartiin Captions – Creativity Training
Be creative and use your sense of humor to write captions for each cartoon picture. Have fun with this one!
DIY Poems – Online Activities
D.I.Y stands for do it yourself. Finish writing this poem by yourself. See if your poem is like Phyllis Shand Allfrey's poem.
6-9
Creativity Communication Poetry Contest – Contests and Competitions
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!
Grammar Essentials – Research SItes
When some people hear the term grammar, they become frightened. But this website shows you that there's nothing to be worried about! Grammar is made easy at this website. With examples of grammar usage within the text, this website offers you helpful hints that you can keep in mind as you write your stories, essays, and more!
5 Nonfiction Writing Techniques That Will Keep Readers Turning Pages – Research Sites
As you approach high school, you will be reading more and more non-fiction. Explore this website to learn about 5 Nonfiction Writing Techniques That Will Keep Readers Turning Pages.
5 Nonfiction Writing Techniques That Will Keep Readers Turning Pages
10-12
Resources for Young Writers and Playwrights – Websites
Do you love to write? Are you interested in writing stories, poems, plays, or even the lines for a greeting card? If so, this site is just for you! This site has numerous links to some great resources for young writers.
A Brief History of the Elements of Style – Critical Thinking
What qualities contribute to a good writing style? For many years, would-be writers have followed the guidance of a slim volume called "The Elements of Style." William Strunk, Jr. wrote the first edition in 1918. In 1959, after Strunk's death, E.B. White revised and expanded the work. A recent book, reviewed here, comments that the two writers differed in their attitudes and approaches — and that these differences make their advice more effective.
A Brief History of the Elements of Style
National High School Essay Contest – Contests and Competitions
The Secretary of State wants to know what you think about Foreign Service in the world today. Write an essay of 750 to 1000 words, and you may be selected to win one of the cash prizes. The topic varies each year. One year the topic was to "analyze and explain how the members of the Foreign Service promote United States national interests by participating in the resolution of today's major international issues." If this year's deadline has passed, keep checking the website for next year's contest information.
National High School Essay Contest
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