Spotlight on Sources:
Welcome to Renzulli Learning’s Spotlight on Sources, some of our most engaging resources to excite and inspire your students!
Service Learning is an important part of a student’s education. Teaching students concepts in the classroom that can be applied to their community at large is mutually beneficial to all involved. Service Learning provides the opportunity for students to connect the concepts and skills they are learning with real world action to help improve the lives of others around them. Service Learning also provides students the opportunity to reflect on their learning in order to more indepthly learn about the real life practice of empathy, service, and trustworthiness. These skills are essential as students learn and grow and provide important experience for their future workplace. All students, no matter their grade, can learn through Service activities.
This week we are highlighting Service Learning through our weekly activities!
The Renzulli Learning PBL module has a Community Service template that makes turning one of these activities into a project easy! Click here to learn more about our new Community Service PBL Template
To locate these activities within Renzulli Learning:
Under the 'Teach' navigation, click 'Search'.
On the Search page, 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
Campfire Games: Color It
Art
Smokey the Bear has drawn you some fun pictures to teach you about fire safety! Choose your favorite picture, then color and frame it. Cool!
Creative Recycling
Projects & Independent Study
Kids are all about fun, and they also love learning. If you can combine the two by coming up with interesting recycling activities for kids, you’ve cracked it. Teach them about our recycling responsibilities by playing games, and you’ll all be doing your bit for the environment. Here are five inspiring ideas.
Design an Earth-Friendly Birdhouse
Projects & Indepenent Study
Can you use waste or recycled materials to create a home for a small bird? Your birdhouse should include perches and a door, and it must be safe from cats and squirrels. Read the full instructions before you set to work.
3-5
Alex’s Lemonade Stand
Websites
This is an amazing story. Read about Alex's Lemonade Stand and see how her business changed the lives of many. What kind of business can you start in your front yard?
Budget Dumpster: Cleaning Up Your Community
Projects & Independent Study
If you look around your community, there are probably places where you notice trash everywhere. Now is the time to stop looking and start cleaning! Get permission from your town or city to clean up. Then, organize a day to clean up by working with local organizations and volunteers. Gather the materials necessary and arrange for the trash to be picked up. Maybe you can create your own annual clean-up day!
Earth Team Action Projects
Projects & Independent Study
Have you ever wondered what you could do to help the environment? Check out a list of ambitious programs that address major environmental issues. See how easy it is to get involved!
6-9
5 Ways to Respectfully Disagree
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Even though it is okay to have a different opinion than someone, it IS important to express your ideas and beliefs clearly and respectfully. This website will give you some helpful hints to make sure your point- of- view is made clear to your audience without hurting feelings. Always stand up for what you think is right, but make sure you are not being disrespectful along the way!
Amazing Kids! Magazine: Amazing Kid of the Month!
Websites
Websites
You may be a kid, but you can still make a large impact in your community! Each month, this online magazine focuses on one young person who has made a difference. Check out their stories. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the next Amazing Kid!
Dealing with Dilemmas
Projects & Independent Study
Projects & Independent Study
How do you respond when you witness injustice? Are you an upstander, a whistle-blower, or a bystander? Work through these lessons with your class or some friends to practice moral decision-making. You will engage in role-plays, study some modern heroes, and write about your own role models.
10-12
Stanford University: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Research Sites
Research Sites
When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, she was arrested. Parks' arrest inspired African American leaders to mount a bus boycott that lasted many months. Violence erupted, bombs were thrown at organizers' homes, but at last the Supreme Court integrated the buses, and soon thousands of African American riders were on the buses again — sitting where they pleased. Read about this important milestone in the Civil Rights Movement, listen to songs sung at organizational meetings, watch videos of Civil Rights leaders describing the events, and visit the photo gallery to see images. RealPlayer or Apple QuickTime Player is required for recordings at this website.
Coral Reef Alliance: Saving the World's Coral Reefs- Coral Reef Biodiversity
Websites
Websites
Coral reefs are believed by many to have the highest biodiversity of any ecosystem on the planet—even more than a tropical rainforest. Coral reefs, thanks to their diversity, provide millions of people with food, medicine, protection from storms, and revenue from fishing and tourism. Learn about the importance of Coral Reefs and Biodiversity.
Good Seeds, Better Lives for Poor Farmers
Websites
Websites
Local farmers in Africa are being included in projects to breed improved food-producing plants for their specific growing conditions. Organizers want to maintain genetic diversity in crops even while improving yields through breeding. Involving many people in the program is a key to keeping the great variation in crops that can protect food production against either changes in climate or the rise of new plant diseases.
Thanks for being a part of the Renzulli Learning family and we hope you find these resources helpful.
Your Renzulli Learning Team