Spotlight on Sources:
Welcome to Renzulli Learning’s Spotlight on Sources, some of our most engaging resources to excite and inspire your students!
The Renzulli Learning Team wishes you the most joyous of holiday seasons as well as peace and happiness throughout the coming year.
The holidays are quickly approaching! Are you looking for something to do that’s fun and engaging to keep your students’ attention, while embedding important skills and standards? This week we are featuring our favorite holiday resources for this time of year. While not everyone celebrates every holiday, we have thousands of Enrichment Activities to engage students in learning about holiday traditions around the world. Check out our favorites below to jump start your holiday season.
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
Your Five Sense
Online Activities
Merry Christmas, Eric! He feels a wiggle, sees a blink, and hears a giggle. Listen to this story, read along, and follow the directions to see how you can use your five senses at Christmastime.
Build a Snowman
Online Activities
Do you like to build snowmen? Here is your chance to build a snowman by using your mouse to drag the pieces onto the snowman. See how many different kinds of snowmen you can make! Happy building.
Color Your Own Grinch Mask!
Websites
You, too, can be a Grinch this Christmas by making your very own Grinch mask. All you need are some crayons, scissors, ribbon, and the mask on this worksheet. Remember not to be too mean while you are the Grinch!
3-5
Christmas Trees
Fiction Books
Most historians agree that the first decorated Christmas trees appeared in the U.S. in the mid 1800s. Go back in time to explore the history of Christmas trees and the relationship between Christmas trees and humans. Get safety and care tips for these trees, too!
BBC Two: Reindeer Family and Me
Videos and Podcasts
Reindeer aren't just animals in holiday stories! This large breed of deer lives in the coldest regions in the world.
Ducksters Education Sites: Chinese Calendar
Websites
The Chinese calendar was developed by many of the Chinese dynasties of Ancient China. However, it was in 104 BC during the rule of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that the current calendar was defined. This calendar was called the Taichu calendar. It is the same Chinese calendar that is used today. Each year in the Chinese calendar is named after an animal. For example, 2012 was the "year of the dragon". There are 12 animals that the years cycle through. Every 12 years the cycle repeats itself. The Chinese believed that, depending on which year a person was born, their personality would take on the aspects of that animal.
6-9
11 Weird and Wonderful Christmas Traditions from Around the World
Websites
Websites
Christmas Around The World, Christmas, celebrate Christmas, Christmas Celebrations, Christmas in Germany, Christmas in England, Christmas in Norway, Christmas in Iceland, Christmas in Portugal, Christmas in the Philippines, Christmas in Brazil, Nativity Scene in Italy, Kids World Travel Guide, world travel guide, travel information, countries, Kids World Map, countries.
The Christmas Angel
Websites
Websites
Disagreeable old Miss Terry spends her Christmas Eve getting rid of toys from her childhood toy box. One by one she tosses them onto the sidewalk in front of her house, then secretly watches the little scenes that occur, which seem to confirm her belief that true Christmas spirit does not exist. Then the Angel from her childhood Christmas tree appears to show Miss Terry that she has not yet witnessed the final act of each of those little dramas... Living Age magazine in 1910 observed of The Christmas Angel, "Not since Charles Dickens laid down his pen forever has there been a prettier Christmas story written, one more full of the real spirit of Christmas or conveying a more seasonable lesson."
History of the Christmas Tree
Websites
Websites
How long ago did families start using trees as a symbol for Christmas? Did they always use fir trees? Get your Christmas tree questions answered by reading about its history!
10-12
World Strides: December Holidays Around the World
Research Sites
Research Sites
Few months present as many multicultural celebrations as December. From Christmas to Omisoka, the last month of the year is a “world of holidays.” Let’s take a look at some of December’s holidays around the world.
Why a Ball Drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve
Websites
Websites
Each year on New Year's Eve, thousands gather in Times Square in New York City to watch as a 12-foot-wide sphere slides down a skyscraper. Millions more watch by television, counting down the seconds to the start of a new year. When and how did this custom begin? The answers may surprise you!
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Fiction Books
Fiction Books
A Christmas Carol's enduring appeal lies in its heart rending appeal to help those living in impoverished conditions. The highly sentimental and touching pictures of Christmas celebrated in homes where festivities cannot coexist with grinding poverty, told in typical Dickensian style, make it both a literary masterpiece and a plea for social reform.
Thanks for being a part of the Renzulli Learning family and we hope you find these resources helpful.
Your Renzulli Learning Team