Teach children in grades 1, 2 and 3 using images from Renaissance picture books like Jane Shuter's "The Renaissance." Or, for fourth grade and up, you might use Andrew Langley's "Eyewitness Books: Renaissance." Older children can also explore books with detailed information about artists and styles of the Renaissance by reading for information. They'll gravitate towards images that appeal to their aesthetic sensibilities.
To conduct a presentation using images, such as paintings of the Italian Renaissance. You could show Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," Raphael's "Madonna dell Granduca" and Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Ask students to give their first reactions to images or to look for similarities and differences among artists.
Extend any Renaissance lesson in which you've introduced a picture book's illustrations or images from the Internet with literacy activities. For grades three to five, these artists are great subjects for a mini-biography. Students could write a poem to respond to a specific work of art. Give students information to refer to during writing time. You might keep a Renaissance image displayed on the SmartBoard during this time.
Fourth and fifth grade students can also learn about the rise of literacy during The Renaissance. The printing press was invented during the Renaissance and more people began to read books and pamphlets. Ask students to create a pamphlet, such as by folding a sheet of copy paper into a bi-fold or tri-fold pamphlet. Have them choose the artists, art works and facts to record in their Renaissance-themed pamphlet.