The Renaissance – Who was the most important person of the Renaissance?

A detailed lesson plan for year 8 history students. A class list is put into the Fruit Machine Name Picker at www.classtools.net to choose the Renaissance character each student should produce a research project on. This Renaissance project will be written in the first person to ensure that the student reads the information, under three clear headings. This is then placed onto a Renaissance Wiki (see the example my students have produced here). The class then has a balloon debate (instructions provided) to determine who the most important Renaissance person overall. An alternative approach is to use this website and worksheet – which is simpler and quicker, although less engaging perhaps for the students.