January and February are PACKED with so many important days – New Years, MLK Day, 100th Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day. Although there are so many special days, I do prioritize Martin Luther King Day during this busy season and my friends love spending 2 weeks learning about Martin’s life and what he stood for.
Starting out our unit with BrainPop Jr.’s free MLK video gives up a general overview and something to really dig into. Many of our 1st graders have never heard of Dr. King, so it’s the perfect introduction.
Since our theme time is so limited in the afternoon, I worked hard to integrate our social studies and science units into our core reading time. Through Scholastic Reading Club, I have guided reading sets of Martin Luther King Jr. from National Geographic Kids and Let’s Dream, Martin Luther King. These are books that work really well for my above-grade level 1st graders so they would be just-right for grade level 2nd graders.
During guided reading, we also pull out of Scholastic News Magazines. I laminate these magazines each year, so my future classes can use them. This is the first magazine of the year that is written in a two-column format and my 1st graders feel like ‘real’ readers when they read this!
After learning all about Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream, we love brainstorming our dreams for the world. These dreams make a perfect hallway display and a sweet writing piece for our 1st grade portfolio.
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Thank you so much for linking up to Show & Tell Tuesday and sharing so many awesome ideas!
Denise
Sunny Days In Second Grade
Thanks for stopping by to check out my MLK activity! Happy to be your newest follower!
Gina
Beach Sand and Lesson Plans
Thanks for sharing the link to the video! That's great!! I'm going to pin it to my Pinterest board so I will remember!!!
Amanda
Collaboration Cuties
I am so glad you stopped by my giveaway and I have now found your blog! I just LOVE your design!! Thank you for this great post on all these resources for MLK day. This is wonderful!
~Holly
Fourth Grade Flipper
Hi Holly! Thanks so much for stopping by; you've made my day! 🙂 This was my first attempt at blog design, so I am really pleased with how it turned out. Plus, I love Sandra's (Sweet Times in First) glitter paper. I hope you found some resources your students will love!
-Catherine