January and February are PACKED with so many important days – New Years, MLK Day, 100th 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. Students love spending time learning about Martin’s life, and other African Americans positively impacting how we interact with one another.
Favorite Texts About Change the World
How can we change and impact the world around us? During our learning, we focus on a variety of options. Every person has special talents that can be leveraged to make our world better.
- Using Our Voices: Voice of Freedom, Say Something, No Voice Too Small
- With our Actions: The Man Who Built a Library, Let the Children March, This Is Your Time, Sometimes People March
- Sharing our Dreams: Martin’s Big Words, Mae Jemison: A Kid’s Guide to Reaching Your Dreams,
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.
Ways Dr. Martin Luther King Changed the World
Using a variety of books, we explore different ways to change the world. From marching to preaching to writing to inventing – we can make the world a better place doing a lot of different things.
During small groups, 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!
Writing About Our Learning
Sharing How We Can Impact the World
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.
Well friends, how do you celebrate Martin Luther King Day? I’d loved to hear your ideas!
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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
This is great! As MLK Day is approaching, I was trying to create a small lesson for my first graders and I saw the BrainPop Jr.video and thought it would be a good resource to use as well. Thank you for sharing your ideas!
Hi Catherine,
First, thank you SO MUCH for all the wonderful ideas you share. I’m in awe of your teaching!
I tried the link for Martin’s Big Words, but the YouTube video is “unavailable due to a copyright claim by Weston Woods.”
Best wishes1
As Coretta Scott King tells us, honoring MLK Day in the classroom isn’t just a way to introduce younger kids to the civil rights leader and his legacy, it’s also a good way to impress the concept of service on our students and talk about their role in their communities and in making change.