FREE Newsletter

Lesson Plans - By Subject

Learning to Respect Each Other

Students will understand the following:
-Dr. Martin Luther King was a strong advocate of nonviolent protest and fought for civil rights for all Americans with an eloquence that can be found in speeches such as his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
-Throughout U.S. history, certain groups of people have been discriminated against for characteristics as superficial as the color of their skin. That racism still exists despite the passage of laws that make it illegal.
-Stereotypes can lead people to make unfair judgments about individuals and groups.
-Segregation is hurtful and unfair to those discriminated against.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Fact or Opinion Activity

Read a Brief Biography of MLK and Learn the Differences Between Fact and Opinion.

How Big Are Martin?s Big Words? Thinking Big about the Future.

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Caldecott Honor book, Coretta Scott King Honor book, and an Orbis Pictus Award winner, tells of King’s childhood determination to use “big words” through biographical information and quotations. Using this book as well as other resources on Dr. King, students explore information on King’s “big” words then choose one of two options: (1) they write about their own “big” words and dreams in stapled or stitched books, or (2) they construct found poems using an excerpt from one of King’s speeches.

Exploring the Power of Martin Luther King, Jr.?s Words through Diamante Poetry

Encourage your students to explore the ways that powerful and passionate words communicate the concepts of freedom, justice, discrimination, and the American Dream in Martin Luther King, Jr.?s “I Have a Dream” speech by paying attention to the details of King’s speech as they read and as they gather words to use in their own original poems.

Martin Luther King and Faith Ringgold- Quilting

Each student will make a drawing of an event in the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Once completed, they can be quilted together and displayed in the hall to celebrate Black History Month.