A Colorful Martin Luther King Bulletin Board

Happy Martin Luther King Day to those of you who will be celebrating his birthday this coming Monday.  My apologies for not getting this article published a few days ago as planned.

I saw making snowflakes out of strips of paper on Pinterest. (Wow can that be addicting!) Click on the link to check out my pin boards. You can find the original cute idea at Mrs. Carroll's Blog Spot Parade.  She made them on powder blue paper with pattern blocks.

Snowflakes are unique like people.  They are the same, but different, so I thought they’d be a great segue into Martin Luther King Activities.

Because people are beautiful and special no matter what color they are, I thought a beautiful blizzard of colorful flakes would make an interesting bulletin board.

Sesame Street’s We Are Different; We Are The Same is a great story to read & discuss to go with this activity, as the snowflake’s template is the same, but all of the flakes are also different in some way.  Older students could list ways they are different and ways that they are the same as their classmates on the back strips of their snowflakes.

Involve math by having students create a pattern on one strip.  I used a snowflake and heart paper punch.  These can be pre-cut by a room helper, or let students strengthen their hand muscles by punching 3 of each shape.

By making copies of students’ school photos, you can add charm to your board as well as make this a real keepsake project for parents, while creating an ABCABC pattern.

Another pattern is made when students choose 2 different color markers to write their name in an ABAB pattern on the 2^nd strip.

Let students know that Martin Luther King had a dream and explain to them what his dream was.  You can listen to his dream speech at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V57lotnKGF8  These other You Tube videos are all extremely short and will add interest to your day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=8AyF9Idh_iE I have a dream quote with soothing background music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiF2aAx0kds&feature=related  Cool motion typography. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNAy6Bhij8A Music video picture montage of Martin Luther King http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA7WCHfVRfc As part of the “I Have A Dream Project” people were asked what their dreams were.  I especially liked this one.

No matter how young, most students have a dream to be “something” when they grow up.  Brainstorm ideas with your students and write them on the board so they know how to spell their “dream careers.”

Write the sentence, “My dream is to be a/an ________________.” Children fill in the blank with what they want to be when they “grow up” and write their completed sentence on the 3^rd strip.

If you’re not celebrating Martin Luther King Day, you can always save this idea for next year and have students write a resolution/ goal or promise on the strip.

To expedite this center, and to make sure little ones can make a symmetric snowflake, I’ve made a template.

Students choose a color and put 2 strips on the template.  Have 2” pieces of scotch tape stuck around the table.

Children use 1 piece to adhere the 2 strips together that form the X.  They then place the 3^rd strip down the middle and use the 2^nd piece of tape to stick that strip to the other 2.

You can opt to use glue sticks, but I find that little ones rub glue all over the strip instead of one place, a lot of glue gets on the desk and is wasted and they take so much more time, or they don’t use enough glue and when they bring their snowflake up to be hung it is falling apart.

The snowflakes look awesome on a navy blue or black background.  Your caption could read:  “A Beautiful Blizzard of Brrr-illiant Work!” OR “We’re All Different; We’re All The Same!” OR “We’re Snow Special No Matter What Color Or How Flakey!”

Whenever I have a center where I want to make sure that I have a variety of ALL the colors on my b. board, I cut out only enough strips to make a class set of whatever with a few extra.

I assign a tabletop activity for students to accomplish first and then they transition to the art center when they are done.

The students who get down to business and stay focused get a wider variety of color choices.

My “pokey Joes” choose from the remaining colors. This has proven to be an incentive for some students, and I don’t end up with an all pink and purple b. board.

Click on the link to view/print the template, pix, and directions. Martin Luther King Snowflakes

Are you looking for some more Martin Luther King activities?  Click on the link to see the quickie projects in my Martin Luther King Mini Unit.

Whatever you're doing this coming Monday,  I hope it's simply marvelous!