1-2-3 Come Do Some More Martin Luther King Day Activities With Me

There is a ton of new vocabulary involved with MLK.  To help with that, I made a list of 62 - words that relate to Dr. King, that students will undoubtedly come across while reading.

To help build their vocabularies, select whatever words you'd like your students to learn, and have them add the words to their MLK Dictionary, where they write, define and use the word in a sentence. 

The packet includes 2 different covers (for upper and lower el), a list of 62-MLK-related words + 62 trace and write word cards. Click on the link to view/download the  MLK "My Words" dictionary.

Another way to immerse your students with this new vocabulary is by searching for words in a word find.  I've designed 2 word searches for Martin Luther King Day (1 for lower el, as well as an upper el version).

Students search for words from left to right and top to bottom.  Tell students to start with the first word and look for the initial letter, as well as chunks of letters.  They will undoubtedly come across other words while they do that.

Have them highlight the words that they find, as well as cross those words off the list.  Work from left to right first, and then any words that they  haven't found will probably be from top to bottom. 

Word searches are great for Daily 5 Word Work, early finishers, sub folders or a fun homework assignment.  Click on the link to view/download the Martin Luther King Day Word Searches.

Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, is a great book to transition with.  It's filled with a lot of my favorite MLK quotes.  

If you'd like to see a list of my favorite quotations of Martin Luther King, click on the link.  Make an overhead of the quotes. Have students pick one or two of their favorites to write about; or throug out the month of January, write one of MLK's inspirational quotes on the board.  As a Daily 5 activity, have students record the quote in their writing journals and then comment on it. 

For a fun "craftivity" and interesting MLK bulletin board, have students choose a thought-provoking quote and design a poster around it.  Before you hang them up, have students carry their posters in a peaceful mock-march down the hallways of your school or around the playground.

I thought it would also be fun to challenge students to think of as many words as they could, using the letters in Martin Luther King. This would make a nice Daily 5 word work activity.

I've included a list of 525 words that I thought of.  While I was making my list, I thought how appropriate that many of these words could be directly associated with Dr. King's life. i.e he was a great man, and gave the ultimate sacrifice,  so I decided to assign the extra assignment of having students highlight the words they thought of, that were relevant to MLK's life.  Click on the link to view/download the Martin Luther King Word Challenge.

Part of the reason it's difficult for children to understand these terms, is because in their unrealistic little world, where everything seems "fair" they are unable to comprehend what prejudice of the 60's was like. 

To help them understand, I define the new words and then give them examples that they can personally relate to.  Children are all about fairness.  It's extremely frustrating for them when things are not fair.  "No fair; I had it first."  "That's not fair; he cheated." etc. 

A teacher today would never dream of cruelly excluding a group of children from a treat, activity or whatever, based on the color of their skin.   Children have become secure in the fact that they are treated equally in the classroom. 

With this in mind, I defined discrimination and prejudice to my wide-eyed Y5's, and explained that I would show them what this meant by giving the girls a star sticker, but not the boys. 

The boys are always more verbal than the girls, so I started this way.  Do this quickly to avoid too much agitation.  Inevitably a child will say: "That's not fair." I then agreed and asked the boys how they felt.  We discussed how mean and wrong discrimination and prejudice was. 

I then gave the boys the star sticker as well, but while I passed out the stickers, I also gave  them a lollipop,  but I did not give the girls one.  The rolls were reversed. 

EVERY year I had at least one little girl give a sad little boy her sticker, and at least one little boy who gave their lollipop to a sad little girl.  You will find that most of your students are extremely empathetic to the feelings of their classmates. 

They desire harmony and peace in their classroom.  It is this desire for equality and fairness through nonviolent measures, that drove 1,000's to follow Dr. King.

I quickly passed out the lollipops to the girls, and while everyone slurped away, we continued to discuss how we felt, when we were deliberately left out, and how awful it must have been for children during that time period.  I have them raise their right hand and promise to treat others fairly and then we read a few stories to help them further comprehend.

Dr. Seuss' story The Sneeches, is a perfect example of how ridiculous discrimination is.  My Y5's LOVED this book and the discussion afterwards, was always extremely animated, as they shared their feelings.

The gist is that some Sneetches have stars on their bellies and some don't.  The ones with the stars feel they are superior. 

If you'd like to do some star activities with your kiddo's, Pure Fun, one of our affiliates, have  awesome sparkle star stickers. There are 400 in a pack for only $2.17, and come in 7 assorted sparkly colors.  

I checked out YouTube to see if they had a video of The Sneeches and found several.  Click on the link to take a look at this short 12-minute full-version of The Sneeches!  I think your kiddo's will really enjoy it.

After your students have learned a bit about Dr. King, have them show their knowledge by making an MLK Flip For Facts booklet.

I've included a list of kid-friendly websites,  a page of mini photographs + a list of fun facts to help.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away. 

"We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always right to do right." -Martin Luther King Jr.

12 pages.

Print; laminate and trim.  Use them as independent centers, a border for your MLK Day activities, and games.  Make extra sets and cut them apart to make puzzles for even more centers and games. 

8 pages.

I did a zillion hours of research, reading over 20 books and visiting over 40 websites, so you don't have to!  If you're looking for some simple and brief facts about Martin Luther King Jr. that you can share with your students, then I think you'll find these 95 interesting MLK fast facts helpful.

7 pages.

Start out Martin Luther King Day by having one of 7 MLK bookmarks on your students' desks when they arrive. You could also use them as incentives and pass them out for accomplished tasks.  Challenge students to collect all 7 and then share them with their friends.

2 pages.

This is a tried and true list of my favorite books to read for Martin Luther King Day.  I have a list specifically about the life and times of MLK, as well as a list of books I read to help my Y5's wrap their heads around the difficult concepts of discrimination, prejudice, civil rights, and diversity.

2 pages.

Start your Martin Luther King activities off with a KWL.  Have students do their own personal ones first, then gather them in a group to make a whole-group one on the larger template. After your studies, have them fill in what they learned.

3 pages.

Making a Venn diagram will help students organize their thoughts so that they are better able to write a comparison and contrast piece. Children can compare Barrack Obama, the first black President, with MLK or choose the Venn diagram comparing him with Mahatma Ghandi. 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Martin Luther King Activities With Me

Are you doing anything special for Martin Luther King Day?  I’ve been thinking about this man and the era I grew up in.  I’m in awe of the bravery it took for him to overcome injustice, while forgiving the people that were grossly unjust.

This year, we are celebrating his inspiring  accomplishments on Monday, January 20th, in the year of Nelson Mandela’s death, whose trial in 1963 was 50 years ago, as well as the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination.   It's also the 60th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision by the US Supreme Court, which desegregated public schools.

Although these are national headlines, I think it is sad that today’s generations are relatively clueless, as to what life was like before these individuals and historic events changed the world we live in.

Because of this, I think it’s extremely important to teach a bit of history and take students on a “Back to the Future” ride in time. To help you do this, I compiled a list of 95-Interesting Fast Facts About Martin Luther King.

I enjoyed wading through more than 40 websites and reading over 20 children's books + a few biographies and then fact-checked discrepancies.  I thought I knew quite a bit, but learned so many more amazing things!

Did you know that Martin's birth certificate has his name down as Michael, or that he skipped 9th and 12th grade and went to college at the age of 15?  Read through the pages, highlight what you feel is relevant and appropriate for your kiddo's, and then share:  95-Interesting Fast Facts About Martin Luther King.

Another way to make the 60's real for your students is to have them watch some brief videos about MLK’s life and listen to a portion of his infamous  “I Have A Dream” speech.  Click on the link for a list of short Martin Luther King Jr. videos on YouTube.   Click on this link for footage of his peaceful march on Washington.

Start the day off by leaving a Happy Martin Luther King Day bookmark on your students' desks.  I designed 7 for you to choose from. 

You can also use them as incentives and pass them out as children complete tasks.  Challenge them to collect all seven to share with their friends. Martin Luther King Day Bookmarks.

Have your students complete their own personal MLK KWL, then gather children together to fill in the larger KWL for MLK.

After your studies, have students complete their KWL by writing in what they learned.

Now it's time for a story.  Simply and easily introduce the concept of discrimination and diversity by reading several books. 

Click on the link for my 24 all-time favorite books for Martin Luther King Day.

These are tried and true resources, to help little ones wrap their heads around complex concepts, and really helped my Y5's comprehend the hard-to-understand stuff.  Martin Luther King Day bibliography. 

While researching, I also found a short animated clip over at BrainPop, that even early elementary students will understand. This is a wonderful site for children. 

The National Georgraphic site for kids has an excellent photographic time line of MLK.

After reading some stories and watching a few videos your students can take a short online MLK quiz.

Diversity is a relatively new word for a lot of students. Helping them understand that we are all different, yet we are all also the same, is a great way to explain things. 

The people over at Kids Activites Blog,  suggest comparing a brown chicken egg to a white one.  They look different on the outside, but what happens when you crack them open? Students discuss how they are exactly the same on the inside. 

You could also do this with M&M's. Have students suck the colored candy coating off, then stick out their tongue to check things out, or simply cut one in half.

An excellent book to read about diversity is Sesame Street's We Are Different,  We Are The Same by Bobbi Jane Kates.  The rhyming format makes it a wonderful read aloud:  "We're different.  Our noses are different. We are the same.  Our noses are the same.  They breathe and sniff and sneeze and whiff."

Finally, making a Venn diagram will also help students "see" similarities and differences, and is a great way to help them organize their thoughts, before they write a comparison-contrast piece.

Children can compare Barrack Obama, the first black President, with MLK or choose the Venn diagram comparing him with Mahatma Ghandi.

It was while at college that MLK started to study Ghandi's passive resistance ideas.  Martin thought this peaceful means of protest, could be successful in changing unfair laws in the United States.

 To futher understand similarities and differences, students can also choose a friend to compare themselves with, and work together to fill in their Venn diagram.  Click on the link to view/download the Martin Luther King Venn digrams.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can stop by tomorrow for some more really interesting and fun FREEBIES for Martin Luther King Day.  Feel free to PIN away.

"I have decided to stick with love; hate is too great a burden to bear." -Martin Luther King Jr.

6 pages.

Your students will enjoy this New Year writing prompt as they reflect about things they'd like to do less of, like fighting with a sibling, goofing off, being late, . . . as well as things they think they'd like to do more of: studying, reading, exercising etc.  

4 pages.

What do students see in their future for the New Year?  This "craftivity" makes a fun January writing prompt.  Students can write their goals, resolutions, or hopes for the New Year around the glasses.  So that you can redo this activity each year, I've included numbers for any year in the future.