Lesson Topic

The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Proficiency/Grade Level:

Grades 2-8; High Beginning to Advanced students.

Content Concepts/Skills

Social Studies concepts: Fight for civil rights in the United States

Vocabulary:

Boycott, peace, freedom, justice, prejudice, march, demonstrate, racial equality, discrimination,

Materials Needed:

Books about Martin Luther King, Jr. which are appropriate to age of students. Internet resources on Martin Luther King.

Unit Overview

This topic was taught over a wide range of grade and ability levels in four different ESL groups. I read Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport to my second, third and fourth grade students.

Fifth and sixth grade students read information from the internet. One resource is a Golden Legacy History Magazine about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Instructional Sequence

• I read Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport to my second, third and fourth grade students. This is a short book with highlights from King's life.
• Students in grades 4-8 looked at books on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These books are numerous and can be found in any library. I used I've Seen the Promised Land by Walter Dean Myers.
• We made a list of Big Words that represented Big Ideas. This list included words such as protest, non-violence, boycott, racial equality, segregation, prejudice, freedom. Students chose big words that they wanted to have and made a poster about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with them.
• Students looked at pictures of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the internet. We also looked at photographs from the The Civil Rights Movement.
• My students have difficulty with the concepts of discrimination and segregation. It is necessary to build background knowledge and relate the concept to their own lives. I did this by dividing the class into two group: Group A and Group B. Group A could use the water fountain. Group B's fountain was broken. Group A got new pencils, crayons and notebooks. Their school had new computers. Group B got broken pencils and crayons. Their books were old. We walked down the hall and the students in Group B had to walk behind the students in Group A. My ELLs all got the point.
• Complete a journal entitled Dr. Martin Luther King and Me found on the ReadWriteThink website.
• Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King on the American Rhetoric's Online Speech Bank.
• Students in grades 2-5 completed a booklet about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from Enchanted Learning. Some of their activities such as the cloze activity can be used with students in grades 4-8.

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