Martin Luther King, Jr.

My kids love when this unit comes up in January and they get to share what they’ve learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. in previous grade levels. We create anchor charts, read books about his life’s work, have important discussion about equality and laws, as well as research who he was and why he played such an important in our country’s Civil Rights Movement. Here’s a roundup of some meaningful activities you can do with your students next week to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.

I love to start out our Martin Luther King, Jr. study with books! I’ve complied some of my favorite ones below. There are examples of chapter books and picture books for upper grade and primary classrooms.

(The following books use Amazon affiliate links where I get a small fee for sharing)

Martin’s Big Words

Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?

National Geographic Readers: Martin Luther King, Jr.

My kids also LOVE to watch Kid President! He has a positive message and a story about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life. They get a kick whenever I play one of his videos.

I also LOVE creating anchor charts that document student learning! The kids give me a fact they learned and I add their initials next to it. The kids feel so proud when they know they added that info to our class chart!

We’ll also be working on our Martin Luther King, Jr. brochures! It has a meaningful and engaging reading passage that you could do a close read with it, comprehension questions, creative writing prompts, and more within this easy-prep activity. I love that it is so versatile!

You can grab a copy of this easy prep activity HERE or by clicking on the image below.

I’ve also started to incorporate more paperless resources for my classroom! Since I teach at a 1:1 school, my students have access to Chromebooks at school and at home. So, this NO PREP digital interactive notebook and activities definitely will help my students learn all about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The coolest part is that it is all PAPERLESS and DIGITAL! I share it with my class using Google Classroom or via Google Slides. You can check it out below.

I hope you enjoy teaching your students about our brave American hero! What are some ways you celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.?