MLKjr

When you think about Martin Luther King Jr., what words come to mind?

Freedom?

Love?

Fairness?

Equality?

This is the exact question I posed to my 2nd graders this Friday as we begun a discussion about MLKjr, his contributions, his dreams, and big words.  We read the fabulous Martin's Big Words...

Here's a read aloud on YouTube if you don't have the book.

I LOVE this story, especially for the younger ones because it talks about the challenges that Martin had to overcome and how he fought with words and love- without getting into too much detail.  It's powerful and it's perfect for the little ones.

While reading we had a fabulous discussion.  We talked about why Martin fought for civil rights, how he fought, and what he wanted us to learn.  These are the big ideas we got:

*Hate only makes more hate but love can make hate go away.

*It's better to fight with words.

*Don't give up on what you believe in.

*Everyone should be treated equally and fairly.

Then I asked them again, "What are the BIG words that we think of and remember when we think about MLKjr?" and introduced them to our mini project.  I asked them to think of that question and create a word collage of all of the big words that they've learned from Martin. I just gave them a large piece of construction paper and they were on their way. (Of course we also spelled the important words on the board). Here's the example I made for them and some of their work.  They did such a great job!

I love how this one has the M coming together. So creative.

So- if you don't have any ideas for MLKjr day- here's a simple, free lesson/activity that will really stick with them!  You could even encourage a little dinner table discussion that night :)  If you do decide to do this project, I would love to see pictures of your students work so be sure to leave a link to your blog post if you post them!

Hope everyone who get's tomorrow off has a great day!