Books for Young Learners: MLK, Jr., Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges

Finding "just right" books for young students can be a challenge when dealing with sensitive topics like social injustice. As a teacher, I want to make sure that the books I read to them are age appropriate and cover the topic thoughtfully. 

Here are some of my favorite books for young learners about Martin Luther King, Jr.

Each of these books highlight the work of Martin Luther King, Jr.; many weave in quotes from his most famous speeches throughout the book.

These readings provide knowledge that we will use in our writing throughout our unit of study.  We create a tree map together using the verbs: was, changed, and dreamed. It is interesting to see each year what learning makes an impact on my students.  Students, then, write about MLK, Jr. using the sentence frames we created.

Learning about Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges provide us another opportunity to learn more about this time period from the perspective of a woman and a child.

Writing like this one and art like this guided drawing lesson will also be included.  

Teaching about sensitive topics can be intimidating, but, thankfully, there are plenty of excellent books for young learners which we can use to help us.

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Five for Friday - MLK Edition

Although, it was a short week, I was able to fit in many lessons that celebrated our diversity while learning about Martin Luther King, Jr.

This theme has a particular soft spot in my heart.  I always share with my students how my mother was a victim of segregation.  As a migrant worker, she often faced many challenges in the fields and in the classroom.

We began our learning with a simple investigation of eggs.  I used this freebie as my guide.

I asked my kids their opinion about the brown eggs and it was amazing how they thought it would be different.  None had eaten a brown egg before.  So, we scrambled some up for a snack.  

This was a great starting point to learning that we are all different on the outside but the same on the inside.

We made these MLK portraits inspired by TLC Lessons.   I have used her art lessons for many years and highly recommend them.

Our language arts program had recipe writing as our writing this week.  So, I choose to do Friendship Salad.  I like to do this recipe later in the year rather than the first week of school for many reasons.  By now, we really know each other and this is just a good time to reinforce teamwork and working together.  In kindergarten, they understand it better now.

I love how this spot in our classroom turned out.  It is a collection of all our learning this week.  I used portions of this unit as part of my teaching and learning.  

Here is an up close look at a piece of the writing.  I love kid art!  

Lastly, here is the quick sign I made to remind students not to yell my name as I was testing students on their weekly fluency test. 

No, Mrs. Parker.  

Happy Teaching and Learning!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram. I usually post there first.

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Washi Book Binding

Sometimes, I am not able to bind my books using a book binder.  Here is an alternative.

Step 1:

 
Insert book pages into sheet protectors.  Staple.


Step 2

Use washi tape to cover the staples.  Make sure that it is secure.  You may want to washi tape the inside as well for durability.

Find this amazing book here.  

Ta-da! You're finished!

Happy Teaching!

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Trees. Tree Maps, Everywhere!

Lettering Delights graphic

We have trees growing in our classroom. 

Well, not tress but Tree Maps!  

Tree maps have become a rich part of our learning experience.

Here are a few that we made this week.

First up, MLK.

We read several books which helped us learn about the life of MLK. I was inspired by many, such as this, and this wonderful resource. The kids loved the new word that they learned; equality.  

The ideas presented on this tree map are all student generated.  It came from their learning.

Here is our completed bulletin board.

Next. Penguins!

These arctic animals made an appearance during our English Language Development class.

I love this time because the students are a mixed group from every kindergarten class. I teach the highest level of English speakers. As a  result, my goal is to move them towards English fluency in all areas; listening, speaking, reading and writing.  

Here are some samples of the writing.

 
I am so proud of the writing that they produced with guidance and support from the use of the tree map.   

We can do it! Yes, we can! 


Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Our Friend Martin

Have you used this DVD during your Martin Luther King unit? I usually have a hard time finding it. So this year, I planned ahead and bought it from Amazon.com. I was lucky and bought it used for under $15. A deal! I usually have the class watch it over a period of days. It does contain some disturbing scenes regarding segregation but also valuable teaching opportunities. I always pause and explain scenes as we watch. Perhaps, you will try it with your class.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Martin Luther King, Jr.

Every year, regardless of the grade I teach, I begin the new year celebrating and honoring famous Americans. This social studies unit will occur throughout the next 6 to 8 weeks. We will begin the unit by learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders. I love to use music in the classroom. For this unit, I will use two songs from Greg and Steve; Love Is and A Man Named King.

Love Is tells about different ways we can show and express love. Although not completely related to MLK, Jr., I think it is a fitting song to go along with this topic. A Man Named King is a beautiful song which tells of his life and work through moving lyrics. Towards the end of the song, there is a clip of one of King's famous speeches. It always brings silence and awe as my students listen to his words.

I plan to spend much of the time using Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King as our shared reading during social studies.

 

For several years, I have had children draw their own illustrations to go along with the words from this book.  Depending on my class size, I have students work individually or in pairs.  I think about which portion of the book I will have them illustrate based on their skill level and understanding of the topic.  Here are a few samples from students ranging in kindergarten to third grade. 

 (This student was learning to copying print.) 

(I like the detailed stadium effect this student created.)

(Look closely at this picture. Notice the tears in the eyes of the child as his mother drags him away.) 

This year, I plan to do something new.  I would like the students to comprehend the vocabulary in the book so I have created a vocabulary book for them to illustrate.  As we become more familiar with the text and subject, I hope to have children and I discuss the words and their meaning.  Then, each day we will draw or write a picture to represent what that word means.  At the end of the unit, we will use this information to write a paragraph about Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Here are the documents I've created to go with these lessons.  Hope you can use them.  If you do, please let me know how it went.  I'd love to see your student learning!

Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Text



Martin Luther King, Jr. Vocabulary

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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