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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Rosa Parks

I plan to have my students learn about Rosa Parks as well as Martin Luther King. After reading about her, my students will make a bus to write a few sentences about her life or the Montgomery bus boycott.

It will look like this when it is completed.  The idea was inspired from here.

First, I have the kids cut out this section.  While they are writing about Rosa Parks, I come along and help them fold it like above.  I find that it is easier if you do it for them. 

I hand drew a bus for them to cut out.  Be careful.  Some kids will cut over the tires instead of under. Make a few extras of these.  This becomes their cover. 

If your class is learning about Rosa Parks, what are some of the activities your students will make and do? I'd love to be inspired by your ideas!

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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