I Have a Dream...

Those famous words have been heard among my class this week.  We've had a great discussion about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his accomplishments as well as completed a variety of activities.

My favorite book to read is Martin's Big Words.

This book is also a video on Discovery Education which my school has a subscription.  It really brings it to life for my students.  They just love it!  I looked and found several on youtube.  This looks like the same one we watched.

Another of my favorite books is My Brother, Martin.

We completed some activities from Erin Eberhart's MLK free mini unit which is fabulous.  It really gets the kids thinking. Check it out here!

Then, the entire second grade made these cute little I Have a Dream people, and we make a big bulletin board out of them.  They are very old and I don't have a source, I'm sorry!   You could probably make a quick template.

I have a dream...

"to have at least ten kids so their kids can have lots of aunties"

"for my family and friends to get along"

"of being a police officer to help other people and my family"

"that when I grow up I will be a firefighter so that the world can be safe."

"I want people and children to be nicer and not mean to each other"

I always let the students listen to Dr. King's famous speech.  You can find it here on teacher tube.  It's interesting for the students to hear his voice along with the speech and see what it really looked like.

I Have A Dream Speech

We also had the students reflect on what they learned about Martin and the message that he wanted to share.   This is from an old Mailbox magazine!

Here's my favorite:

"Learning about Dr. King has taught me he's a man of his word.  He taught me to be respectful to everyone."

I really enjoy the conversations that you can have with kids about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the segregation that occurred.  The students are just shocked and stunned.  It also really upsets them how African Americans had to go to different schools.  It usually really riles them up because we have a very diverse class and they say how they can't imagine our class without everyone!

Have a great weekend!!