Need some Martin Luther King activities for your classroom? For many special education classrooms, finding Martin Luther King activities that are appropriate and engaging can be challenging. But, as with all things in special education, we can take a different approach to make the most of this holiday and Dr. King’s many contributions.
We cannot assume our students have the previous knowledge, or even vocabulary to fully appreciate the meaning and the impact Dr. King had.
So, how can you go about making sure your students fully understand and appreciate the importance of Martin Luther King? Let’s take a closer look.
There are lots of free Martin Luther King activities you can find in this post.
1. History
To make sure your students have an appreciation of what made Dr. King such an important man, you can put together a PowerPoint using some simple text and images. It doesn’t have to be super fancy, and it should be at the reading and comprehension level of your students. You can find this book in my unit on Martin Luther King, Jr.
If making a book does not fit in your time frame, how about a video? A quick search on YouTube will bring up lots of short video options that will teach your students about the history of this great man.
Here are some good ones I found:
- https://youtu.be/ymCa1eB_qLA
- https://youtu.be/4xXZhXTFWnE
- https://youtu.be/vP4iY1TtS3s
- https://youtu.be/NGd6J-jwzV8
2. Timelines
I like timelines because students can visualize the order events happen. Knowing when important events occur in a person’s life can be impactful.
I also LOVE creating human timelines. You can read more about how to do that in my blog post, Using Timelines to Teach Social Studies.
3. Writing
Writing can be a challenge for many students in special education settings. But, with the use of pictures, you can create an activity that allows your students to write a poem about Dr. King.
4. Character traits
Normally, when we study a famous person, they have certain personality traits that stand out. Dr. King is no different. For this Martin Luther King activity, students will complete a circle map about perseverance.
Dr. King worked tirelessly for many, many years fighting for equality. Even from prison, he never stopped spreading his message or fighting for the rights of African Americans.
A circle map is a great tool to teach this concept. Students will fill the circle map with examples of how Dr. King showed perseverance. I also create 2 versions.
- Errorless. All the pictures students are given go into the circle map.
- Wrong answers mixed in. Some of the picture choices will NOT relate to the main idea in the circle map and will need to be set aside.
- If you have students who are beyond using picture symbols for support, give them the circle map without any pictures and ask them to fill it with facts they have learned about Dr. King that demonstrate his perseverance.
5. Stories
There are some great books out there about Martin Luther King that will enhance your students’ learning and bring this important man to life.
Here are two, I found particularly engaging for my students.
Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport is a powerful picture book appropriate for even bigger kids. This book highlights some of the most important events in Dr. King’s life and shows the reader how important and powerful your words can be.
You can find a literacy unit for this book with 5 activities that align with the text. Martin’s Big Words
The second book I really loved, was The Cart That Carried Martin by Eve Bunting.
Again, although a picture book, I think this is appropriate for all ages.
It is the story of Dr. King’s funeral procession through the streets of Atlanta where Dr. King’s body was pulled by two mules in a very simple green wooden cart.
You can find a literacy unit for this book with 5 activities that align with the text. The Cart That Carried Martin
I hope you found these Martin Luther King activities helpful and can add them to your classroom. Click below to check out these units for Martin Luther King Jr. or Black History Month.
