Martin Luther King Jr was not just an Important Human Rights Leader. He was so much more. To honor him and he great works, I created an MLK Print & Play Pack to make sure that teaching about this man could be done easily in many classrooms, even with the very young minds. Check out these MLK Jr. Activities for Kindergarten.
Introducing MLK
I love to show the Brain Pop Jr video on MLK to start this lesson. You can watch it here even without a subscription. (I check to make sure it was free at the time I am writing this. But, I can not promise Brain Pop will allow it to be free forever.) I also love to use the book, Martin’s Big Words. MLK had a unique ability to speak the truth and make people listen and I feel like his words are a powerful part of his legacy. These two elements will be a huge help with MLK Jr. Activities for Kindergarten.
Charting MLK
Next, we use this MLK Print & Play chart to discuss him and use our own words to express what we understand about him. I call this time with my class “picking their brains.” I am striving to gauge what THEY understand about what I have showed them so I know how to do an even better job as we continue talking.
You will see a projectable chart in the background, then a cut and build chart for chart paper in the middle, and lastly, you will see a student printable to assist with MLK Jr. Activities for Kindergarten.
Facts About MLK
Next, we head to the pocket chart to discuss MLK’s life. We use these printable pieces to connect the facts of his life to an image. I love this because your students may not be strong readers yet, so we need to pictures to help them visualize what we are teaching them. There is also a printable version for your students to put together as well.
Integrating Vocabulary
As we discuss MLK, vocabulary will come up that we want to integrate into the conversation. I created these glossary cards to post and refer to as needed. We want the words like equality and peace to used by our students in context, like MLK did.
And of course we have printables to convey the meaning behind this lesson as well.
Student Cut and Sorts
Giving students activities that convey the lesson in a form they can work with is not only fun, but allows the student a more meaningful opportunity. Here is a cut and sort for MLK.
And here is a matching printable.
Integrating Writing
I also strive to integrate our social studies learning into writing. Therefore in the MLK Print & Play Pack, you will find a word wall, along with several other writing prompts.
There are also two cut and glue writing prompts. One if for the things that MLK wanted others to have… equality, peace, hope, and love. The next one is for the people that MLK wanted to help… men, women, and children. Once we cut and paste the images down, we use these ideas to encourage our writing ideas.
Need More MLK resources?
You can grab this MLK Print & Play Pack by clicking here.
Other book suggestions I recommend include:
- I am Martin Luther King, Jr. Ordinary People Who Change the World Series
- Martin Luther King, Jr: My Itty Bitsy Bio
I also love to use The Sneetches to discuss more, here is the lesson that I use.
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