Lesson Plans for MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. level S

Before Reading

Introducing the Book
Hand out the books and have children read the title, the contents page, and scan the illustrations to make an informed prediction about what they will learn about Martin Luther King, Jr., from reading this book.
Ask: What do you already know about Martin Luther King? What extra information do you expect to learn from reading this book? Is there something that you would like to know about Martin Luther King that you think will still be unanswered when you have finished reading?

Build Background
Have children turn to the glossary on page 24.
Say: Read the bold face words. Tell the person next to you the meaning of those you already know. Then check to make sure you were right. Now let’s discuss the words that you do not know the meaning of.
Discuss unknown words with children. Be sure that there are no misconceptions. Ask children to use some of the words in sentences to ensure understanding. Return to the civil rights entry.
Ask: What do you think is meant by full legal, social, and economic equality? What does legal mean? Who can give an example of a legal right? What does social mean? What are social rights? What does economic refer to? What would economic rights be? Who can use equality in a sentence to show what it means? Who can use their own words to share a sentence that means the same as full legal, social, and economic equality?

Book Walk
Ask children to read page 4
Say and ask: Read page 4 and then be prepared to discuss what your family does on Martin Luther King Day? Do you do anything special or do you treat it as any other holiday? Why do you think there is a holiday called Martin Luther King Day?
Have children scan page 5 for a date.
Say: This text is set in chronological order. That means it has a starting date and then everything else that happens, happens in order after that date. The starting date in this book is the day that Martin Luther King, Jr., was born.
Have children scan the text for the next date (page 10).
Have children read the first sentence on page 11.
Say: Share with the group the year and what you know about the United States Supreme Court. What sorts of things does the United States Supreme Court rule on?
Have children scan the text for the next date (page 13).
Say: Scan the surrounding text to find out what important event happened. Why do you think this event was so important? Would it be an important event today? Why or why not?
Have children return to page 4.


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