What Are Some Ways To Celebrate and Honor Dr. King In The Classroom?

 

Every year, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaches, I reflect on how to make his legacy truly meaningful for my students. Middle schoolers often hear about Dr. King, but I wanted them to move beyond memorized facts and really connect with his powerful words and ideas.

In my classroom, I’ve tried different ways to teach about Dr. King’s message, but I struggled to find activities that were both engaging and allowed my students to dig deeper. I wanted something more than just basic worksheets.  I wanted things that would spark conversations, encourage critical thinking, and leave my students inspired.

So, over time, I created these 3 ways to celebrate and honor Dr. King:

1.  I Engage Students In His Words

Dr. King is famous for his "I Have A Dream Speech," and there are specific phrases from the speech that we always hear.  Have students ever stopped to analyze the quote/quotes and really think about or discuss their meaning?  Maybe not.

To spark conversations, I took Dr. King's speech and pulled out 6 quotes.  Then, students, in 6 groups, worked to interpret the quotes.  

After a period of time, I asked each group to share about 1 quote.  We would discuss the metaphors and think about what images they conjure.  

When we finished our discussions, we placed picture flaps over our interpretations to help remind us of our conversations.

The best part?  This activity is scaffolded to make Dr. King's message accessible to learners of all levels.   

2.  I Build Understanding Through Reading

Some years, students have needed something to bring Dr. King's story to life.  They've heard of him, but they don't know much about him besides his speech.

So, I created a little reading comprehension passage with a maze.  The idea is that after the students read the passage, they determine whether each statement on the maze is true or false based on the passage by coloring a path.  This keeps students engaged and focused on looking back at the text.

3.  I Apply His Principles To Modern Issues

Of course, the primary reason we celebrate Dr. King was his work for civil rights through nonviolent protests.  Sometimes, this fact is lost on students.  Often, at this time of year, we work on argumentative essay writing.  So, I combined the two.

Enter a daily review of Argumentative essay structure with 2 original texts about nonviolent protest so students will learn about Dr. Martin Luther King's philosophy.

After reading the prompt and the texts, students will answer 2 questions per day, starting with introduction paragraphs for a week, culminating in writing an
introduction paragraph.  Then, the next week, they'll do the same thing for body paragraphs, followed by the counterclaim and the conclusion.  OR it could be that this is completed in 1 week, with one entire class period devoted to each paragraph type.

Either way, two things can be accomplished at once:  learning about the holiday in a meaningful way and working on argumentative essay writing skills.

So, these are the top 3 ways I celebrate Dr. King in the middle school ELA classroom.  I know your students will love the interactive nature of these activities, and you will love their ease.  Plus, you'll get some great engagement!  Try 1 or all 3 by clicking here!

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