Want some ideas to help your kids really understand the significance of why we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
Many students have an easier time understanding the impact of a public figure’s accomplishments when presented with a chance to make connections between specific details and the bigger picture through hands-on activities. Try some of the activities below to provide your children with a real understanding of how Martin Luther King Jr. influenced our world.
- Develop a Time Line. Students always retain more information through active learning, so turn reading from a book into an activity by asking them to develop a time line of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life. This will encourage them to do research and exercise their critical-thinking skills to figure out which events are most significant.
- Go on a Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt. A great way to enhance comprehension is to help your student learn the vocabulary associated with Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Once you create a list of terms, direct students to trusted online resources that can help them find definitions and examples. To finish the activity, ask your student to develop a sentence that uses the term. Some examples of terms include boycott, discriminate, dream, emancipate, marches, and segregate.
- Volunteer in the Community. On Martin Luther King Day, encourage your student to give back to the community just as Martin Luther King Jr. did. This is the perfect opportunity to teach students the value of volunteering, and if you visit MLKDay.gov, you can find volunteer opportunities near you or even register your own volunteer project.
- Give a One-Minute Speech. Ask students to develop a brief speech in which they explain the impact of Martin Luther King Jr.’s accomplishments on their own daily life. Another possible topic is to speak about their “dream” for the future of society and explain how they contribute to the goal. Giving a speech allows students to practice public speaking and analyze the long-term implications of Martin Luther King Jr.’s work.
Do you have other ways of helping make your students’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day a tribute to remember? Share them here!