Martin Luther King’s birthday offers the opportunity to teach about his activism and my students’ own capacity to be change agents. My goal is to deepen my students understanding of his legacy and his role in a broad, dynamic movement that involved many people, organizations, strategies and events. We discussed, in detail, how important and multi faceted diversity is. We examined racial identities through mentor texts such as Freedom Summer, Back of the Bus and The Other Side of the Fence. We encouraged one another to be proud of our own identities and appearances while still validating and respecting the identities and appearances of others. It’s so important to celebrate individuality!
As we discussed Martin Luther King Jr.’s quotes from the book Martin’s Big Words, we critically analysed and investigated the true meaning of them. The students made connections between his words and his actions. They also were able to recognize the physical violence, threats and anger of those who protested Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophies and the students questioned the unfairness of those actions. It truly saddened them. Many students used their recess time to watch the video Our Friend, Martin
The second graders insisted on watching Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous speech, I Have a Dream in its entirety! Every time the crowd cheered and applauded, they joined in! It was truly beautiful.
