Monday January 19, 2009 is a special day in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. The classroom is the perfect place to recognize the life and works of this respected leader. Teachers can easily plan their lessons around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by using some of the lesson plan ideas described below.
“Writing an elegy” lesson plan
The “writing an elegy” lesson, which was submitted by B. Wu on the SchoolLink website, is a great lesson to do during Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This lesson is designed for high school students in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 and helps students to gain a better understanding of what is an elegy and how to write this type of poem. To give your students better insight into the structure of an elegy poem, you would need to show them sample elegy poems such as the poems by poet Robert Bridges, and you could discuss these sample elegy poems in great detail with your students. After your students have mastered the concepts of an elegy poem, you could have them create an elegy poem for Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Mapping Martin Luther King, Jr.” lesson plan
This lesson plan was submitted by Gary Hopkins on the Education World website. This lesson is a great lesson to do to teach your students about geography if they are in grades 3-8. This lesson would also inform your students about the cities and states where important historical events involving Martin Luther King, Jr. took place. For the lesson, you would need to have a blank map of the United States for each student. You would also need to provide resources for your students such as history books and internet access; so that students can find out information about the different cities that were historically significant in Martin Luther King, Jr’s life.
“Being Treated Equally” lesson plan
This is a very creative lesson plan that was submitted by MB Farris on the A to Z Teacher Stuff website. The lesson, which is designed for kindergarteners, helps students understand what it is like to be treated with prejudice. For the lesson, you would need to bring a treat to give to your students and a book about Martin Luther King, Jr. to read to your class. MB Farris suggests using peanut butter crackers and the Happy Birthday Martin Luther King book. You would hand out snacks only to certain groups of students, for example, to the male students and then start reading the book. After reading the book about Martin Luther King, Jr., you would let the students who didn’t get any treats talk about how horrible they felt. Then you would relate the students negative experience with the real experiences of people who were actually treated with prejudice.
Sources
B.Wu. “Lesson Plan: Writing an Elegy.” SchoolLink website.
Gary Hopkins. Mapping Martin Luther King, Jr.” Education World website.
MB Farris. “Being Treated Equally”. A to Z Teacher Stuff website.
