Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...
California Education Partners
Letter From Birmingham Jail
To demonstrate their ability to comprehend complex text, ninth graders are asked to craft an essay in which they use evidence drawn from "Letter From Birmingham Jail" to analyze how Martin Luther King, Jr. uses rhetorical devices such as...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
An 11-page packet contains three activities designed for readers of Henry David Thoreau's Walden and Civil Disobedience. In one exercise, groups debate whether Thoreau would today be considered liberal or conservative. For another,...
Curated OER
Reconsidering Malcolm X
Students analyze the strategies and speeches of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 16
Take your place in the world—or the text. Scholars look at how the placement of a particular paragraph adds to the meaning of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr. Before working on a quick write activity; readers...
Curated OER
Suffrage and Civil Rights
Addressing the main ideas of the Civil Rights movement, this instructional activity contains both multiple choice and true/false questions for student review. Teachers could use this activity as a quiz or homework assignment.
Curated OER
Dr. King and the Movement
Students complete activities about Dr. Martin Luther King's Civil Rights movements. In this Civil Rights instructional activity, students read a quote from Dr. King and discuss several questions about the topic and may use them as...
Teaching Tolerance
Civil Rights Activity Book
An activity booklet includes a timeline of the movement, a song, and various informational reading passages on leaders, events, and the Civil Rights Memorial in Washington DC. Reading response questions and word puzzles are sure to...
Wisconsin Historical Society
Civil Disobedience
When is civil disobedience acceptable? Class members read examples of Jim Crow laws, an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," and a newspaper article and then consider the factors that make a law just or...
Curated OER
Everybody Is Unique: A Lesson in Respect for Others' Differences
Learners of all ages talk about the meaning of the word "unique," and draw a truly unique person, one part at a time. They create a totally unique person, with a head drawn by one student, a torso drawn by another student, and lower body...
Curated OER
Freedom Summer
Students brainstorm and discuss what the concept of "fairness" is and how to identify examples of "fairness." They pull from historical fiction and the Civil Rights Movement to explain how individual are affected by, cope with, and...
ReadWriteThink
Biography Project: Research and Class Presentation
I Have A Dream ... that after the lesson, all individuals master the reading, writing, researching, listening, and speaking skills the biography project helps them develop. Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as a topic example for a model...
Curated OER
Character Education: Perseverance
Students analyze and define the word perseverance as it applies to Martin Luther King, Jr. In this Martin Luther King, Jr. lesson, students discuss the book 'I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King.' Students analyze the meaning...
Curated OER
"I have a Dream"
Students analyze the famous "I Have a Dream," speech by Martin Luther King Jr., and discuss the progress made since then. In small groups, they read and discuss various documents, and formulate a plan of action to help realize Dr. King's...
Curated OER
"i Have a Dream" As a Work of Literature
Students read and analyze Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. They answer discussion questions, and write and compose a speech that addresses an injustice in society.
Curated OER
How Would the World be Different?
High schoolers examine the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. In this civil rights lesson plan, students imagine the outcome of the Civil Rights Movement had King never been born. High schoolers compose essays that feature King's roles in...
Curated OER
Words Can Hurt: King Day
Students explore stereotyping. In this moral and character development lesson, students share reactions to a T-chart displaying what boys can do and girls can not do. Martin Luther King's accomplishments are discussed, and students...
Curated OER
Get up, Stand up. Stand up for your Civil Rights.
Fourth graders study civil rights leaders. In this Civil Rights lesson, 4th graders investigate what it means to stand up for something you believe in after reading about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Obama. Students create a...
Curated OER
A Raisin in the Sun: Vocabulary Bingo
Students study A Raisin in the Sun. Students study new vocabulary through a game of bingo. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream" as a supplementary text. Students create their own bingo cards.
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Internet Photo Timeline
Students create a photographic timeline of the events in the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Working in small groups, they use internet research to find photos documenting the major events of his life. Their photos are printed and glued...
Curated OER
New D.C. Memorial to Honor Dr. King
Students read and discuss a news article about a memorial being built in honor of Dr. King in Washington D.C. They develop a list of facts about Dr. King, complete a fill-in-the blank activity, answer article comprehension questions,...
Curated OER
American Minority Groups
Explore the contributions individuals have made in the lives of American minority groups. Twelfth graders write a five-page expository piece providing a social history, examples of discrimination, and patterns of assimilation for an...
Curated OER
Take a Walk in Their Shoes: Great Leaders of Our Time
Research the characteristics of leaders who have used nonviolence to change society. The class then applies this information to their own community to find leaders with these same characteristics, creating a wall collage of pictures and...
Curated OER
The Way You Dream: Gandhi and King's Visions of Nonviolence
Students read Gandhi and Dr. King's messages about nonviolence and discuss their visions about loving one's enemies. In this nonviolence lesson, students read Gandhi's "Ahimsa, or the Way of Nonviolence" and Dr. Martin Luther King's...