TeachersFirst's Martin Luther King, Jr. Resources
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These teacher-reviewed resources from TeachersFirst provide lesson ideas, activities, research materials, and interactive sites for studying Martin Luther King, Jr. Whether you are celebrating Martin Luther King Day in January or including Dr. King in units on the 1960s, civil rights, or famous Americans, start from this list recommended by Thinking Teachers. Don't miss the TeachersFirst Exclusive lessons about Martin Luther King, Jr. For even more resources, try this page with all resources tagged civil rights.
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Teaching a More Complete Picture of MLK - Candra Flanagan, Eden Cho & Phoebe Hillemann
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Include this article that features various teaching ideas with your other resources for lessons about MLK. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to collect and organize lesson ideas and information. For example, create a Padlet with columns to organize information by primary sources, books, saved lesson plans, etc., as a way to easily find content to use. Engage and extend learning as students watch videos using edpuzzle, reviewed here. Add comments and questions to the appropriate portions of videos as a way for students to focus on critical information. As students prepare to show their learning, consider using Canva Infographic Creator, reviewed here, as a resource for students to create infographics about Martin Luther King and his contributions to civil rights.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Facing History and Ourselves - Facing History and Ourselves
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Discover the many free resources found on this site to include with your teaching units. If you find that some of the reading material is useful, but is above the reading level of your students, use a summarizing tool such as SummarizeThis, reviewed here, to break down large portions of text into manageable content. Include activities from this site as part of a larger unit using a learning management system such as Blendspace, reviewed here. Use Bleandspace to build an interactive learning experience that includes videos, reading activities, quizzes, and images. Extend student learning by asking them to become the creators through sharing their knowledge with others. Provide options for students to create audio podcasts with PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, make explainer videos using Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, reviewed here, or use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to take viewers on a virtual journey through map locations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Virtual Learning Journey: Civil Rights Movement - Georgia Public Broadcasting & Georgia Department of Education
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Be sure to include this virtual learning experience as part of civil rights lessons and Black History Month activities. Include a link to the experience on classroom computers for students to explore on their own. As students travel along the learning path, replace pen and paper and engage them by asking students to use an online note taking tool like Webnote, reviewed here, to write down their thoughts and questions they may have. As students learn about Civil Rights events, have them enhance their learning by asking them to step back in time and create podcasts from this time. Use Podcast Generator, reviewed here, a free tool for creating and sharing podcasts. Extend learning by challenging students find an image from the Civil Rights movement and create an annotated image using Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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'The Press and the Civil Rights Movement' Video Lesson - NewseumED
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Using the Activity lesson plan/viewing guide, have the before viewing discussion with your class. Consider giving all students a chance to voice their opinions (even the shyest and quiet ones) by using a backchannel tool like YoTeach!, reviewed here. Then, show the video to the whole class, or "flip" the class and have them watch it at home. Either way, the viewing guide questions could be inserted into the video using a tool such as Vibby, reviewed here. After the video, use the discussion questions and Vibby again. Next, have students (or small groups) choose one of the extension activities to complete and share with classmates.The reviewers at TeachersFirst have some suggestions for tools to use for those final projects: For items 1-4 make a chart using a tool such as Canva, reviewed here, or Draw.io, reviewed here. For managing a project like item 5 use Google Keep, reviewed here, Workflowy, reviewed here, or Todoist, reviewed here. For items 6 & 7, biography type projects, use Fakebook, reviewed here, and for item 8, make a collage, use Fotojet, reviewed here.
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Civil Rights Timeline - NewseumED
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Civil Rights is about more than a movement that took place forty plus years ago. Americans have fought for their civil rights going back to the late 1700s. We are still fighting for them today. Review the timeline with a projector and the whole class. Extend student learning by suggesting to students that some of the articles have parallel situations going on today. Have them choose an article and research the situation from back in the 1960s and then compare it to a similar situation that is ongoing in the 21st century. Challenge students to redefine their technology learning by presenting their findings to classmates with an interactive, multimedia infographic or interactive poster using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Black History Month Resources - PBS
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Explore this site for many different lessons and resources to use during Black History Month and with lessons on racism and bias throughout the year. Use lessons found here to differentiate for students of different levels. Be sure to check out the Discrimination - fair or unfair? lesson plan that is designed specifically for students who have difficulty with verbal and written expression.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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History and Politics Out Loud - WyzAnt Tutoring
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Share speeches from this site on your class webpage or blog for students to view at home. Share them with your class using your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a president, famous scientist, or nearly any other real or fictitious person after viewing and listening to speeches on this site. Use the text of speeches to create a word cloud; try WordClouds, reviewed here, to analyze a leader's priorities and emphasis. Use these examples as students prepare their own persuasive (or propaganda) speeches in English or civics classes. Teachers or ELL students can offer speeches with accompanying texts to help build vocabulary and listening skills.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Martin Luther King Jr. and the Global Freedom Struggle - Stanford Research & Education Institute
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
This is a perfect place to send students for research. Have students use the timeline to find out about important dates in civil rights history. Use the encyclopedia to not only learn about civil rights champions, but about organizations of that time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-violent Social Change - The King Center
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Share the video and/or audio clips on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students use this site for research projects. Challenge students to write a blog from King's perspective. Have students pretend that he could write a blog for people to read in the 2000s. What would he say? Has his dream come true?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Remembering Martin Luther King - TeachersFirst
Grades
1 to 4In the Classroom
Students can hone counting skills with the "Birmingham Bus" or test their powers of scientific observation by comparing brown and white eggs.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Rosa Parks: How I Fought for Civil Rights - Scholastic
Grades
4 to 8In the Classroom
Spark your students' interest in how one brave individual changed history by not giving up her bus seat to a white passenger. Whether you are doing a unit on people who make a difference, civil rights, tolerance, or studying women and events in history, this self-contained website provides resources and materials that you can display on your classroom whiteboard (or with a projector). Involve students in using the interactive links to enhance learning and springboard discussions on what still needs to be done in regards to acceptance and embracing racial, ethnic, and cultural differences. Use an online tool like The Interactive Three-Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast discrimination in our country then with similar challenges we face today, and what still needs to be accomplished for a better tomorrow. Broaden the concepts to include that even when we are brave and have courage, change doesn't come about immediately; it takes time and continued perseverance. Culminate the unit with a writing prompt for students to reflect on and explain: Have you ever faced something that you thought you couldn't stand up to? Instead of using paper and pencil, integrate technology by having students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Telegra.ph, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration. With Telegra.ph have students click on an icon to upload related images, add YouTube or Vimeo, or Twitter links.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MLKing Jr. Day - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
4 to 10In the Classroom
Use this site to reinforce and support vocabulary as you study MLK Jr. Share the word puzzles on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students create their own word activities from the same vocabulary list, such as matching or ranking challenges for their peers to try on the interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Martin Luther King Papers Project - Stanford University
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use this site for research about King. Share the videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students create their own videos about Martin Luther King, Jr.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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March on Washington Lesson - PBS Newshour
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
These lesson plans are ready to use and easy to follow! The extension activities offer some excellent higher order thinking questions. After sharing video footage with your students, why not project one of the extension activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Enhance learning by having students create a blog with Telescope, reviewed here, to answer the questions in the extension activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Martin Luther King, Jr. - Nobel Lecture - Nobel Foundation
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Since this speech (document) is so lengthy, why not break it down into several lessons. Alternatively, you could use the Cooperative Learning Jigsaw method (small groups), reviewed here, and either way, ask students to dissect the words of King. Have them answer what still holds true in the 21st century? What has changed?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Seattle's tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. - Seattle Times
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Check out these free study guides, perfect for your MLK Jr. celebration or even Black History Month. Have students respond to the "thinking questions" by creating a journal entry or blog written by King. Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Exploring the Power of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Words through Diamante Poetry - Sharon Webster / NCTE
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
This lesson plan is ready to go, includes interactive elements, and is even linked to national standards. English class and history class can team up on this lesson and discuss the poetry and history behind King's magical words.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Famous Quotes of Martin Luther King, Jr. - wikiquote
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Share these quotes with your students around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The quotes can also be used throughout the month posted for reflection or read aloud. Have students rewrite the quotes in their own words.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the Net - Holidays on the Web
Grades
3 to 8In the Classroom
Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students close their eyes and visualize being at the speech in person... what did they see, what did they hear, what did they feel, etc. Have students write letters to Dr. King expressing their feelings about the speech. Use this site for research on Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Civil Rights movement. This site is a great addition to Black History month or Martin Luther King, Jr holiday.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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