Martin Luther King Day Lesson Plans and Activities

Martin Luther King Day lesson plans and activities are fun and simple. Gather some of these materials and follow this simple lesson plan to teach your students in Kindergarten through grade 2 what this special day means to their lives. When the day comes you will be ready for your student's exploration of this day.

Kindergarten:

Unit Objectives:

The student will identify that Martin Luther King Day is a special day for our country.

The student will identify what tolerance means to us today.

The student will state how they feel about this very special day by sharing a drawing, poem or other creative project at the end of the unit.

Materials required:

Several books on what Martin Luther King Day is.

Several books on how Martin Luther King Day affected our nation.

Materials to create a project to share how they feel about this subject.

At the end of the unit have the students share that they understand this concept of tolerance. This should be through their creative project. As the teacher you know your students best. Look for that understanding as they share their work.

Grade 1:

Unit Objectives:

The student will show that they understand that Martin Luther King Day commemorates a day in our nation when tolerance was achieved for others of a different race.

The student will share how this day affects our nation today.

Students will show that they understand that each citizen has a role that they play in the freedom that we enjoy as Americans today.

Materials Required:

Several books on our nation's commemoration of Martin Luther King Day.

Several books on tolerance of other races.

Several materials on how Martin Luther King Day has affected the lives of other Americans.

Materials to research the subject of Martin Luther King Day.

Materials to create a report of this subject.

Students in grade 1 are able to share that they understand this day. They should be able to connect that tolerance is achieved by freedom to all people in our nation. Students should be able to appreciate that freedom takes all of us to create.

Grade 2:

Unit Objectives:

The student will show that Martin Luther King Day is a special day in our nation.

The student will share that their are ways to accommodate the importance of all races in the United States.

The student will show that they play a role in this nation as a citizen.

Materials required:

Several books on Martin Luther King Day.

Several materials on tolerance today and in our history.

Materials to research the subject.

Materials to create a report to share how tolerance and Martin Luther King Day are connected.

Students in grade 2 are able to comprehend that they are a part of the United States as citizens. Through exploration of Martin Luther King Day they can begin to connect tolerance to civic responsibility. Have the students create a report after research on how tolerance is a part of Martin Luther King Day and how it relates to them as citizens of the United States.