Martin Luther King Jr. is a man to remember and teach on Martin Luther King day. Here are 27 ideas and activities I hope you find helpful in teaching diversity and Martin Luther King Jr. facts.
The third Monday in January is a great day to use one of these writing activities, worksheets, or project ideas.
1. Crayon Box That Talked – Review diversity, why each child is special and deserving based on using the affiliate read aloud book, “The Crayon Box That Talked.”
2. Diversity With Play-dough – Hiding color in the middle of playdough balls is a great visual to demonstrate diversity and that people are people.
3. Fair or Unfair – An equality sorting activity for students to decide whether statements are just or unjust for up through fifth grade.
4. Sneetches Video – A classic way to start discussion about diversity with primary students and to make deeper level connections with upper elementary students.
5. The Same On The Inside – Egg Experiment – Similar to the playdough experiment above this activity helps young students visualize and understand diversity and value.
I Have A Dream Speech Printables
6. Whats Your Dream – Have students break down what their dreams are for the family, themselves and the world.
7. Snowflake Dream – Use patterning or art to have students featured their goals and dreams on a snowflake template with super easy strips of paper.
8. Dreams Class Book – With 2 templates, create a class book with everyone’s hopes and dreams.
MLK Quotes and Poems
9. What Are You Doing For Others – This printable quote is from Matrin Luther King Jr. and reminds us to ask ourselves what we are doing for others.
10. Poetry Journal – Here’s a poem and a craft template to add to a poetry journal that sums up who MLK Jr. was.
11. Whole World in His Dream – To the tune of a familiar song, this easy to sing tune is great for kindergarten.
Character Traits Printables
12. Who Is MLK – This set of 5 printable pages covers a class book, a word web and a MLK writing paper for first grade.
13. Martin Luther King Jr Was – A graphic organizer that is perfect for writing about who he was.
Martin Luther King Day Writing Activities
14. Martin Luther King Day Word Work – Students will love figuring out the mystery word phrase in this word work activity for third grade.
15. Hooray, Hooray It’s MLK Day – Here is a set of 3 templates to write or answer questions about Dr. King.
16. Martin Luther King Quotes – This packet of worksheets includes a crossword puzzle, word search, word scramble and Martin Luther King quotes.
17. Martins Dream Workpage – If you read the book Martin’s Dream by Amy June Bates, then this fill in the blank work page is a good follow up.
Compare And Contrast
18. Martin Luther King Venn Diagram – Bring in more social studies by using a then and now venn diagram comparison chart.
Martin Luther King Jr Units
19. Thank You Dr. King – This 30 page mini-unit uses apples to help discuss diversity, character traits and more.
20. Dr. King Mini Unit – This 12 page mini-unit has writing pages and a MLK Jr. fact fill in for kindergarten and first grade.
Facts and Research
21. The Life of Martin Luther King – Here’s how to teach research using MLK information from webquests to create timelines.
22. Martin Luther King Facts – With a one page summary of Dr. King’s life, students can write 5 facts that they learned.
23. The King and His Dream – A way to explore and connect to this video with preschoolers.
MLK Jr. Inspired Crafts
24. Peace Flower – Make a flower out of a handprint using various shades of skin tone paper.
25. How Would You Change the World – This gorgeous end product project is a sincere way for kids to use art and a simple sentence to write about how they want to impact the world.
26. Martin Luther King Mobile (no longer avilable) – Create a mobile with your class’ dreams all written on a printable circle template.
27. Fingerprint Dove Tutorial – Create a class art piece with lots of colors to symbolize how it takes all of us to make things peaceful.
Martin Luther King Jr. Read Aloud Books
Here are some recommended affiliate books I can recommend for MLK Day and diversity for elementary classrooms.
- The Sneetches (and other stories)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. (National Geographic Readers)
- A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Martin’s Dream
- Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- I am Martin Luther King, Jr. (Ordinary People Change the World)
I hope you found these resources and activities to be helpful in planning your Martin Luther King Day lessons. Thanks talented teachers – your printables and activities are great! Feel free to share your “I’m a Featured Teach Junkie” badge on your blog, facebook or instagram. You earned it! {{woot}}
More January Ideas
- Frozen Olaf Snowman Craft Activity
- Tacky the Penguin – 7 Quick Primary Resources
- Your Personal Teacher’s Assistant for January
- 27 New Year’s Teacher Tools for January
Leslie {aka the original Teach Junkie} loves learning new things to make teaching easier and more effective. She enjoys featuring creative classroom fun when she's not designing teacher shirts, making kindergarten lesson plans or planning her family's next trip to Disney World.