Teaching Resources to Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.

As we prepare to celebrate MLK Day, today's blog has some resources to help learn more about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, his impact on the Civil Rights Movement, and his significance to American culture and history.

"I Have a Dream"

While Dr. King had many accomplishments, perhaps he is best known for his "I Have a Dream" speech that was given at the 1963 March on Washington for jobs, freedoms, and civil rights. The link below is a primary source resource and includes the entirety of this famous speech.

 

"Virtual Visits"

Our expanded technology can help students understand the context of King’s life with virtual tours of the MLK memorial in Washington, D.C. and King’s childhood home in Atlanta, GA.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial: A virtual tour of the memorial with simple English narration.

• The National Park Service, which administers the national MLK monument and MLK birthplace, share a number of digital resources around historic sites, both in the life of Dr. King and the American struggle for civil rights at large, including the Selma to Montgomery National Historical Trail and the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument.

• National Geographic Kids shares a full outline of the advocate’s life and times in this simple presentation, ideal for covering the basics.

• The National Archives shares sources, discussion questions, and more.

--@TCEA

Teaching Resources

PBS Classroom Resources

Lesson Plans

The March on Washington and its impact

Black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) addresses crowds during the March On Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, where he gave his 'I Have A Dream' speech. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 'I Have a Dream' speech as a work of literature

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 'I Have a Dream' speech as visual text

Music and speeches at the March on Washington

Lesson Plans from the National Education Association

Dr. King's Dream
Students in grades K-2 learn about the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., listen to an excerpt from his “I Have a Dream” speech, and create picture books about freedom for Americans today.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero
Students in grades K-2 learn about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., record information on a KWL chart, and keep a journal of thoughts and ideas.

How Big Are Martin’s Big Words? Thinking Big about the Future
Students in grades 3-5 listen to a reading of Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and then analyze excerpts from King’s speeches for "big" words, words not necessarily as large in length as they are in importance: Freedom, Peace, Love.

Students in grades 6-8 create found poems based on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1968 obituary published in The New York Times.

Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Power of Nonviolence
Students in grades 6-8 investigate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolence and the teachings of Mohandas K. Gandhi that influenced King's views.

Lesson Plan: The Children's Crusade & the Role of Youth in the African American Freedom Struggle

Students in grades 9-12 learn about the role of youth in the Children’s Crusade in Birmingham, Alabama and Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech as a work of literature
Students (9-12) analyze the rhetorical influences on and the oratorical devices used by King.

Background Resources

I Have a Dream: Celebrating the Vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.
A source of activities, lessons, and websites.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy of Racial and Social Justice: A Curriculum for Empowerment

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. WEBSITES

• The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Online

Videos

• Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream"
• The History Channel provides a collection of 49 short videos on Martin Luther King, Jr. and his career.

Relationship Building Resources: Goal #4-Climate and Culture

Another of our district school improvement goals this year is a focus on school climate and culture.  

As we continue to work on building relationships and school connectedness, below are some resources from CJ Reynolds.  Whether you are starting with a new group 2nd semester, continuing to build relationships this year, or adding ideas for next year, these resources can provide ideas to further a positive classroom climate.

Resource to Build Relationships

Life Odyssey Project

TIME Day: NEW FORM

Nearly 200 teachers submitted TIME Day hours for the first round that ended in November.  For those submitting the remaining 4 hours or all 8 hours for the second round, there is a new form for you to complete.  

TIME Day hours will now be submitted in Laserfiche forms.  This will further improve accuracy and efficiency with payments.

As a reminder, certified teachers may receive up to 8 hours of additional per diem pay for collaborative work completed outside their regular contract time during the 2024-2025 school year. EACH person of your collaborative team will need to submit a form to receive payment. Please review your collaborative plan with your building principal prior to beginning this work. 

Those submitting their remaining 4 hours or their 8 hours will use the new form linked below.  The link has also been updated on the Professional Development site.  For round 2 of payment, all remaining hours must be submitted prior to the end of the day on May 10th. 

For additional information and FAQ's related to TIME, please see the Southeast Polk Professional Development Site.

NEW TIME Day FORM

Research Resolutions

Happy New Year!  As we start 2025 with resolutions and commitments to goals, here are some of the top findings from research studies from the past year.  The topics include:

• The impact of outdoor learning on cognitive and social-emotional growth
• The effectiveness of learning from errors in math
• The importance of keeping English learners with their peers
• The power of peer learning
• A modest turnaround in youth mental health

The Impact of Outdoor Learning on Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth

Key Findings

• Outdoor activities are easily aligned to course standards in subjects such as art, science, social studies, and English.
• These types of activities can help with student's 'estrangement from nature'.
• Outdoor activities can build cognitive and processing skills, and those who participated reported less stress, closer connections to their own emotions, and improved self-esteem.

From Science to Sunshine: Rescuing Children's Outdoor Playtime in the Digital Era, Charan, Kalia, and Khurana, 2024.

The Effectiveness of Learning from Errors in Math

Key Findings

• Teaching efficacy improved when time was focused on students' mathematical errors and engaged in collaborative discussions about common mistakes of logic or computation.
• Groups of students who spent time in teacher-led learning sessions devoted to answers students got wrong scored roughly the same as their peers; however the group in the 'learning from errors' group invested half the time.
• Embracing mistakes supports learning, alters the climate of the classroom, deepens relationships, and improves student motivation.

Learning from Errors, Metcalfe, Xu, and Vuorre, 2024

The Importance of Keeping English Learners with their Peers

Key Findings

• English learners participated with their proficient peers in a 10-week literacy program building around science and social studies.
• The focus was on interactive read-alouds, target vocabulary, peers discussions, and structured writing tasks.
• Those who remained in the classroom with their peers out-performed English learners who were removed for remediation in vocabulary and writing.

Effects of Tier I Content Literacy, Relyea, Kim, Rich, 2024.

The Power of Peer Learning

Key Findings

• Students who taught a classmate reported elevated levels of anxiety and greater levels of brain activity across the social and cognitive processing of the brain.
• They also significantly out-performed the restudy group on tests of recall and transfer, monitored their learning more effectively, and included more elaborate examples in their explanations.
• Researchers hypothesized that the presence of classmates may have attuned students to 'up their game'
• It's best to mix direct instruction with group activities such as turn and talk, teaching classmates, gamifying quizzes, peer review, etc. 

Effects of Explaining a Science Lesson to Others, Zhu, Wang, Mayer, 2024

A Modest Turnaround in Youth Mental Health

Key Findings

• While student mental health has shown a decline in the last decade, the latest CDC data suggest we may finally reaching a turning point. 
• There was a modest decrease in the percentage of students feeling persistently sad or hopeless.
• There is still much work ahead, but with schools providing more services for youth mental health, there is progress we can build on. 

CDC Data Show Improvements in Youth Mental Health, Centers for Disease Control, 2024

Winter Science

PBS Learning has some lesson ideas and activities to help students engage in and understand more about winter.  These ideas can be connected to science standards when we return from winter break. 

Everything You Need to Know for the Upcoming Winter Solstice (3-5)

 

The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year, but have your students ever wondered why? Take your class on a virtual field trip to a planetarium to learn the surprising truth about why it's cold and dark even when we're closer to the sun — just in time for the winter solstice on December 21.

WATCH: What is the Winter Solstice?

Interactive Winter Activities for Early Learners (PreK-2)

 

How do animals camouflage in winter? Is it possible to create ice towers? And why do mittens protect our hands from the cold? These fun winter STEM investigations will help learners explore the world around them in a hands-on way.

Winter Lesson Collection

More PBS Learning Resources

Where Do Birds Go During the Winter? (6-12) Cool Ways Animals Adapt for the Winter (3-8) Explore the Seasonal Science of Frostbite (6-12)

December Teaching and Learning Newsletter

 December Teaching and Learning Newsletter

In this month's issue:

• Attendance Growth is Trending Up!

• The ABC's of Challenging Behavior

• Science for All

• Southeast Polk Literacy Night

• Sparking Innovation Tech Tips
• Elementary
• Secondary

If you would like additional information or support, please reach out to a Teaching & Learning Team member. 

Thank you for all you do to ensure ALL students learn at high levels!

-Southeast Polk's Teaching & Learning Team

Reading and Writing Across All Subject Areas

One of our district school improvement goals this year is to increase reading and writing in all subject areas. 

One of our task forces, led by Secondary Literacy Coordinator Angie Shannon, is focusing on strategies and instructional techniques to support this area.  Their work may be found on the SEP School Improvement site. 

Disciplinary literacy recognizes that each discipline has specialized vocabulary and skills that are unique to that subject. Disciplinary literacy refers to how an expert in a discipline (i.e., science, history, mathematics, literature, and other subjects) uses specialized knowledge and abilities to read, write, think and communicate. (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008). Below are some examples of disciplinary literacy (Sedita, 2024)

History

Experts in history interpret primary and secondary sources, corroborate sources, and use the past as a prelude to the future. They have the ability to analyze historical documents, attending to bias and perspective, and evaluate the credibility of different sources of information. They also construct evidence-based accounts of probable historical events.

Mathematics

Experts in mathematics decipher mathematical notation in the form of symbols and Greek alphabet letters that represent math concepts. They process abstract ideas, estimate, and generalize. They also understand specialized vocabulary, including words that have different meanings in mathematics than in everyday use (e.g., plane, product, expression, operation, problem).

Science

Experts in science participate in scientific exploration and reasoning. They interpret data, charts, models, illustrations, and lab notes. They also conduct experiments and systematic observations, consider new hypotheses or evidence, and read and write scientific explanations.

English: Literary Works

Experts in literary study closely, read, and examine texts in multiple genres. They recognize literary devices such as hyperbole and personification. They also look for metaphors, conflict, and other features of literature to interpret text. This includes interpreting the symbolism in poems, or how a poem’s form contributes to its theme.

Here are some additional examples of how different subject area read, write, and think about their discipline. 

To get started and/or build on your team's work, you may want to consider the following questions:

• Do students read in your subject area every day in class?
• Do students write in your subject area every day in class?
• Do students hear complex text read aloud in every discipline?
• Do students think critically and solve problems?
• Do students collaborate to find, evaluate, and apply new learning?

Below are some additional recommendations:

Thank you for all of your work to support student learning.  Additional resources are listed below.

Disciplinary Literacy Task Force

Disciplinary Literacy

Teaching Literacy Skills for Real Life

Disciplinary Literacy Means Doing the Discipline

Helping Students Read Complex Texts