Martin Luther King Jr. Day

We take the opportunity each January to learn a bit more about MLK. His life, his work, his dream. This year is no exception though the kids are getting old enough to recall in more depth what they have been learning the previous years. This makes the teaching a bit more challenging. The following is our mini unit about MLK. It is rather eclectic but then again, so are we. :-)

For all:

Video: Great Americans for Children Martin Luther King Jr. and King (taped from history channel last night) Yes, I am breaking the no TV/movie rule that I established BUT after long consideration I have concluded that I will tape programs from The History Channel, Discovery and PBS for educational purposes.
Discussion: used teachers guide provided from History Channel for King
Poetry: Peace Is, Peace

Arts: 2 art projects that will be posted later
Foods: an array of southern foods--bbq pork, hoppin' john, corn bread, sweet potato pie and apple salad (not a southern recipe but a good one none the less)

Chip: Martin Luther King Scavenger Hunt, Martin Luther King Jr book level S from Reading A-Z (snagged during their free download)
Dill: Martin Luther King Scavenger Hunt, Martin Luther King Jr book level S from Reading A-Z (snagged during their free download)
Sweet: MLK word hunt and crossword from about.com, Martin Luther King Jr. circle book from Enchanted Learning

I think my favorite activity of the day was the I Have a Dream book and craft (will post craft picture later) the picklets did. While talking with Chip I find his dreams are still big. Not only are they big, I think they have a possibility of coming true. But I see, from talking to him today that he lacks the self confidence of thinking he can make a difference.

I find it funny that they associate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with Forest Gump. (I had not idea it was based off a novel by Winston Groom until I just looked it up) Not only do the picklets remember the part where he was in the movie but they have been saying Greenbough, Alabama (in their best Forest Gump voice) all afternoon. Forest Gump (or Grump as my Gaga calls it) is a great movie for introducing pieces of history. Amazing how so many years of history can be in one movie. Kind of like We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel. We could listen to that all year and study a different piece of history each week and never tire of it.

The picklets are still working on the art projects and I will post those later. We found, during this quick study, that we are learning more and more about a great man. He is quickly becoming a hero.

© 2009 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines