My first grade class created these adorable Martin Luther King Jr. craftivities today. We took two days to learn about Dr. King and tied what we learned about him into a writing standard- using descriptive words in writing. Here is what we did below.
Day 1
1. We learned what adjectives are using an anchor chart. We also wrote 3 sentences, expanding each of them to add adjectives. We started with the base sentence "I see the cat." This turned into "I see the fluffy cat." Then we added even more description to make it, "I see the orange, fluffy cat." If time allows, this would make for fun partner practice. We didn't do this on that day, but we continue to do this with partners through out the school year.
2. Next, we made a KNOW/LEARNED chart about Martin Luther King Jr. Turns out, we didn't know a whole lot yet. That is ok!
3. We read a small reader about MLK which can be found here. We had a very rich discussion about segregation and Martin's Life. My class was very into it. To put it into perspective, I said, "What if I told you all the girls could play on the playground and all the boys couldn't just because they are boys." That made the idea of segregation being unfair very realistic for them.
4. As we read, I underlined adjectives and defined words for them.
Day 2
1. We reviewed what we knew and had learned about Martin Luther King Jr. by completing the learned side of the anchor chart. I really emphasized at this age the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to use love and his words for good and to make change happen.
2. We read Martin's Big Words and discussed
3. We added more to our anchor chart.
4. We made the Martin craftivity and added descriptive words on his body. They are not very visible in the picture unfortunately. This was done together. They list they came up with was
- smart
- hard worker
- followed his dreams
- brown
- minister
- leader
The craft was so simple and fun! It really only took about 30 minutes to create and it looks wonderful in the hallway. The only supplies they need are black construction paper, crayons, scissors, and glue. You can just print this product from TPT to get MLK's face and body.
If you don't have the book Martin's Big Words, I also really enjoyed the book My Brother Martin.
