Martin Luther King Jr. Poem AND Close Read!

We have started talking about Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of Black History Month.  My 5th graders already have a wealth of knowledge about Martin Luther King, Jr. so completing the following map with them today was AMAZING!!! They knew far more details than I thought they would...and I was VERY impressed.

Brain Pop has a very nicely done video on Martin Luther King, Jr., so we actually plugged in information that the students knew prior to viewing and then again after viewing.  Even BETTER, it is FREE video. Click on the pic below to be taken to the link.

Next, came the poem.  To prepare my students for what we were actually going to focus on for our different reads, I gave them the following checklist to track what we were doing so they knew what was going to happen next.

Our 1st time through, we read chorally.  They went through and circled complex and new vocabulary and then discussed what these words could possibly mean. For the 2nd read, students read in partners and then we went through the stanzas together and paraphrased.  This was difficult at first, but once they got the hang of it, they went off on their own.  Here is an example of my teacher model!

After the third read, the students completed the text dependent questions...I LOVED to see how the students would emulate Martin Luther King, Jr in their own life.  The students read these to each other and we even had a few brave souls that read to the class!

If you would like to download this FREE unit, click on the pic below...

How do you teach your students about Martin Luther King, Jr.?

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