Subject: History-Social Science and Language Arts
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Grade Level: 3
Student Lesson name and URL:
ctap295.ctaponline.org/~nrubio/student/

Third Grade History-Social Science: Continuity and Change

3.4 Students understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives and the basic
structure of the U.S. government.

6. Describe the lives of American heroes who took risks to secure our freedoms (e.g., Anne Hutchinson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King, Jr.).

Use keyboards and other common input and output devices (including adaptive devices when necessary) efficiently and effectively.  (1)

Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.  (3,4)

Instructional Objectives

Students will be able to describe the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Students will be able to identify the risks that Martin Luther King, Jr. took.

Students will be able to identify the freedoms for African-Americans that resulted from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s work.

Student Activities
Insert brief summaries of your introductory, enabling, and culminating activities. Insert links to online resources in your text and insert links to activities on your student lesson web site.

Introductory Activities

Pretest

 The teacher will elicit prior knowledge about Martin Luther King, Jr. from the students, recording their prior knowledge on a KWL chart.  (Inspiration software could be used if it is available.) 

Students will be told that they are going to watch music videos about Martin Luther King, Jr.  Students will watch concert footage of "Pride (In The Name of Love)" and "MLK" by U2 on video CD.  Students will be given a copy of the lyrics for their small group discussion, which will be focused on the meaning of the songs.

Students will be told that they are going to learn about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Students will think-pair-share their questions about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, and the teacher will record them on the KWL chart.

 Enabling Activities

The teacher will introduce targeted vocabulary in context.  The teacher will encourage and monitor the use of vocabulary words in small group discussions.  Vocabulary: nonviolent, civil rights, sit-in, protest, direct action, boycott, social change.

Students will view a videotape about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., including the famous "I Have a Dream" speech.  Students will discuss the videotape in small groups.  In their groups, students will choose an event from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life to re-enact.

Students will view a power point presentation about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Students will discuss the presentation in small groups.  In their groups, students will write a song in any style about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Groups will sing their songs to the class.

The teacher will read aloud a book about Martin Luther King, Jr.  Students will discuss the book in small groups.  In their groups, students will make an illustrated timeline of Martin Luther King, Jr's life.  Groups will present their timeline to the class.

In their groups, students will make a list of what they learned about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.  As the groups share out, the teacher will record their what they learned on the class KWL chart.

Students who finish early will read the poem "Dreams" by Langston Hughes.  They will write a paragraph or poem about their own dreams for the future and illustrate it.

 Culminating Activity
Students will work with a partner to write a description of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life.  The pairs of students will publish an illustrated description of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. using Bilingual Writing Center.  The published writing will be hung in the display case at the front of the school.

Assessment

Insert your grading rubric for the culminating activity or a link to your rubric or test document file.

Students' published descriptions of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life will be evaluated based on:

whether the targeted vocabulary is used

whether there is an explanation of how Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life resulted in greater freedom for Americans

whether technology tools are used effectively and efficiently

whether correct grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are used.

Results
A chart of pre-test, post-test, and culminating assessment data will be posted after the lesson is implemented, sometime between January and March.

Web Resources & Supplementary Materials

Introductory Activity
List and link the web resources for this activity here. Also link supplementary materials such as PDF files and /or document files.

Materials: KWL chart, U2 video CD, handout of lyrics, videotape, PowerPoint presentation, children's literature, text of "Dreams" by Langston Hughes.

Enabling Activity
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Culminating Activity
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Palmquist Elementary School 
Oceanside, California
Nicole Rubio
Last Revised: 01/06/2001