Martin Luther King Jr. the civil rights activist and minister who was martyred in the 1960’s birthday is coming up on January 15. The United States remembers and celebrates his life and work on January 21. This day is a civil holiday but schools remain open and many if not all educators will acknowlege the day in some way.
Perhaps you are not all that familiar with Martin Luther King Jr? Or maybe you are like me and were teaching before this day was a holiday, and would like to acquaint yourself with the man and the day? Or maybe you simply wish to become more educated about our history and our wonderfully diverse nation. Here are several websites to explore for free resources and materials for your home-school, classroom, religiuos or comunity group.
All the usual teaching sites have free printables, links, activity pages and lessons for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I’ve included some lesser known and unique sites also.
ABCteach
Hot Chalk
Enchanted Learning
Apples 4 the teacher
Edhelper
AtoZteacherstuff
Kaboose
The Teaching Heart This is a very student friendly website with free printable activities, games, projects and quizzes. It is laid out clearly and not confusing to use.
Lesson Tutor offers many research options and study helps for narrative and research compositions. It is a very scholarly website with free material to use for lessons and projects. There is also a very nice list of projects to help students explore MLKJ, with printable rubrics and activity guides.
The Holiday Zone is a new discovery in my quest for free printable. I was expecting to find more part supplies and was pleased to see many lesson plan components and not just the cheesier ones. You will find Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech texts, songs, writing prompts, poems, recommended reading, children’s literature options and interactive games and puzzles.
Toppun.com was another nice surprise with free downloadable posters of Martin Luther King Jr. with his quotes and biographical information. The posters are edgy and thought-provoking.
MrDonn is a web resource that I have shared and used before. This site is a .org site which I always like to promote first before the more commercial sites. The site features free printable materials on a wide breadth of subjects; what I really like is the depth of the concepts that are taught and explored. Not only does MrDonn have the usual coloring pages and worksheets, but you can also access free powerpoint lessons, printable posters and comprehensive links. MrDonn has a clean layout and user friendly menu.
Surfing the Net with Kids is a more complicated web domain run by syndicated columnist Barbara Feldman. She provides links and resources for folks in many areas. Mrs. Feldman has undertaken to develop a web domain packed with material.
RHL School is a source I’ve encountered occasionally. They focus on worksheets but they are more engaging and well-made than the average ‘ditto’ as we used to call them.
These sites should provide a very complete unit for your Martin Luther King Jr. Day lessons.
