STAGE 1 DESIRED RESULTS

Unit Title: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

History-Social Studies Content Standards for California

K.1 Students understand that being a good citizen involves acting in certain ways.
Learn examples of honesty, courage, determination, individual responsibility, and patriotism in American
and world history from stories and folklore.
K.6 Students understand that history relates to events, people, and places of other times.
Identify the purposes of, and the people and events honored in, commemorative holidays, including the
human struggles that were the basis for the events (e.g., Thanksgiving, Independence Day,
Washingtons and Lincolns Birthdays, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus
Day, Veterans Day).

Common Core ELA Standards - Writing

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.8
With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from
provided sources to answer a question.

Common Core ELA Standards - Speaking & Listening

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.2
Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by
asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not
understood.

Understandings: Students will understand that Essential Questions:

Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for others in What does it mean to be fair?
a positive way and helped change the way our How do people make the world a better
country looks. place?
One person can spark an entire movement by
persevering.
People can make the world a better place in
big and small ways.

Students will know: Students will be able to:

MLK was important to our countrys history
because of the movement for racial fairness
Our world and school would look differently
today if it wasnt for MLK
MLK Day marks Martin Luther King Jr.s
birthday
Fairness is a complicated concept
Describe why our country and school are
better places today because of MLK
Share their ideas with a partner and refocus
their attention back to the lesson
Respond to a prompt through writing or
drawing
Participate in a discussion about fairness and
share opinions and ideas
Provide an example of how they can help
others

STAGE 2 ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Performance Tasks: Other Evidence:
See, Think Wonder with historical photos Journal writing
Before/After MLK photo sort Martin Luther King Jr. was
Mini Digital Book: Take photos of Keys Fairness is
campus and explain why our school is a fair Keys is fair because...
place Partner talking
Plan and undertake a peaceful protest to Class discussions
change an unfair rule at Keys o class brainstorming lists
o interactive read alouds
Vocabulary:

Justice
Determination
Race
Perseverance
Law
Equality
Protest

STAGE 3 LEARNING PLAN

Lesson 1
Fair vs unfair -- moving around the room to indicate whether they think a situation, photo, video clip, etc. is fair or
unfair.
Voting - heads down, thumbs up/down to ensure honest voting
Record their definition of fair at the end in their journals somehow (writing, picture, art, something else?) with the
prompt: What is fairness?
*Introduction of first EQ

Lesson 2
Historical photographs analysis (See, Think, Wonder) in small groups (pictures from Civil Rights)

Lesson 3
Gather what students know about MLK already through discussion and web, then pose 2nd EQ to frame the read
aloud.
Interactive read aloud about MLK (Martin Luther King Jr. by Marion Dane Bauer). At end, add to anchor chart
titled How do people make the world a better place?
Task: Think of when MLK made the world a better place, then draw it, make it, paint it, etc.

Lesson 4
Warm up: revisit fair vs unfair activity but use excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr. by Marion Dane Bauer to
activate their knowledge and make connections.
Read Happy Birthday Martin Luther King. Discuss peaceful problem solving in everyday life.
Journal: How did MLK make the world a better place?

Lesson 5
Before/after MLK photograph analysis
-Cut out 4 black and white photos and sort them into before MLK and after MLK, then share with a
friend/teacher your reasonings for why you sorted the photos in that way. What clues did you notice?

Watch MLKs I Have a Dream speech excerpt, have a class discussion about the speech, Washington DC, make
connections.

Week 2
Lesson 6:
Take pictures with examples of fairness at our school and unfairness at our school using iPads. Share their
ideas with the class.

Lesson 7
Vote for one unfair thing (from 3 teacher chosen options). What do we do about what we captured in our photos
that was unfair? (Specifically...how can we peacefully request a change?)

Lesson 8
Create a petition, make protest signs, write a letter to Head of Lower School requesting the change in playground
rules (Kindergarten wants to play in the park with the upper grades)

Make a PSA video

Lesson 9
Kindergarten students speak with Head of Lower School in a town hall style meeting. Children share their
concerns and reasons for why they are requesting a change and Head of Lower School listens and asks
questions to learn more.

Reflection:

Some ideas that might work for next time:

-Dramatic play: Close your eyes...when you open, you are MLK (or a friend is MLK). Peers ask questions,
and you answer as MLK (perspective taking)
-Spend a day focusing on the perseverance piece
Texts for Perseverance Lesson
Amazing Grace *bookflix
The Boy and the Airplane / The Girl and the Bicycle *wordless
How to Catch a Star

http://www.tolerance.org/lesson/what-s-fair Fairness

Other Possibilities for Writing/Discussion

-What is one thing you would thank MLK for? (thank you note)
-Have them respond to a fairness or MLK read aloud in some way (the exact prompt will change depending
on the actual read aloud content..this might be something we can do on the fly, i.e. characters/plot/overall
message of the story)
-Have you ever experienced something that wasnt fair? How did you change it?
-What does it mean to do the right thing? Is it easy/hard? Why?
-How would you feel if you lived at the time of MLK?
-I Have a Dream Writing
o In what ways do you think the world could be a better place?
o How can you help others?
o How can you make a difference in the world?