This week is going to be busy in my classroom with celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. and learning more about the Inauguration. I am one of those teachers who spends a lot of time on the internet looking for ideas to do for different holidays. Because I know there are other teachers like me out there, I wanted to put out a list of different activities I am doing in order to give ideas to others.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
To begin, I am going to read aloud I am Martin Luther King, Jr. by Brad Meltzer. I have one student who is virtual so I have given him the link to listen to a read aloud of the book.
After learning a little about who Martin Luther King, Jr. is, the students will watch Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech.
I found a free document that has the speech written out. Click on the image above to download the document. After having listened to the speech, the students will have the chance to read it through this document. They will then write a paragraph about the part of the speech that stood out to them the most. Within the paragraph, they need to explain why that section stood out to them more than anything else and how they can take this information and use it in their own lives.
As a final activity for Martin Luther King, Jr., the students will select a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. You can access this by clicking on the image above. The students will be challenged to draw a picture to go with the quote that they select.
Inauguration Day
I feel it is important that my students learn about the inauguration and understand the importance of it. For this reason, my students will be completing different activities throughout the day on Wednesday, January 20th.
To begin, we are going to go over a slideshow about what Inauguration Day is (click image above) since most of my students are unaware of what it is.
I purchased the Inauguration Day packet above ($3.00 on TeachersPayTeachers). This document provides a variety of different activities. I plan on having my students read the document titled “About Joe Biden” and “About Kamala Harris” so they are able to learn more about who our new president and vice-president are. This document also includes a worksheet where students fill in different things they hear during the Inauguration Address.
After watching the Inauguration Address, the students will write their own Inauguration Address. First they will write it on the document pictured above on the right. They will then write their final copy on a template from the Inauguration Day packet. Lastly, they will take the picture above on the left and draw a picture of themselves as if they are the new President.
To end the day, I will hand out Inauguration Certificates to each student.
