Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Last week I took some time to talk to my kiddos about Martin Luther King Jr. and why we have a special day to honor and remember him each year.  I started the discussion by asking the kiddos what they already knew; most of them said "he was killed" and/or "he fought for peace." While both accurate, we clearly did not have the whole story. Fortunately, my assistant teacher and I were able to extend the discussion by reading a nonfiction book about MLK Jr. Day during our guided reading lessons.

Then, as a class, we read the book My Brother Martin, by Christine King Farris.  There are a few things that I love about this book. First, the pictures are gorgeous. Secondly, I love the perspective that this story provides on such an influential man.  The story begins with Christine describing the birth of her younger brother, whom she calls "M.L."  Throughout the story, we learn that M.L. was a typical kid; he enjoyed running around with his siblings, playing pranks, and listening to stories from his grandmother.


We also learn that despite being well protected by his parents, M.L. eventually had to face the harshness of segregation.  In particular, Christine shares how M.L. was shocked and hurt when his white friends, the children of local business owners, announced that they could no longer play with M.L. and his brother A.D. because the boys were black.  This incident was a turning point for M.L. and got him thinking about how things might be different in the future.

Finally, I appreciate how this story focuses on how and why MLK became a great leader, but does not spend much time talking about the trials he faced in this role.  The story does not even mention his assassination.  Although this is obviously an important part of MLK's history, I know my kiddos will have plenty of time to learn about that part.  For now, I'm happy to teach them how one small boy could identify injustice and grow up to change it.

I chose to do this read-aloud in two parts.  I paused the story right after M.L. had learned that the white family in his neighborhood would not let their children play with black children.  This gave my kiddos a little time to process and think about this difficult reality. When we came back to the story later in the day, the kiddos were incredulous that there could have been a time when children couldn't play together or attend school together simply because of their skin color. When we finished the story, one little guy raised his hand and shared that his cousin attends a school where only boys are allowed; he said he hoped that someday this too would change.  So cute!  I didn't bother to explain that his cousin might attend a school with a single-gender education philosophy -- I was just glad that he was anxious to identify something that might be unfair and look for an answer.  Hopefully all of my kiddos will be equally inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy.