Teaching Civics with Children’s Literature: A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr.

51vm9yxt4fl__sl500_aa240_.jpg

A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr., written by David A. Adler and illustrated by Robert Casilla, is an excellent book to explain the legacy and important contributions made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. within America.  Students are made aware of his boyhood and family, and how prejudice and racism drove him towards his dream of equality.  Along with basic biographical information, this book highlights his most infamous events, such as his “I Have A Dream” speech and igniting the Civil righs Movement.  The illustrations will captivate students hearts and will sense why these injustices are no longer acceptable.

Curriculum Connections

A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. serves as an excellent and useful resource to help teach, reinforce, and emphasize the the second grade civics learning objectives in accordance with the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL’s).  The student will identify and begin to understand the significance of Martin Luther King, Jr. as an American whose contributions improved the lives of other Americans (CE 2.10)

Additional Resources

  • mrdonn.org has a plethora of resources dedicated to teachers devoted to the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – resources include lesson plans, bulletin board ideas, printable worksheets and coloring pages, video clips of infamous speeches, powerpoint presentations, and links to webquests – if you’re looking for anything related to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., look no further than here!
  • The International Reading Assocation offers some innovative lesson plan ideas on integrating the significance and importance Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with various language arts activities – also included are also several web resources, student materials, extension activity ideas, and teacher assessments
  • About.com provides teachers with several lesson plan and activity ideas for all elementary grades – specific lesson plans offer ideas for instruction on the principles of equality,the Civil Rights Movements, and Jim Crow Laws – make sure to check out the links to suggested readings and articles, too!

Book: A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Author: David A. Adler
Illustrator: Robert Casilla
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication Date: August 1990
Pages: 30pp
Grade Range: Kindergarten – 2nd Grade
ISBN-13: 978-0823408474

This entry was posted in African American, biography, book review, civics, history, nonfiction, social studies. Bookmark the permalink.