Our Martin’s Big Words activities seamlessly blend literacy and social studies as young readers learn about Dr. King. This pack is a gateway to exploring Martin Luther King Jr’s profound narrative. Through a variety of interactive, thought-provoking activities, students will delve into history while honing their reading and critical thinking skills.

With Martin’s Big Words activities pack, literacy skills are enhanced and supported. Creative thinking and self-expression are crucial to developing narrative skills, such as drawing or writing about a dream, creating acrostic poems, and answering sentence starters. Students are engaged in close reading and comprehension when they write facts from the book, summarize the biography, and define related vocabulary. As a result, their understanding of the text is reinforced. Using provided writing templates and prompts, students learn more about descriptive writing, vocabulary, and composition skills as they write character traits for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Develop a deep and lasting literacy proficiency by helping students refine their ability to understand and articulate ideas.

In parallel, the pack robustly supports social studies skills, offering a window into the historical world of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As students learn about Dr. King’s role in history and the civil rights movement, they will be able to research and write about him, create timelines of his life, and interpret his influential quotes. Students are immersed in critical thinking about historical events and figures when they compare and contrast, participate in group discussions about Dr. King’s quotes, and use digital tools for research. Students learn about social movements and influential leaders through these activities, as well as grasp important historical concepts.

As a result of the included activities, students will be able to:

• Draw or write about a dream.
• Create an acrostic poem for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Answer sentence starters.
• Write facts from the book.
• Write character traits for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Research and write about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Write a timeline based on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s life.
• Interpet quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• Summarize the biography.
• Compare and contrast with a venn diagram.
• Define related vocabulary.
• Apply Writing Skills with included writing templates and prompts.
• Practice Reading Comprehension with included discussion questions for beginning, middle, and end of the book.
• Engage in Social Skills with whole group prompts and activities.
• Develop Fine Motor Skills with included coloring, tracing, cutting, and gluing activities.
• Participate in conversations about Dr. King’s quotes.
• Use digital tools to learn about Dr. King.

These activities can be used by the whole group, at stations or centers, or provide student choice. They’re perfect for differentiation and focusing on specific learning goals and skills. 

💙 Looking for more engaging book activities? Amplify learning with these novel ideas!

💙 After downloading the Martin’s Big Words activities, read the book with the soundscape in your Novel Effect app!

About the Book

We celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life and legacy with this wonderful biography by Doreen Rappaport. Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the most influential and gifted speakers of all time. Doreen Rappaport uses quotes from some of his most beloved speeches to tell the story of his life and his work in a simple, direct way. Bryan Collier's stunning collage art combines remarkable watercolor paintings with vibrant patterns and textures. A timeline and a list of additional books and websites help make this a standout biography of Dr. King. 

Ready to add this book to your read-aloud collection? You can buy the book here!