Martin Luther King, Jr.

I can remember when we first heard about Martin Luther King, Jr. yet it wasn’t until I heard his voice that I was captured by his message. His gift of the English language and ability to inspire is the reason generations will look to his legacy and message of non-violence and racial equality.  I have been presenting “Pay It Forward” to students for years and one of my favorite parts is to ask the students to list persons of impact or influence. Even when I limit them to only 5 responses, 95% of the time Martin Luther King, Jr. is on the list. I also share three persons of impact in my life and he is one of them. (If you want to know the other two, let me know!) Although yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I wanted to dedicate this “tuesdays” to him and to all teachers who meant to do something with their students and didn’t get the chance.  Don’t forget that we still have Black History Month in February and the resources I point you to today will be most helpful.

A creative website

Although much has been written about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the most reputable website is The King Center that was established by Mrs. Coretta Scott King in 1968 and now revitalized under its new president, Martin Luther King, III.  Why go anywhere else? In fact, the website is so creative and high-tech that it maybe one of the best use of images and text I have seen. The website hosts a digital archive that was created by JPMorgan Chase & Co. with over a million documents associated with the life of the late Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a scholar, a father, a pastor, a husband and great humanitarian.  This website is so huge, I only began to browse the tip of the iceberg.  If you don’t have time, expose your students to it.  They will definitely be benefactors of one of the wisest men of our times.

An image to share

Wordle sample of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech

A proverb

"All men are brothers because they are children of a common father.”

 Martin Luther King, Jr.

An encouragement

Have you ever listened to the full 17-minute version of his “I Have a Dream” speech?  I first head it on a free podcast from LearnOutLoud.com and was blown away by his incredible vocabulary.  His ability to weave words into a melodic and visual memory are striking. I was so encouraged that I created a video with images and wrote the whole text of the speech out for the students to listen to and read.  When we played it over the closed-circuit system three years ago, you could have heard a pin drop across the whole campus.  If you have SMART Notebook 10, you can download the presentation for your students from my website.  It is complete with the audio, the video and the whole text of his speech.  I want to encourage you to do a vocabulary study of this most famous speech. It’s very emotional and well worth your time. 

How do you do that?

How do you sift through this vast amount of information on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? You probably can’t.  Fear not. I have compiled a few good resources around the “I Have a Dream” speech for you on my website.  Most of your students have heard the 2-3 minute vignette of his full speech, but I am sure there will be few who have heard the full version.  It’s a step back in a much more trouble time with the voice of a true peacemaker ringing out a challenge to America. If you haven’t heard it yourself, please make time to listen to it because it’s pretty humbling. His passion and grasp of the English language is phenomenal. The following items are available to you and your students on my website:

• The full text of the speech
• An online connection to the speech
• A Glogster of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• A video of “I Have a Dream” that I compiled with photos and text)
• A SMART Notebook 10 version with images, audio and video

Let’s encourage our students to learn about great men like Martin Luther King, Jr.

As always, I am

Ubiquitously yours,

K