How to Find Martin Luther King, Jr. Teacher Resources

The life of Martin Luther King, Jr. is a rich, limitless resource for education at every age level and in every type of community. Because Dr. King made such a dramatic difference in the lives of millions of people throughout the world, teachers and curriculum developers have been creating useful and dynamic teaching materials for decades. You can draw on these materials for curriculum of observance for his holiday or for Black History Month, or for a substantial part of an entire semester's classroom work.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Evaluate Resources Already on Hand

1. Check to see if your local school, district or library already has resources on hand. You'll want to know what your students have already been exposed to on the subject so that you can be sure you are using fresh material.
2. Collaborate with another teacher at your students' grade level for a cross-disciplinary approach to the material.
3. Make sure you have access to electronic and audio-visual equipment that will allow you to make use of multimedia curriculum.

Review the Best Martin Luther King Jr. Teacher Resources on the Internet

4. Evaluate the dynamic multi-media curriculum developed and available without cost through the Liberation Curriculum website and program of Stanford University's Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, which partners directly with the King Center (see Resources below). These materials include several detailed lesson plans, reading materials for students and multi-media archives of King's speeches and other events.
5. Click on the "Become a Member" link on the Liberation Curriculum website to sign up for a free Liberation Curriculum membership and get search-able database access to primary educational materials and inclusion in an online curriculum discussion forum.
6. Visit the "Martin Luther King, Jr. Teaches Many Lessons" page at the Education World® website to find lesson plans for children ages 4 and up (see Resources below). This website also has useful suggestions of books on Dr. King for pre-readers and early readers.

Tips & Warnings

• Thanks to the wealth of multi-media material now available on the Internet, a teacher can let Dr. King carry a large part of the load in presenting curriculum to students about his legacy, his philosophy and his eloquence. Give your students direct access to his voice and his presence.
• Always be prepared for possible controversy when presenting curriculum involves issues around race, social action and values. The Education World website offers an opportunity to face the possibility of controversy head-on by linking to a unit called Evaluating Web Sites for Bias (Grades 6-12, Advanced) in which students use a checklist work sheet to evaluate Web content about Martin Luther King, Jr. for bias.