Planning a Martin Luther King, Jr. unit study for your homeschool? I’ve got a list of wonderful resources to help you explore Dr. King’s life and legacy with your kids.
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I was recently considering a downfall of studying history from a classical education perspective: that period where kids can talk confidently about Martin Luther, but not so much about Martin Luther King, Jr. Yikes!
Thankfully, we learned to take breaks from our classical history lessons and jump ahead to the heart of the Civil Rights Movement to rectify that. To ensure that my kids not only knew of, but appreciated, Dr. King’s work, I pieced together a Martin Luther King Jr unit study.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Unit Study Resources
I was fortunate to find many wonderful resources to create our unit study! With the help of YouTube, our local library, and some other outstanding resources, we had everything we needed for our unit study on Dr. King. Even better, some other great resources have come along since we did our initial study. Below you’ll find a list of my favorites.
1. Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? by Bonnie Bader and Nancy Harrison
The Who Was? series is always a great starting point for kid-friendly biographies and Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? is no exception. It would make a nice family read aloud, but could also be a great book for your kiddo to read alone.
2. Who Was MLK? Mini Unit Study
Did you know The Waldock Way has a fun mini unit study you can use with this book? It includes printable games, coloring sheets, notebooking pages, worksheets, copywork, and more. And the best part? It uses this Who Was title for the spine. That helps you make the most of this children’s biography.
3. I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Kadir Nelson
This book is a wonderful way to introduce the famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Portions of the historic speech and the beautiful illustrations are perfect for keeping the attention of your younger learners as you learn about Dr. King.
4. Martin Luther King, Jr. Books for Kids
Speaking of great books about Dr. King, I compiled a booklist on Bookshop with a good mix of picture books and biographies. Better yet, this list has books for kids of all ages to help you learn about Dr. King’s life and work.
5. I Have a Dream Speech
There are plenty of videos of Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech that took place during the March on Washington in 1963, but this was the one we used. Experiencing that moment curled up on the couch next to my kids was surreal. We listened carefully to Dr. King’s words and message and had remarkable discussion afterwards.
6. Blast to the Past: King’s Courage by Stacia Deutsch
We’ve recently discovered this series and completely love that Dr. King shows up in one of the books! It’s a great way for kids to step back in time and experience aspects of history for themselves.
7. Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes
As a part of our unit study, I spent some time with my kids reading through some of Dr. King’s well-known quotes. We picked our favorites and used them for copywork exercises.
8. The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. from Kid President
I can’t think about a better person than Kid President to share the story and heart of Martin Luther King, Jr. Add it to your watchlist and view it with your kids.
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9. Martin Luther King, Jr. Diorama Activity
We haven’t tackled this diorama activity yet, but it looks super cool and I know my kids are going to love it!
10. Notebooking Pages
Lastly, this notebooking pages freebie is a great way to document all of your time learning about Martin Luther King, Jr.
That’s it for my list of unit study resources, but I hope you’ve found several materials here to help you explore Dr. King’s life and legacy in your homeschool.