{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.}
Back in 2021 when I originally wrote this post, I was seriously embarrassed and downright ashamed to say that we had never done much to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in our homeschool. We had learned about him in our history lessons multiple times over the years but we had never actually celebrated the national holiday and the man behind it. Thankfully, I rectified that issue by creating this MLK Jr. Unit Study and Fact Pack!
If you find it handy to have a simplified printable of these suggestions, you can find one, along with several free MLK printables, here in the FREE MLK Unit Study Printable Pack.
{Note: The links are pink! Just think, “pink link” if you are wanting to follow a link.}
Martin Luther King Jr Unit Study
READ
As you can imagine, there are loads of books about Martin Luther King Jr. I’ve narrowed this list down to just a handful geared towards a few different levels of readers.
Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King by Jean Marzollo is a pretty simple book which makes it great for early readers or as a family read aloud. It touches upon the civil rights issues of the day but in a child-friendly tone. It also tries to highlight why his birthday is a national holiday which makes it the perfect choice for January.
Despite the fact that the big-headedness of the cover illustrations bother me, I usually like the content of the Who Was series, and Who Was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr by Bonnie Bader does not disappoint. It’s a short chapter book that covers the entirety of his life and even includes a timeline. It was written for 3rd Grade+ and opens up a whole lot of discussion doors on civil rights, segregation, discrimination, protests, etc. but in an appropriate manner for this age group. Another good option from a newer series, in case those big-headed covers of Who Was creep you out too, is The Story of Martin Luther King Jr.: A Biography Book for New Readers by Christine Platt. It is written with the same audience in mind as the Who Was series and does a great job of covering MLK’s life too.
For slightly older kids, I highly suggest Martin Luther King: The Peaceful Warrior by Ed Clayton. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s kind of hard to come by on the internet but your library may have a copy. Mine did! This book was written by somebody who worked directly with Martin Luther King Jr. and, therefore, has a much more REAL feel to the book, as opposed to one written by an unimpacted author who just pulled info from a Google search. But, it is still presented in an appropriate manner; just be prepared for deep conversations about segregation and racial inequalities to spring up.
You can also use this fun and free MLK Mini Book Pack. It includes two options: one with text and one without so it is appropriate for more than one level. It covers MLK’s life in ten steps but leaves the detailed history up to you. If you want to just introduce your younger kids to MLK in a most basic fashion, this book would do just that. But, you can certainly expand on each step with more discussion. It is free and available on its own but is also found in the FREE MLK Unit Study Printable Pack.
And because I am trying really hard not to spend precious time reinventing the wheel, here is a link to a very thorough list of MLK book suggestions from Peanut Butter Fish Lessons, divided into age categories.
WRITE
For younger kids, there is this quick and simple Writing Activity found in the FREE MLK Unit Study Printable Pack. This activity can be tailored to writing about a child’s own personal dreams or to connecting their own child-sized civil rights dreams to that of MLK.
For older kids, the FREE MLK Unit Study Printable Pack also includes a couple of writing prompts that ask the kids to think about and respond to issues related to racial segregation and discrimination. There are two styles of lines to accommodate two levels of writers.
LEARN
For an easy yet thorough introduction to MLK, check out the Martin Luther King Jr Fact Pack. It introduces your 3rd-6th graders to the life of MLK with ten pages of Informational Text Passages and Comprehension Questions. It includes information on his childhood, family life, education, church leadership, civil rights work and death. It is not listed as free but costs less than a Happy Meal from McD’s and offers the high-quality customers expect from The WOLFe Pack.
Or, for a limited time (thru 01-09-23,) you can get the MLK Jr. Fact Pack for free with the purchase of a Celebration Collection from the Homeschool Resource Co. You can find details on that here.
CREATE
This super cool art project was what inspired me to finally put together some lessons for MLK! What I really like about this is that it’s not just an art project. It’s an art project that makes ya think! AND, it’s easily adaptable to a wide range of ages. The instructions ask the kids to draw little icons but it also includes a version where you can just print them out for smaller kids. But, we skipped the icons altogether and decided to write out definitions. I LOVE how it turned out!
Below is the example from the creator…so, obviously much prettier than ours above! We got this project as part of the Celebrate It! Digital Grab Bag in 2021. It was a GREAT DEAL and included all sorts of great resources. Digital Grab Bag has changed their name to Homeschool Resource Co. and if you are not on their list, you should be! They put together the most amazing, high-quality bundles at crazy-good prices. If interested, head here to check out the site and sign up so you are hooked up for future sales.
EXPLORE
If you and your kids want more MLK, you’ll find a couple of videos below. Depending on age, you may want to watch with your kids.
You may also want to check out this Pinterest Board. It has a carefully curated collection of ideas of how to teach about and celebrate Martin Luther King Day!
And, don’t forget to grab the free MLK Jr. Unit Study Printable Pack!
Martin Luther King Jr Unit Study
