15 Reasons Why MLK was Important to the World
Who is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for Kids?
Everyone has heard Martin Luther King Jr.'s quotes and speeches, but here are facts about MLK specifically for kids. You may even know facts about his parents and work during the civil rights movement, but did you know that Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy extends far outside of the borders of the United States. This information and activities on MLK for kids will help students to research, learn and teach others about MLK in ways that use their preferred method of learning.
I had heard of Martin Luther King Jr. before setting foot into the United States, but I really didn't understand how truly important he was or know enough MLK facts for kids. During lessons, at school in Jamaica on our 7 national heroes, he had been mentioned. My teachers told me he thanked one of our Jamaican heroes, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, for giving African Americans a sense of identity and belonging with the work he did.
I also learned that Martin Luther King Jr. was an excellent speaker, believed in non violence and was the leader of the American civil rights movement. All of these facts are important in helping kids understand the value and importance of MLK.
Fast forward to my first year as a teacher, in America, learning our curriculum and realizing that MLK, along with many other historical figures, would be part of the curriculum I would teach. To say I was excited was an understatement. I dove in and started learning about this instrumental historical figure. Here, I have collected several MLK facts for kids and created a personalized MLK playlist to help students learn about this monumental figure in history.
If you’re like me, you try to find learning experiences that are unique and not cookie cutter, ones that force children and people in general, to truly think, that address the standards they have to learn and that are excitable or fun, if possible. These MLK facts and assignments for kids do exactly that.
To create assignments that fit that bill, you have to possess more than a passing understanding of the topic, so here are some of the most important things and events that should be noted about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with an MLK assignment for kids that they'll love.
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If you scroll down in this post, below the preview of the MLK playlist assignment, you can click to download and receive my differentiated/personalized playlist assignment that you can used to ensure each of your students has mastered this curriculum standard. This resource also contains links to some of the best resources, practice games, activities on Martin Luther King Jr. for kids.
The activities will help students to show mastery of the social studies standard about Martin Luther King, which says that students will be able to describe the importance of key people, events and developments between 1950-1975, namely key events of the Civil Rights movement such as the Montgomery Buss Boycott and the March on Washington. They will also consider the effects of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination on the United States. While reading, researching and creating their products your students will become MLK experts, able to share MLK facts to kids and many others.
The personalized Martin Luther King Jr. playlist also gives students practice on the language arts standards about reading and understanding informational texts as well as writing informative, explanatory and opinion pieces. It is all wrapped up in a neat package to present MLK to kids.
Below, you will find Martin Luther King Jr. quotes, speeches, facts about his education, early life, wife, achievements, advocacy and work as a leader in the civil rights movement, a detailed combination of MLK facts for kids. This information will help students learn and master the Social Studies and Language Arts standards mentioned above and will help them to complete the Martin Luther King Jr. personalized activities (see a preview below). You will receive this MLK playlist for kids for free by clicking the download button above.
When is Martin Luther King Jr’s Actual Birthday?
Martin Luther King Jr.’s actual birthday is January 15, 1929. He was born in the house of his grandparents in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin Luther King Jr. day is celebrated on the 3 Monday in January yearly.
Why is Martin Luther King Jr. Important or What was Martin Luther King Jr. famous for ?
Martin Luther King Jr. is known as the leader of the civil rights movement. He is known as one of America’s great leaders because he spoke out and helped to change laws that were unfair to black Americans. To fully understand the role of MLK, let’s look at his life in bits.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Bio for Kids
Even early accounts of Martin Luther King Jr., celebrate the fact that he loved words. He was exposed to them in church as he read from the bible and his father preached, he heard them in stories by his grandmother and Aunt Ida and he read them in books.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Early Life for Kids
Martin Luther King Jr., affectionately called MLK, was the middle child. His older sister, Christine and younger brother Alfred Daniel were born and lived in the house of their grandparents, the Reverend and Mrs. A.D. Williams, with their Aunt Ida. King and his siblings were mostly raised by their grandmother and aunt due to busy work of his parents (his father was a preacher and his mother, a former teacher, was a musician).
Martin liked sports (basketball, football and basketball), riding his bicycle and singing in his father’s church with his sister and brother. The three children loved to play pranks and their favorite was to attach an authentic looking fur piece to a stick and move it around on the street while in hiding to scare people walking by.