Martin Luther King, Jr. championed human rights in the United States and encouraged Americans to use nonviolent protest to help solve social problems. Congress designated the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday as a national day of community service. Before you and your students plan service activities, revisit Dr. King’s legacy.

Examine the struggle for civil rights in the U.S. from the 1940s to the 1970s and the influence of mass media documenting political events in “Egalitarian America,” unit 20 of America’s History in the Making.

Learn about the social movements of the 1960s and the work of Dr. King in A Biography of America, program 24, “The Sixties.” This program covers King’s leadership in both the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War protest.

In the language arts classroom, use literary circles like Latosha Rowley does with her 4th-, and 5th-grade students to read literature about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. Allow students to choose text pairings, and learn how to prepare discussion guides that help students stay focused on their reading in Engaging with Literature: A Video Library, program 6, “Building Community.”

The Hindu holy book, The Bhagavad Gita, a classic work of world literature, inspired the non-violent civil disobedience of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. Learn more about this text in Invitation to World Literature, “The Bhagavad Gita.”

- See more at: https://learnerlog.org/socialstudies/lessons-for-martin-luther-king-jr-day-and-beyond/#sthash.PZ68NNK0.dpuf