Learning Through Literature: Martin Luther King Jr Day Books

While we were 'off' school in December, I made it a point to curl up on the couch with the kids and a book every day or two.  I found out that I absolutely LOVE doing that!!  So, I have made it a point to use good books instead of worksheets and projects to talk about something we are learning.  

Don't get me wrong, worksheets and projects are fun, they just take (for me) so much prep work that we often never got to them.  I've changed over to just a book and discussion and saved my prep work for math, science, reading and writing.  Seems to be going pretty well.

Since Monday is Martin Luther King Jr Day (and I felt the need to tell you as if you didn't have a calendar), we have been reading books on Martin Luther King Jr.  

Happy Birthday Martin Luther King was the first book we read.  Great book!  It gives just enough information to encourage questions from my young children.  Not so much information that it bored or confused them.  Probably the best of the bunch.

Martin Luther King Jr and the March on Washington was our read for Tuesday.  This was also a good book.  Little harder read then the others, but still a nice amount of information.  The pictures were drawings mixed with real photos from the actual march.  I appreciated that the photos contained people of all races, which allowed me to explain that civil rights were something that people from different backgrounds wanted not just African Americans.

A Picture Book of Rosa Parks Very well written, told the entire story of not just Ms. Parks' ride on the bus, but also the bus boycott.  I do have to add that this started a tough discussion afterwards, as Ms. Parks' decision was to disobey the law.  I'm still working through how to address that question.  Any thoughts??  Yes, I agree it was a terrible law, but I think that of some laws currently effect in our country-and think we should still obey them.

Sit-In How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down  I really liked this one.  The story was well written and I appreciated this show of changing a law without breaking it.  The kids, however, did not like it.  It was written with some imagination in addition to fact, just a bit of rhyme, and the pictures were very hard to follow.  I think we will stick to books written more with just straight facts and photos.  There was a photo of the 4 friends in the back of the book and that saved it for my children.  

Speeches that Changed the World  We won't be reading this one :).  It was a gift a few years ago that included a disk to listen to speeches, including Mr. King's.  

Remember: The Journey to School Integration is on the list for Tuesday.  My children, who don't actually attend school, are still having a hard time understanding why they wouldn't be able to go to school with their own cousin if they lived in the same town.  Really, how does anyone understand that??

And that's it.  Might seem a little simple, but it seems to be working and I like it that way :).

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!!

God Bless,