Hooray for MLK Day!

In January we remember Dr. Martin Luther King! This post contains fun, engaging activities that are sure to build knowledge about this important man in history.
Can you believe that MLK day is just around the corner? Time is flying by! Here are some of the things we are doing in Megan’s room to celebrate this Famous American. Here is our craftivity where we are recording all that we learn about MLK.
This photo was from last year! I can’t believe how great they did with this activity.

First I asked them, “What was wrong?” We talked about the things that Dr. King saw that he wanted to change. Then, I asked “What did Dr. King do?” and we talked about all the things Dr. King did to make things better. Finally, I asked them, “Then, what happened?” and we talked about the results of his work today. They did amazing when we walked through each step.
Another thing we did was to use clip art to help solve this story problem. So, why clip art? Well, in Singapore Math we know that children learn “CPA”—that’s conceptual, pictorial, abstract. That means we must have children learn the concept using materials that can be manipulated and moved so that they can make meaning. So is this conceptual or pictorial? I say conceptual. To me, since conceptual means that the children can manipulate the items to help solve the problem, they can move the clip art pictures around to make that meaning. Pictorial would be if I had asked them to draw a picture to show their understanding. Don’t you just love the writing? It says, “Him and Him can share a ball. Him and him can share a ball.  Him and him can share a ball.”

Here is an activity to work on number combinations. Dr. King actually had 4 kids-2 girls and 2 boys. I gave them clip art and they came up with ways to make 4 kids. Then, they glued down the black and white clip art and recorded their number combinations.
These are a few of the activities in my Hooray for MLK Day. You can see it by clicking (here) or on any of the pictures.