Teach Bright

Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January. It celebrates the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an influential civil rights leader. Martin Luther King Jr. is most well-known for his campaigns for racial equality in the United States. His most famous address was his “I Have a Dream” speech. He was an advocate for non-violent protest and was the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Share A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. by David Adler with your children. Use the opportunity to discuss with children the importance of treating all people fairly without regard for their race, gender, or religion. In his speech, Martin Luther King Jr. says:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Help children understand what the “content of their character” means. Discuss with children the kinds of character qualities we want to have, such as patience, generosity, self control, and honesty.

If you browse through our resources and happen to take a fancy to one of our “digital downloads,” you will be able to purchase and download the title instantly. But, of course, you will need to print the pages and, yes, laminate the photo cards. Oh, the love of laminating! If you have access to free lamination at your school, congratulations! For those of us who don’t, check out this great little laminator from Amazon for $32. What a deal. I bought one and it has become my new best friend!

The laminator feed shows a sheet from Graphs and Tally Charts. Check it out! It contains 16 class graphs and tally charts, including “What sport do you like to play?” “How many letters are in your name?” and “What is your favorite color?” It also includes literature connections for each topic. 62 pages for $6.50 and a great excuse to use that new laminator!

January 5 is the day to honor our feathered friends. Invite your students to play a game of “Name that Tune”–name that birdie tune that is! Check out this bird call quiz. Students listen to a bird’s call and try to guess which bird made it.

Check out www.nationalbirdday.com for lots of other fun bird activities. Enjoy!

Add some winter fun to your math center. Invite children to sort little snowmen by various attributes. Snowmen can be sorted by hat color, scarf color, hat type, buttons, sweater color, and more. After sorting the snowmen, children can create graphs to reflect their sorts. All materials for creating this center are available in Snowmen Sort, Pattern, Graph available on TeachersPayTeachers. Materials include photos of 12 snowmen, reproducible graphing materials, task cards, and student tracking form.

Autumn officially begins with the autumnal equinox–the date in September when the hours of the day and night are about the same. We often call this season fall because it is when the leaves fall from the trees. Brainstorm a list of fall activities: pick pumpkins, play football, pick apples, wear a costume, rake leaves. After creating the list, use it to create a class graph with your students. Label the bottom of the graph with several fall activities. Then, invite each child to place a name badge in the column that reflects their favorite activity. I like to use photos to represent the graph labels but if you don’t have them, invite children to draw pictures to illustrate the activities.

Use the same list of fall activities to practice sight words and writing skills. Write this sentence frame for students to copy:I like to ____ in the fall. Have each child create a book page in which they write the sentence and complete the frame with their activity choice. Encourage children to illustrate their page and then combine all creations to make a book titled, “What I Like About Fall.”