Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: I Have a Dream

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A great cross-curricular activity, learners will create a diamante poem based on their feelings regarding Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: I Pod Inspired Writing Lessons: I Say to You Today I Have a Dream!

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Inspired by MLK's passionate "I Have a Dream Speech," the mentor text "Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.", by Doreen Rappaport, and U2's Pride (In the Name of Love)", students will write speeches that detail...
Graphic
Curated OER

National Park Service: We Shall Overcome: Lincoln Memorial

For Students 9th - 10th
Pictures and text recount the March on Washington and King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial at this National Park Service site.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Rhetorical Devices and Historically Significant Speeches

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart gives students the opportunity to analyze Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech and identify the rhetorical devices that make them...
Primary
Other

So just.net: Historic Speeches

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from EdChange.org gives the speeches of many American speakers on various topics related to social justice.
Website
PBS

Pbs Newshour Extra: Mlk Memorial Opens on Anniversary of Historic March

For Students 9th - 10th
A memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. took its place in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The date was chosen to commemorate the March on Washington and his "I Have a Dream" speech of August 28, 1963. Obstacles to the King Memorial...
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Scholastic: American Dream: I Have a Dream

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Use Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech to talk about the American Dream, word choice, and persuasion.
Unit Plan
Department of Defense

Do Dea: Thinking Skills

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
In this self-guided course, you will be looking at several pieces of literature in many different forms. This unit will teach you some principles of thinking and learning and how to use basic literary terms in the analysis of literature....
Primary
American Rhetoric

American Rhetoric: Top 100 Speeches

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This is an interactive collection of the top 100 speeches in order of their popularity; most include the text and audio of the speech and several also offer the video. RI.9-10.9 US Documents
Primary
Stanford University

Stanford University: Lesson Plan on "Beyond Vietnam"

For Students 9th - 10th
A well designed four part lesson plan on Dr. King's famous speech on the Vietnam War in which he came out against the war.
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Civil Rights for Kids: March on Washington

For Students 9th - 10th
Study the history of the March on Washington including Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech, the Big Six planners, and the results such as Civil Rights Act in 1964 on this site.
Handout
Wyzant

Wyzant: Robert F Kennedy, Aka "Bobby" Kennedy

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of the life and political career of Robert Kennedy, with links to Kennedy's eulogy to Martin Luther King, Jr. and a speech given in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Primary
NBC

Nbc Learn: Finishing the Dream: 1965: We Shall Overcome

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of archival video clips highlighting a peaceful protest in Alabama in 1965 that ended in a confrontation with state troopers known as "Bloody Sunday." This was followed by a four-day march with Martin Luther King, Jr., and a...
Website
University of Virginia

University of Virginia: Television News of the Civil Rights Era 1950 1970

For Students 9th - 10th
View contemporary coverage of the Civil Rights Movement from two Roanoke, VA television stations including 230 video clips that feature both national events, such as the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy, as well as...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

National Park Service: Picturing Nonviolence or Nonexistence [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This lesson plan teaches students about Dr. King's philosophy of nonviolence. This is a PDF document.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: I Have a Metaphor

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
This lesson plan not only examines the message of Dr. King, but also the words themselves. This is a lesson plan in identifying the literary devices that he used in his "I Have a Dream" Speech. It will introduce the following literary...
Website
University of Texas at Austin

Lbj for Kids! Education

For Students 9th - 10th
Providing photos, audio clips, primary texts, a timeline, and a glossary, this website is a good introduction to President Lyndon Johnson's efforts to reform education in the United States. Listen to (or read) Johnson's "Great Society...
Article
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: Webisode 14: Let Freedom Ring

For Students 9th - 10th
Series episode covers the civil rights movement and the struggle for equality in post-World War II America.
Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep

For Students 9th - 10th
Moon Shadow is eight years old when he sails from the Middle Kingdom (China) to the land of the Golden Mountain (America) where he meets his father, Windrider, for the first time. In San Francisco, Moon Shadow and his father endure...
Handout
CommonLit

Common Lit: Text Sets: The Civil Rights Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a collection of 34 Grade-Leveled texts (4-12)on the topic The Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement emerged after nearly a century of little progress for African Americans following the end of slavery. Explore the...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Gains and Pains

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the legal gains made by the civil rights movement, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, juxtaposed against the real-life actions meant to deny African Americans their right to racial equality not just legally, but...
eBook
Digital History

Digital History: The March on Washington

For Students 9th - 10th
In August 1963, more than 200,000 people marched from the Washington Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial for civil rights. Read about that day in this brief article.