This week we celebrated the wonderful things Martin Luther King Jr. did for us all.
Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer
We honor Martin Luther King, a man who loved God very much. Dr. King dreamed of love, peace, and justice. He dreamed that we could all work together and live in peace no matter what the color of our skin. As we remember Dr. King’s birthday, we are thankful for the many things he did for our people of our country. We ask God to help us to love one another, always work together, and live in peace.
Amen.
During read aloud and snack time, I gave each child a sticker (purple or green). When each child had a sticker, I told the class that only students with green stickers could sit at the carpet area and if they had a purple sticker they had to sit in the back of the classroom. The students with purple stickers stood up and moved to the back of the room. Then, I told the class that snack was for green sticker students only and that it wasn't allowed for students with purple stickers. The purple sticker students started shouting that it wasn't fair. I continued to give snack to the green sticker students.
One purple sticker student turned to the people in his group with the same stickers and said, "I think I know what Miss Pedrini is doing....this is like the bus when black people had to sit in the back and they couldn't drink from the same water fountains...." I said he was exactly right and that today we were going to learn about what Martin Luther King Jr. did for the world. The students with purple stickers shared how they felt when they were not allowed to sit in the same spot or have snack with us. This was the perfect lesson to teach about how MLK changed the worlds view about people. We opened our lesson with the prayer above and discussed how MLK protested for equal rights, encouraged others to
fight with words, the truth, and prayer. MLK said,
"love is the key to the problems of the world," and that
"hate cannot drive out hate." I explained that today there are still some people who are treated badly because they look different on the outside, but its what is on the inside that counts!
After our lesson, each student traced and colored their hand. Students gave me a quote about equal rights and I wrote these on their hand prints. We taped our hands on a rainbow that says, "God Loves All The Children." God created each and everyone of us to be unique and it truly is our character on the inside that matters the most!
A few of the students quotes...
"In our hearts we are the same"
"It's the character that is important, not what we look like on the outside"
"God loves all people"
"Thank you MLK for fighting for equal rights for us"
"All people deserve to be treated kind"
"We are the same on the inside"
