Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Spanish and Bilingual Lesson Materials

In recognition of Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month, I created this cross-curricular reading selection for my Spanish classes. It will also work well for Social Studies, Civics, and American History classes that have Spanish-speaking students.

This bundle of materials offers:

1 A paragraph-length biography of Dr. King with reading comprehension questions. The questions are designed to measure student comprehension and offer double-spacing to allow students sufficient space to translate the text which I think is still a valuable skill that we should develop in our students.

2 A second and distinct biographical paragraph with key terms provided as a warm-up or homework prior to the lesson,

3 A worksheet where students research key vocabulary words that will be used to fill in blanks for the third reading assignment,

For English language classes, there is another research worksheet that can be assigned for homework or completed in class. Students are given a link to the King Center and are tasked with defining key terms in their own words. (i.e. Boycott, Civil Disobedience, Conflict Resolution, Conscientious Objection, Creative Tension, Direct Action, etc.) The worksheet also includes a word search for additional student engagement and to support key word sight recognition.

4 A word search that features the key words. This can be used as a warm-up, reward, "cool-down", or differentiation activity.

5 A second English-language, key terms word search for use as a differentiation activity for classes with English and Spanish speakers. Includes words like "Morehouse College", "Doctorate", "Race relations", "Nobel Prize", "Segregation", "Civil Rights". etc.

6 For additional value, I am including a Spanish-language poster with Dr. King and an inspirational quote that can be displayed all year long.

Again, for Bilingual and English language classrooms, there is a poster of Dr. King and a famous quotation.

7 There is also an introductory, collaborative activity where students are organized into small groups and are given a fast fact in Spanish. Students read their fact for comprehension and are tasked with identifying the person that the facts describe.

8 A bilingual puzzle activity where students are given a vocabulary list of key words related to the Civil Rights movement in Spanish and English and are tasked with unscrambling the English words and matching them with their Spanish equivalents. This can be assigned individually or to pairs for collaboration and team-building.

9 Lastly, I am including a Spanish-language version of the first several paragraphs of Dr. King's, "I have a dream" speech is included with my suggestions for using the paragraphs as both a Reading Fluency assignment and for teaching Reading Comprehension. The rubric that I use is also included.

Overall, I think that these activities are great ways to honor Dr. King while staying within the Spanish content area and strengthening your students' reading comprehension development. They are also very valuable in bilingual classrooms.