Martin Luther King, Jr.
From English Language Learners to gifted students, I use the message of Martin Luther King, Jr. to discuss the meaning of hopes and dreams.
Munch and Switch
I give each student a bag of 5 different color M&Ms. ( You could use stickers, popsicle sticks, or any item that is colored.) I call out “Switch? and each student pairs up with another student. They choose a color and then look at the overhead to see which prompt they must respond to with their partner. If they choose a blue M&M, then they respond to the blue question. After 1 minute, I call out “Munch? and they eat their M&M. Then I call out “Switch? and they must choose another partner. They choose a color they both have in common, and then they look at the board to respond to the question that corresponds with their color.
The purpose of the activity is to get students interacting with a variety of other students, while discussing different aspects of the book. The five prompts relate to the theme, conflict, cause and effect, and connections. After 5 switches, we discuss the five prompts whole group.
You can choose any book/article you would like to use for the activity. You could also use a video segment to show the class.
I read the book Feathers and Fools by Mem Fox with the munch and switch activity. It has a great lesson of friendship and accepting each other despite differences. It demonstrates what happens to society when differences are stressed instead of accepted.
Each table group of my advanced group receives a different section of the life of MLK, Jr. After reading the information and discussing it, each table group presents a summary to the class. Then we listen to sections of the speech, which you can download from the Internet. You can use any written material you have to divide among the groups.
I have them separate themselves and sit at the floor reflecting on what their dreams are for themselves, their family, and the world. Students create deep, sincere, and heart warming responses. They cut out the scroll and glue it to the construction paper.
English Language Learners
During ELL rotation, students discuss in table groups different dreams they have. We make a class list and then students choose a dream to record on their paper. They write their dream and pin it to the bulletin board.
Message Edited by maochoa on 01-21-2008 04:10 PM