Martin Luther King Jr Day

We had a short day today.  The children's parents were off and arrived late and picked up early but we still managed to get in a lot of learning fun.   

We started today by reading this book about Martin Luther King

We talked about how once things weren't very fair and some people thought they had the right to tell other people what to do because their skin was a different color.

We talked about fair and unfair.

The children made a wonderful list.

Fair:

If I get a candy cane everyone else should too.
If I get a toy I should share it with all my friends.
If I have a new shirt I would show all my friends not just some of my friends.

Unfair:

Taking a nap. (I'm not so sure about that one but...)
If I had a cookie but wouldn't let anyone else have one.
If I let one friend help me build my building but not anyone else.
If Ms. Pamela gave only one of us candy.

I turned the conversation to Martin Luther's 'I Have a Dream' speech.  We talked about how Mr. King wanted everyone to be treated fairly, by the way they behaved and the things they did instead of what color they were.  

I then let the children listen to this brief portion of his famous speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V57lotnKGF8

I then asked the children what dreams they had.  

They did not quite make the connection and told me about sharks biting them and flying.  

LOL, that's okay, I listened and wrote down their dreams anyway and they drew a picture illustrating their dream.

We were now ready to make our MLK Dream necklaces.  It took a bit longer to dry than it should have due to some enthusiastic gluing but we sure looked amazing once they dried.    

While we were waiting for our necklaces to dry we colored Martin Luther King Jr.

After we finished coloring we came into the den and listened to Ben Harper singing With My Own Two Hands and we danced with rainbow ribbons.

Here's the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEnfy9qfdaU

We then painted our hands rainbow colors to make these 

They say, 

I can change the world with my own two hands,

make a better place with my own two hands,

make a kinder place with my own two hands.

HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY

Not real sure what he thinks about his hand being painted.  

It was then time for lunch and nap.

Fish sticks, mixed veggies, strawberries and blueberries, and french fries with milk.  

After nap it was time for writing.

For our writing today I cut five hearts from red, white, yellow, brown, and black paper and dotted these words for the children to trace; Love, Peace, Accept, Fair, Friends.

The children wrote their MLK words and we made a mobile with them.

We then colored crowns, because the King deserves a crown.  The children wrote the word PEACE on their crowns before coloring them.

A short but full day.  

See you tomorrow
Ms. P