Martin Luther King, Jr. played a big role in shaping America into the country that it is today. This lesson plan will help your students understand how important he was and help them dream as he did.

Ask an important question this month: What does an activist do? This engaging lesson can be used leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day (and year-round). It supports students in understanding what it means to be an activist and how Martin Luther King Jr. used collaborative action to change the world and speak out against oppression. Perfect for first graders and second graders, this activity explores word meaning and other reading and writing skills.

Help your second graders hone their comparing and contrasting skills with this reading lesson using The Rough Face Girl by Rafe Martin. This version on the Cinderella story is a Common Core recommended text.

This lesson teaches students the basics of capitalization. Get your young writers engaged in writing fun sentences as a class before they write their own, using correct capitalization of course!

Students will be able to answer questions to show understanding of character traits. This can be a stand-alone lesson or a support lesson to be used prior to The Paper Bag Princess lesson plan.