I Have a Dream Lesson Plan Information | Lesson Plan Activities | Printable version (including handouts) (PDF)

Standard: Read with Understanding Outcomes Students will create a reader response essay as they react to the speech from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream".

Classroom Information

GED Descriptors:      language arts - reading , social studies Roles:      Family, Community Member Program Type(s)      ABE, GED, Urban, Rural, Corrections NRS Learner levels (ABE/GED)       4, 5, 6 Time frame:       3 hours Technology Integration I Have a Dream Speech YouTube video and text Black History Month Black History Month Black History Wikipedia Celebrating Our Black History The King Center Black History Month Teacher Resources Civil Rights Movement Thematic Collection

Keywords

select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword History > region > U.S. history > Civil Rights History > region > U.S. history > Civil Rights > segregation Ethnic Groups > African-American Education > reading Social Science > sociology > social issues > racism > prejudice Social Science > sociology > social issues > racism > race relations History > region > U.S. history > well-known people > King, Martin Luther, Jr.

Standard: Read with Understanding

Component of Performance How activity addresses component Determine the reading purpose Awareness of the Civil Rights Movement and those people who were significant to the passions of the time and their effect on history. Select reading strategies appropriate to the purpose Students find examples of figures of speech (metaphor, simile, alliteration, allusion) and study anaphora in King's speech. Reader response provides an opportunity for students to react to text through personal experience. Reader's theater improves fluency. Background knowledge strategies are added to students’ collection. Monitor comprehension and adjust reading strategies Students listen to King's speech and are given text to follow. They will practice reader's theater, gauging appropriate voice inflection, tone, clarity and rate of speech. Analyze information and reflect on its underlying meaning Students are given a choice of activities to activate prior knowledge about the civil rights era and relate to how MLK influenced this time period. Interpretation of his speech through the reader's theater conveys student's understanding of King’s message. Integrate it with prior knowledge to address reading purpose Students incorporate the affective or emotional response into their cognitive understanding of the speech as they react to the text.

Purposeful, Transparent, Building Expertise

Purposeful and Transparent Students are aware of Martin Luther King Jr. and the fact that we celebrate his accomplishments with a national holiday, but lack the understanding of the civil rights movement and its effect on our country. Contextual Teaching students the strategy of reader response will allow them opportunities to consider circumstances and background of text as they analyze or react while reading. Building Expertise Based on student's knowledge of figures of speech, the teacher steps out of the lesson and teaches a mini-lesson on that concept. Then she continues the lesson so students can complete this activity with confidence, applying what they have learned.

Lesson Designer Judy Franks Ohio Literacy Resource Center (330) 672-0753 jfranks@literacy.kent.edu

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