Comparing my childhood to Dr. Martin King’s childhood. Are they similar? In our initial class discussions of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, I found it hard, with some classes, to get pass just talking about the assassination. Then I realized I needed to provide opportunities for the kiddos to make deeper connections to him as a person.

How do you compare historical figures to your kiddos?

I like spending time learning about the historical figures’ childhood events or facts when they were the ages of my kiddos. For example, was the area in which they grew up in like our big city? What did they do to “play”? Was play encouraged? Allowed? As they compare the childhood of the historical figure, they seem more human and more like them. Not just a deceased person who did something good a long time ago. As the kiddos make connections, it will increase their comprehension of the historical figure.

So, what was Dr. King’s childhood like at my age??

In this activity: Comparing Dr. King’s childhood to my childhood, the kiddos will compare facts about Dr. King’s childhood to their personal facts by answering questions about their birthday, their birthplace, their family, and what they enjoy doing.

First, read and discuss the questions and facts of Dr. King’s childhood. Secondly, cut out the facts, match the answers to the questions and then glue in place.

Now more importantly, it’s time to answer the questions and compare to see how similar they are to Dr. King…. maybe begin to see the greatness in themselves.

This activity is just one part of a total product of Dr. King activities, entitled We honor Dr. King. If you’re not on TpT, the product is also in the Iceberg shop on Etsy: PenguinEdIceberg. It contains various academic levels of Literacy activities: Word Search puzzles, A, B, C order choices, adjective review, and writing prompt choices.

An excellent source for Dr. King’s childhood is a wonderful book, My brother Martin, written by his sister Christine King Farris.

I hope the activities in this product provide great conversations and connections to Dr. King and your kiddos.
Until next time,