MLK Day

I have been very thankful for the opportunities that Fulbrook has given me to share about my American culture.  I am thrilled to get to spend one afternoon a week simply sharing about America with my Enrichment class, I was thrilled to share about Thanksgiving at a school assembly and today I had the opportunity to once again share something special about America.  Today I spoke to the entire school about the day set aside to honor Dr.  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

In order for the kids to really understand what was going on when Dr. King was involved with the Civil Rights Movement, I did have have to go back several hundred years.  My talk started with slavery, the Civil War, then the Jim Crow laws, discrimination and segregation.  I showed photos of how separated things were in the south and of the terrifying KKK.  


Then, after talking about such a sad part of our nations history, I got to talk about the hero of the day.  I was thrilled that most of the kids had heard of Dr. King and even Rosa Parks, but I don't think they knew a whole lot about either one.  I shared a bit about Dr. King's childhood, his education and how he became a preacher in Montgomery, Alabama.  Then I shared part of a speech we all know too well, but one that is always worth hearing again:


I went on to show the kids how he fought violence, oppression and hatred with love, kindness and a bit of stubbornness.  I talked about all that he had accomplished and the huge difference he made in creating equality amongst people in the United States.  I did, reluctantly, share that Dr. King had been assassinated by someone who did not share his views, but I made sure that wasn't the end of the presentation.  That's not how I wanted it to end, that's not the legacy he would have wanted us to remember today.  Instead, I spoke about how our nation spends one day a year honoring Dr. King and how many across the nation, including my home school, come together to give back to the community on this day. Dr. King, I have no doubt, would be thrilled to hear that we are honoring his life by helping others.

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"

On a side note, I must also mention that for the first time, one of my classes Skyped with Kelly's 4th grade class in Alabama.  I'm teaching a unit about a short film that I shared a week or so ago on the blog, and Kelly decided to do that as well, so our classes talked to each other about the film today.  They shared opinions and thoughts about the film as well as doing a bit of drama pretending to be one of the characters and answering questions as if they were that person.  Then, they had the opportunity to ask other questions, many of which were about accents, the weather and the size of the school.  Although the kids got a little out of hand - let's remember they had a mic in their hands and could see themselves on the big screen in the classroom - it was an absolute pleasure and certainly a great learning experience for us all!

I also covered a year 7 class for a lesson today and after they did their work, I decided to share a bit of home with them and read them one of my favorite picture books, Bubba, the Cowboy Prince which one of my college professors shared with me.  It is the story of Bubba who is a near slave for his wicked stepbrothers (Dwayne and Milton) and stepfather until one day, Miz Lurleen (who looks a lot like Dolly Parton) throws a ball!  And well, I won't give away any more, but you can probably guess the plot line! :)  The story requires a heavy southern accent when being read and the kids always get a big kick out of it!

I thoroughly enjoyed my day at school and was thrilled to have the opportunity to share some things that I'm really proud of from home!

Comments

  1. It felt odd to be teaching on MLK Day, but I too did an assembly and enjoyed sharing this bit of America with our Key Stage 1 classes. My pupils here, like those at home, are really loving singing songs from the Civil Rights Era, and I don't even really have to change the religious language that sometimes I need to be careful about at home. I'm glad it was a good day for you, too!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, Cindy, I really don't know any Civil Rights Era songs - how wonderful! I'll have to hear more about them!

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