MLK Mini-Unit

Today I kicked off our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. mini-unit through an activity that led us to a very in depth and mature conversation this afternoon. I gave half the class gold stars and the other half purple stars (stickers). They were not told what they meant. The kids with gold stars were called to line up first, sit at the carpet, participate in brain breaks, get drinks from the newer water fountain and were called on by me to share out. By mid-afternoon the mood in the classroom was much different. Those who had purple stars seemed sad, yet those with gold stars who were ecstatic at the beginning, were starting to slump down a  bit and have a change in attitude also. I finally called them all to the carpet to discuss things they noticed or how they felt throughout the day. This was a great intro to our MLK mini-unit for social studies. We read about MLK and discussed some vocabulary and will continue our discussions through the week.