Martin Luther King Day 2nd Grade Nonfiction Reading Bundle RI.2.1 RI.2.2 RI.2.5

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an important holiday with many meaningful lessons for elementary students. Teach your students valuable, life-long lessons with these useful reading, writing, and vocabulary activities. This 2nd grade MLK Day nonfiction reading bundle for standards RI.2.1 (ask & answer questions), RI.2.2 (main topic and key details), and RI.2.5 (identify and use text features) has just what you need. Help students appreciate diversity and learn about standing up for justice and equality as they move into the new year. Whether you are studying Black History Month or Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights movement or the fight for fairness for all people Martin Luther King Jr. is an important historical figure to study and learn about.

Cover important standards with this festive resource all about Martin Luther King Jr.. From the birth, early life, and education of Martin Luther King Jr. to his leadership role during the Civil Rights Movement, from his Nobel Prize and the passing of the Civil Rights Act to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and his assassination learn all about the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and his impact on history.

With three different text levels about Martin Luther King Jr., this lesson is accessible for multiple students. Introduce different types of questions, practice writing your own questions, and answer both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Learn all about text features RI.2.5 with a fun action-filled scavenger hunt while also reading about Martin Luther King Jr.. Spend the day reviewing major text features (RI.2.5) with a fun text feature task card library scavenger hunt. Learn all about identifying the main topic and supporting details while also reading about Martin Luther King Jr.. Coloring pages, exit tickets, and more await you in this fun text feature lesson!

This printable resource bundle has 54 Unique pages and 341 total pages.

Documents are available in full color, ink-saving color, black and white, and ink-saving black and white

Answer sheets are available where applicable

Lesson Plan provided

TELL ME MORE

Introduce the topics with two posters. One decorative poster is the cover for the unit. This poster includes the subject for the unit Martin Luther King Jr. with a cute Martin Luther King Jr.-themed illustration. There is another poster that introduces the main vocabulary for the unit Civil Rights. This poster also includes a definition of the word Civil Rights. This poster is available in a smaller version if you want to save ink. You can use this poster to help you introduce the subject.

The nonfiction text about A Hero for Equality: Martin Luther King Jr. is available in high, mid, and low versions. The text content is the same but the words and sentence structures are different from text to text. Each text has introductions, main body paragraphs, and conclusions. The same vocabulary words are used throughout the texts.

Speaking of vocabulary, there are 16 vocabulary cards. Eight vocabulary words and eight definitions with photos. The words are: civil rights, boycott, equality, Jim Crow, illegal, arrested, protest, and segregation. These words are used frequently throughout all the resources to make sure kids get lots of practice with them. Play a game such as Pictionary or charades with the cards or reinforce understanding. There is also a vocabulary drawing paper included to help kids visualize the word meanings. Students will choose tricky words and help to visualize the meaning by drawing a picture to help them remember. An additional paper with sentences using the vocabulary words is also included. Students will practice reading the vocabulary words in the sentences. There is also a paper where students can practice filling in the correct vocabulary words to complete a sentence. A word box of the vocabulary words is provided.

What learning goals are addressed in the resources?

RI.2.5 Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text about Martin Luther King Jr. efficiently.

This resource includes a MLK-themed lesson plan for RI.2.5 Know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently. This lesson plan explains how to use all the resources in this lesson. You can, of course, pick and choose which parts of the lesson plan you want to follow. If you have taught a previous version of this lesson using one of my other resources, you will find this layout to be similar.

Introduce RI.2.5 Text Features with a helpful poster that offers a quick review of some major text features. This poster shows each of the features being used on the poster. The poster is customized to fit the theme of the unit, Martin Luther King Jr.! You can use this poster to hang in the room as a reminder during the lesson. Or you can hand out it out to students to put in their notebooks or reading binders.

Once kids have reviewed the text features, it’s time to practice. The text feature worksheet offers a quick way for students to check their understanding of text features. Students can circle the text features in the unit’s nonfiction text A Hero for Equality: Martin Luther King Jr.. They will then answer the writing prompt which talks about one of the text features found in the text.

Then spend the day reviewing major text features (RI.2.5) with a fun MLK-themed text feature task card library scavenger hunt (Library not included). Students will search for books with the text feature on their task card. They will record the title of the books on the recording sheet and then get another card. There are 30 unique task cards with words and ideas from the MLK-themed text.

Early finishers have a MLK-themed coloring page with a short writing prompt as well. There are three different text feature exit tickets for a quick assessment of student understanding.

RI.2.2 Identify the main topic of the multi-paragraph text about Martin Luther King Jr. as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

This resource includes a MLK-themed lesson plan for RI.2.2 Identify the main topic of the multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text. This lesson plan explains how to use all the resources in this lesson. You can, of course, pick and choose which parts of the lesson you want to follow. If you have taught a previous version of this lesson using one of my other resources, you will find this layout to be similar.

Introduce RI.2.2 Main Topic & Key Details with three definition cards: Main Topic, Key Detail, and Minor Detail. These cards have MLK-themed examples and cute backgrounds. Each card comes in a large version but there is also a one-page printable version that has all three cards on it. You can therefore use these cards as posters to hang in the room as a reminder during the lesson. Or you can hand out the small cards to kids to use in groups or individually.

Once kids know the main topic, key details, and minor details, it’s time to practice. This resource has a worksheet for students to practice sorting minor details from major details. This sort includes details from the main text about Martin Luther King Jr. but sometimes adds details as well. An answer sheet is provided. Because it can be somewhat subjective, I allow kids to explain why they think something is a key detail if they vary from what I thought the answer should be. The important thing is that they understand the core of the concept. It’s not a huge deal if there’s one detail they think could be sorted differently.

Before we are able to understand the whole text, it’s important we know what a paragraph is about. Next, there is a worksheet where students can work with identifying the topic of different paragraphs. These paragraphs are mostly from the main text about MLK. They may be reworded slightly to make the topic more obvious. Again there is an answer sheet provided but the answers may vary slightly since this is an open-ended worksheet where they write their own answers.

Now they are ready to read the main text and identify the topic. They can use the adorable MLK-themed recording sheet to write the main topic and key details for the main text. This recording sheet has space to write the main topic as well as three key details. I tell students that there may be more than three key details, but we only need to record three of the most important. I find that giving them too many details to write often leads to them writing down minor details. I have a student who loves to write details and he often records more than one per box which is also okay. The reason I chose three is because this follows the typical structure of a short text with an introduction, three main body paragraphs [3 key details], and a conclusion.

Early finishers have a MLK-themed coloring page with a short writing prompt as well. There are three different main topic exit tickets for a quick assessment of student understanding.

RI.2.1 Ask and Answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

Introduce different types of questions, practice writing your own questions, and answer both multiple-choice and open-ended questions about Martin Luther King Jr.

This resource includes a lesson plan for RI.2.1 Asking and Answering questions. This lesson plan explains how to use all the resources in this lesson. You can, of course, pick and choose which parts of the lesson you want to follow. If you have taught a previous version of this lesson using one of my other resources, you will find this layout to be similar.

Introduce different types of questions with the large question posters and the small question cards. These question cards include a themed background but otherwise are not specific to the text. I purposefully did not include examples specific to this text because I wanted the kids to have the opportunity to generate their own questions for this text without being biased by examples. The examples provided are therefore not related to this text. These question posters include question words who, what, where, when, why, and how.

MLK-themed recording sheets are also included. Students are prompted to record their own questions prior to reading. There are six sheets each prompting students to focus on a particular type of question. For example: “Write down 5 “who questions.” You can have students practice a different type of question with each new resource. Put students in groups and have them focus on asking just one type of question. Or you can have the whole class focus on asking just one type of question. Then rotate them for the next story. Why focus on the type of question? Because sometimes students miss questions because they do not understand what is really being asked. By deconstructing the type of questions, they can better understand what questions are asking them. Writing their own questions is a key part of this.

There are 10 total questions. Five multiple-choice questions and five open-ended questions.

There is a set of multiple-choice questions. These questions are about the included text A Hero for Equality: Martin Luther King Jr.. These include 5 questions with 4 multiple-choice answers each. There are answer sheets available for this set of questions.

There is also a set of open-ended questions which also include 5 different questions. Students will write their own answers to these questions. These questions are also about the included text A Hero for Equality: Martin Luther King Jr.. There are answer sheets available for this set of questions but it should be understood that some of the open-ended questions can be a little flexible with the correct answers, especially with why questions.

Early finishers have a MLK-themed coloring page with a short writing prompt as well. There are three different ask-and-answer questions exit tickets for a quick assessment of student understanding.

This printable resource bundle has 54 Unique pages and 341 total pages.

Documents are available in full color, ink-saving color, black and white, and ink-saving black and white

Answer sheets are available where applicable

Lesson Plan provided

WHAT'S INSIDE?

This Printable Resource includes:

• 1 MLK-Themed Unit Cover Poster

• Lesson Plans for RI.2.1, RI.2.2, & RI.2.5

• 1 Large MLK-Themed Poster

• 1 MLK-themed Nonfiction Reading Text about A Hero for Equality: Martin Luther King Jr. [on 3 reading levels high, mid, low]

• 16 Vocabulary Cards [8 word cards, 8 definition cards] *Some resources have more vocabulary than others

• 1 Vocabulary Visualization Paper for Martin Luther King Jr.

• 1 Read the Vocabulary Word Paper for Martin Luther King Jr.

• 1 Fill in the Vocabulary Word Paper for Martin Luther King Jr.

• MLK-themed Text Features Worksheet

• MLK-themed Text Features Poster

• Directions for Library Task Card Scavenger Hunt

• 30 Unique MLK-themed Library Scavenger Hunt Task Cards

• Library Scavenger Hunt Recording Paper

• Early Finisher MLK-themed Coloring Page Writing Prompt

• 3 MLK-themed Text Features Exit Tickets

• 3 Definition Cards [Main Topic, Key Detail, Minor Detail]

• MLK-themed Key Details/ Minor Details Sort

• MLK-themed Identify the Topic of Paragraphs Worksheet

• MLK-themed Main Topic and Key Details Recording Paper

• Early Finisher MLK-themed Coloring Page Writing Prompt

• 3 MLK-themed main topic Exit Tickets

• 6 Large Types of Questions Posters

• 6 Small Types of Questions Cards

• 6 Ask a Question Recording Sheets for MLK

• 1 Set of 5 Multiple-choice Questions for MLK

• 1 Set of 5 Open-ended Questions for MLK

• Early Finisher MLK-Themed Coloring Page Writing Prompt

• 3 MLK-Themed Ask and Answer Questions Exit Tickets

This printable resource bundle has 54 Unique pages and 341 total pages.

Documents are available in full color, ink-saving color, black and white, and ink-saving black and white

Answer sheets are available where applicable

Lesson Plan provided

The Text level can be compared with: 2nd grade, age 7-8, lexis 810, AR 2.5, DRA 28, Fountas & Pinnell L, reading recover 20, PM readers 22 gold

This unit was originally made for 2nd grade but can be used with many elementary grades and possibly even an advanced preschooler.

WANT MORE

Buy the Text Features Bundle

Buy the Main Topic Bundle

Buy the Ask and Answer Questions Bundle

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