Who better to help teach character education than Martin Luther King Jr.? Today I’m sharing a writing activity that aligns with one of the most famous quotes from his “I Have a Dream” speech:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
In conjunction with any lessons & discussions your class might have about MLK, you could also have students reflect on what qualities make up their own character.
And then move into the writing activity, where they write about what non-physical traits they would most want others to see in them.
You might provide them with a few sentence frames on the board:
I have a dream that others will see me for ____________________.
I have a dream that people will know me for ____________________.
I have a dream that I will be known for ____________________.
I have a dream that I will be remembered for ____________________.
As a whole group, brainstorm ideas for character traits to fill in the blank. For example: being kind, being a good friend, making people laugh, being helpful to others, etc.
Students can choose one of the sentence frames (or create a similar one in their own words) for their writing. Here is a teacher sample:
As shown in the sample, the kids also illustrated a picture to go with it, and colored and cut out a picture of Martin Luther King to attach to the top and bottom of the paper.
Here are a few below that were created by past students (I remember having a hard time choosing which ones to take pictures of, because I seriously loved all of the different ideas they came up with)!
They make for a beautiful bulletin board display! I’ve often hung them up in the hallway outside the classroom during January and February.
If you’d like to try out this activity with your class too, the same writing paper template is available in my online shop and also my TpT store!
And if you might be in need of additional resources, here’s another one that is very versatile and can be used to supplement just about any other lesson or activity on Martin Luther King. It includes a close reading passage, comprehension questions, and multiple options for MLK writing paper.
You can click here to get this on its own, or get a discount when you grab it together with the “Content of my Character” writing activity.
It’s only $3 for the bundle of both resources…I love a good deal in the new year!
I hope these resources are helpful for you during the busy month of January. And I don’t know about you, but I have a dream that the MLK 3 day weekend will be here soon! 😉