DR.

MARTIN
LUTHER
KING JR.
Miss Faust’s Second Grade
THE STANDARD WE ARE WORKING ON IS…
SS2H1 DESCRIBE THE LIVES AND
CONTRIBUTIONS OF HISTORICAL FIGURES IN
GEORGIA HISTORY.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
WHAT WAS DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S
ROLE IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT ?

VOCABULARY TERMS
SEGREGATION
EQUALITY
NON-VIOLENCE
PROTEST
BOYCOTT
MARCH
TIMELINE OF DR. KING’S LIFE
• Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta,
Georgia on January 15, 1929.

• During this time, the south was being separated

by segregation. Martin experienced first hand the
unfairness that segregation brought.

• Martin attended Booker T. Washington school

where he became a great public speaker and was
known as a strong debater. There he developed
the skills he would use to become one of the
greatest speakers of all time.

• He also was known as a very smart student.

Martin skipped two grades, which allowed him to
start college at an early age.
• Martin Luther King began his college education as a sociology major at Morehouse college in
Atlanta. He then went to Crozer seminary school and received his divinity degree. This led him
to later receive his doctorate in theology from Boston university. He would be a preacher like
his father and grandfather.

While he was studying in Boston, he met a woman named Coretta Scott. Dr. King and Coretta
married in 1953. They had 4 children named Yolanda, Martin Luther King III, Dexter and
Bernice.
• Dr. King had experienced the injustice and
unfairness of segregation and used his power of
speech to battle it. He listened to the unfair stories
of the community and wanted to make a change
by protesting inequality.
• His first effort was to organize a march for a
woman named Rosa Parks that had been arrested
after she refused to move from her seat on the bus
for a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.
• MLK and other community members organized
the Montgomery Bus Boycott in order to change
the laws. They refused to ride or do business with
people supporting segregation. This boycott lasted
over a year, until Supreme Court ruled segregation
on transportation was unlawful
STOP, THINK, REACT!
Here are some questions to think about. Take a minute to discuss your thoughts
would your whisper buddy beside you. Give a thumbs up when you’re ready to
share.

What was Martin Luther King Jr.’s first protest?

Do you think everyone was a fan of what Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to do?
Why/Why not?

Was MLK Jr. right by thinking that non-violence is the best way to bring social
justice? Why/Why not?
• While Dr. King worked for equal rights for all, there were still some
people that did not agree that everyone should be equal. Dr. King faced
many people that saw his contributions as dangerous and unwanted. Dr.
King was even placed in a near life or death situation when his house was
bombed due to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

• Dr. King was inspired to use peace as a way of resistance, as he had

learned from Mahatma Gandhi.

• After the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. King and other minsters came
together to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Their
goal was to fight inequality with peaceful protests, like sit-ins, boycotts,
marches and pray-ins. They believed that the best way to achieve social
justice was by peace.

• Martin Luther King Jr. protested many unjust laws that led to multiple
arrests in his pursuit for equality. He was arrested once for a sit-in with
college students in 1960.
• One of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous moments
was when he gave the “I Have a Dream” speech at the
March on Washington.
• 250,000 supporters gathered in front of the Lincoln
Memorial to hear Dr. King’s empowering words
towards the fight of social justice.
• In 1964, Dr. King was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for
his extraordinary work towards social equality. He was
the youngest person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.
King also donated the prize money to the civil rights
movement.
“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr.
August 28, 1963
• Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists
went to Memphis, Tennessee to join and support a
strike that was going on for sanitation workers.
• King returned to his hotel room after giving his
speech, that he did not know would be his last. King
was shot by a sniper as he sat on the balcony of his
room.
King was rushed to the hospital, but it was too late.
• Martin Luther King died on April 4, 1968 in Memphis,
Tennessee.
• King’s contributions rocked the world and left lasting
impressions of what our society should be. We have
Dr. King and those involved in the civil rights
movement to thank for the way we live today.
Write 5 complete sentences about what you learned about Martin Luther King Jr. using your vocabulary

words. There are 6 words, but you only have to write 5 sentences.

You have the rest of the class to work on your sentences.

Don’t forget to turn them in on the back table before leaving.

SEGREGATION

EQUALITY

NON-VIOLENCE

PROTEST

BOYCOTT

MARCH