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When teaching about social justice, there is a long list of important leaders to introduce to your students. It is amazing to think that there were so many brave men and women who stood up for change. However, it can be tricky to pick which leaders to focus on. Malcolm X is often overlooked in the elementary classroom. Malcolm Little, written by his daughter, is the perfect picture book to introduce your students to Malcolm X. The Malcolm X Picture Book Unit shows students how determination and hard work can overcome all odds.
What is an activist?
Before beginning the unit, it will be essential to know what an activist is. Otherwise, students may not fully understand the importance behind the person. For primary students, an appropriate definition involves someone raising awareness for a cause. An activist feels strongly about a topic and is working to ensure people around them know what is going on and work to make a change.
Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X
This inspirational book shows students how hardships do not define life. Malcolm Little had a happy childhood. Malcolm Little was well cared for between loving parents, a good education, and time for fun activities. However, his life was so far from perfect. Due to a disagreement on how his family felt about equality, his family home was burned down. After moving, his father was killed for continuing the push for equality. Unfortunately, Malcolm’s family was separated, and life became even more tragic. Despite this, nothing stopped the boy who became known as Malcolm X from continuing his father’s dream. This book will show students how no obstacles could stop a family from working towards freedom and justice.
When developing a unit on Malcolm X for primary students, this resource has everything ready! Even better, it meets multiple standards, and skills students work on.
Comprehension
To ensure students have strong comprehension, there are a variety of techniques used. First, students will have questions they may answer in different formats about the book. Second, there is even a short article based on another historical leader and questions to answer. Third, there are fun, creative activities as well. For example, students can draw a picture of their favorite scene and then describe it.
Character Education
While in school, students are learning so much more than content. They are learning how to be prepared for life. Hence, character education is embedded all throughout lessons. With this, students learn about responsibility, respect, and fairness. There are multiple prompts to select from that will help students think about important values to hold. Thus, students will gain insight into their own behavior.
Grammar
In every subject, students are working on grammar in some way. Therefore, this unit is filled with grammar activities. One specific skill students will work on involves writing similes. However, students will not just identify them and move on. They will work on having a sentence starter and then writing their own simile. Students will have a blast writing and sharing their creative thoughts! They will also practice synonyms and antonyms with beautiful butterflies.
Vocabulary
There can be so much vocabulary in every book. Consequently, students can lose out on valuable information if they do not know words. Hence, there is a vocabulary list and activities ready for students! There is even a fun puzzle activity where students put a picture together. To do this, they will match the correct definition to the term. Students will surely learn their vocabulary through hands-on activities!
Writing Prompts
Journals and short responses are a perfect way to help students reflect on the reading. Therefore, there are several options for writing prompts. Furthermore, the prompts are meant to help students see how they are actually similar to Malcolm X. This is done to help show how they can achieve so much in their own life!
The Malcolm X Picture Book Unit is a great way to teach students about a historical figure that they can relate to. Students will see how the brave acts of a young child actually started at a very young age. Due to this, students can be encouraged and inspired to make positive changes in their community!
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