These K-5 Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets for Reading are one thing you can add to your lesson plans in January when Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated. These Martin Luther King Jr worksheets that focus on comprehension are a great way to build reading skills while learning about the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr and his actions during the Civil Rights Movement. Written at grade appropriate levels for Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-5th Grade, readers of all ability levels will be able to complete the reading comprehension worksheet. Students will read the nonfiction texts about the life of Martin Luther King and show their understanding when completing the comprehension questions that follow each passage. If you want your young students to learn about this important United States national holiday, keep reading to see what is included in these Martin Luther King Jr worksheets for reading!
Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets
Students benefit from reading nonfiction texts so they are exposed to content specific vocabulary that they might not otherwise gravitate towards when choosing their own reading materials. Since Dr Martin Luther King Jr played such a significant role in American history, these Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets for reading comprehension are a must for your classroom. Students will be able to read about the civil-rights activist and how he fought for equal rights in a peaceful way. For the different grade levels, the topics become more in depth as the older students will be able to read more social studies specific words related to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They’ll learn about his planning and participation in a peaceful march for the Montgomery bus boycott. Students will read about how Martin Luther King Jr. played a big role in the passing of the Civil Rights Act. A timeline of Dr. King’s life including him being a great leader for Black people, leading a peaceful protest, and winning a Nobel Peace Prize for all his work are all things that they will read about in these Martin Luther King Jr worksheets.
Shorter Nonfiction Texts for Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets
Nonfiction texts can sometimes be intimidating for students. However, these passages are shorter making them easier for students to complete in one sitting. They won’t be overwhelmed by a large textbook, but rather will see that the amount of reading is doable for them. Students will also see that the comprehension questions won’t take a long time to complete.
K-5 Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets
The Kindergarten level passages are much simpler with sight words as well as other words for them to sound out when learning about Martin Luther King Jr. 1st Grade students have passages that are longer and include more vocabulary connected to Martin Luther King Jr. They will apply their decoding knowledge as they read through the nonfiction texts. 2nd Grade students will learn even more content specific social studies words as they read about the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. There is one set of passages for 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, and 5th Grade students. They should be able to complete the Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets for Reading as independent work. The upper elementary students will understand how Black people were treated differently than White people during Dr King’s life.
No matter the grade level of your students, they’ll gain an understanding of why the United States has a national holiday on the third Monday of January each year known as Martin Luther King Jr Day. There is a great amount of information to learn about this important figure who created a better future for Black people with his focus on racial equality. You’ll be able to see your students’ understanding of each Martin Luther King Jr passage when reviewing their written responses. An answer key is included for each set of Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets.
How to Focus on Comprehension with These Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets
- One great way to focus on comprehension when working on these Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets is to have students find evidence in the text to support their responses to the comprehension questions. They can use highlighters or markers to circle where they find each of their answers. This way you can see that they’re using what they learned directly from the Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets to answer each question.
- Students can also review the questions before actually reading the text, so they know what they should be looking for while reading.
- One last thing you can do is have students participate in a follow up discussion about what they read. This can be done in small groups, with a partner, or as a whole class discussion. Their responses to verbal discussion questions, in addition to reviewing the answer key that comes with each passage, will help you get an idea of who is doing well with comprehension.
What is included in each set of Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets:
- 3-4 nonfiction texts about Dr Martin Luther King Jr
- Comprehension questions for each text
- Answer Keys for each comprehension question
These Martin Luther King Jr Day reading comprehension passages are great for building decoding skills while focusing on comprehension. Students will go through the Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets for reading and comprehension practice. These are perfect to use when discussing Martin Luther King Jr Day in January. These can be used in small groups, for individual reading time, and to send home. Simply print out each passage and make copies for your students. You can pair these nonfiction texts about Martin Luther King Jr with other texts, articles, or videos being used during the week of Martin Luther King Day. These passages also work well for Black History Month.
Check out all the Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets for Reading Comprehension!
More Comprehension Practice
If you’re looking for more passages to use with your young students for more comprehension practice, you can download my free K-2 Nonfiction Passages and free 3rd-5th Grade Passages.
You may also be interested in reading these blog posts if you need more comprehension practice ideas!
Improve Comprehension Using Effective Text Evidence Worksheets
