MLK Emergent Reader Printable {Free!}

Happy MLK Day Friends! I hope you had a relaxing day off. Today I want to share an MLK emergent reader I created just for YOU! In early childhood classrooms we teach our children about Dr. King but most tradebooks are way above their level.

I love that when I teach my kids about segregation they are so dumbfounded… “Mrs. Selva, why couldn’t they play together? Who cares what color they are?” It’s amazing and awesome that this generation has very little schema for racism…I guess that means we are on the right track!

This emergent reader will be best used as a supplement to your social studies lesson on MLK. The text is very simple and there are parts where children can extend their learning and record something they learned about Dr. King from the activities you do in your classroom. 

I’m going to offer the book with this disclaimer: Please do not copy the booklet for each kid in your class, hand it to them to color and then have them take it home in their backpacks never to be seen again. I walk a lot of pre-K and Kinder rooms and all too often I see some really amazing resources being used as busy work and it just irks me! Like anything emergent readers can be used for both good and bad…so please, please, pretty please use this in a meaningful way. I know you will because if you’re here…YOU’RE AWESOME!! J

Here are some simple pointers:

The cover should be folded in half with the crease on the left and the rest of the pages should be folded in half with the crease on the right. Tuck the 3 middle pages inside of the cover and staple on the left. (If you put together Reading A-Z books, it’s just like that!)

If you want to provide support for your kids still working on 1:1 correspondence, use a black permanent marker to make a “button” under each word. Show students how to “push the button” as they read each word. (This is a great book to use in your guided reading groups!)

On the fifth page students can record and illustrate a fact they learned about Dr. King. On the back cover you can ask students to talk and illustrate something that they dream will happen in the future. (Depending on time and the level of your kids you may or may not choose to do that.)

If you are a looking for a MLK resource for first, second or third (depending on guided reading level) click here. Last year I created this passage with questions for a small guided reading group of struggling second graders and it worked really well.

To pick up the kindergarten emergent reader click here. I hope you enjoy this resource, have a great week!!