I Have a Dream

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was this past Monday. We spent some time this week reading books related to Martin Luther King's dream of a world in which all people were treated equally.  Since we have been working on opinion writing again for the past few weeks, we first read The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. This is a story of two young girls living in the segregated south of the 1960's. The two girls don't understand why they aren't allowed to play together and eventually, they go against the wishes of the adults in their lives and get to know one another. In doing so, they discover that they really do have a lot in common after all. The books ends with a message of hope that one day, everyone in their town will stop judging others based on their appearance. We used this text as a springboard to write an opinion piece on whether or not we thought the girls made a good decision when they chose to get to know one another better. Everyone agreed that the girls made a good choice.

We also read I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr. this week. This book is a condensed version of MLK's famous I Have a Dream Speech, illustrated with beautiful watercolors. 

After reading this book, the students took some time to think about their own dreams for the world and for themselves. They shared lots of inspiring ideas, including the examples below.

"My dream is for treating people the way you want to be treated!"

"My dream is to be like Martin Luther King Jr. My other dream
is to be helpful and kind to people who are hurt."

"My dream is that white and black people will not be apart."

"My dream is to make the world a better place."

"My dream is that leaders are people who be nice to men and women.
People are normal in every way, nice or mean. We all treat each other the same. We love each other-
black or white. We're all the same."

Ask your child about his or her dream for the world or for themselves! I'm willing to bet that their answer will make you smile.