6-c-1+Gloria

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This is a primary source video of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech.


 * Objective:** Students will be assigned specific paragraphs of MLK’s “I have a Dream” speech. Each group will identify King’s references within the paragraph and provide specific information about those references through research. Each group will support their research with primary sources.


 * Procedure:**
 * Step 1 - Students will read the “I Have a Dream” speech then watch the “I Have a Dream” video


 * Step 2 - Using the SEA Method, students will analyze the “I Have a Dream” video, students will discuss their responses in class.


 * Step 3 - Students will be divided into groups. They will be assigned a specific paragraph from the speech and research who and/or what King was referring to within the assigned paragraph.


 * Step 4 - In addition to their research, student groups must acquire primary sources that are relevant to the assigned paragraph. Sources could include documents, photos, data, sheet music, audio/video or maps. A minimum of 4 different types of sources must be found.


 * Step 5 - Students will develop a 5-10 minute presentation based on their research and primary sources


 * Step 6 - As a class, students will watch MLK’s speech again. The speech will be paused at the appropriate paragraphs in order for students to give their presentations.


 * Conclusion**: Students will discuss the activity elaborating on the pros and cons and determining what they knew before the activity and what they learned after the activity. Higher level learning skills would involve researching the paragraphs and primary sources and determining the connection between their research and MLK’s speech.


 * The assigned paragraphs**:


 * Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
 * In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."


 * We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.


 * But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

 Gloria: This is a great way to have students back up their ideas with evidence from their research. I think it would be a great activity to do with my National History Day students. Thanks for sharing the idea! - Diane
 * There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Gloria, I really like your idea about reading the speech first and then watching the video. Sometimes in just watching a video people miss out on some of the things said, the message that is trying to come across. However, watching the video allows for students to see emotion and passion, especially in this case. Your lesson plan is very thorough and informative. I use this speech quite a bit in my classes, and look forward to sharing your lesson with my students! Julie