Eighth Graders At Pierre Van Cortlandt Honor Dr. MLK Jr

From Croton-Harmon Schools: Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School eighth-graders in Croton-on- Hudson took time to honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by discussing some of his famous words and speeches leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16.

“We are in a unit that includes the theme of ‘Inspiring Change,’” English Language Arts teacher Jacquline Johnson said. “We look at historical figures who have written speeches to help inspire change and analyze them as a means of inspiring future generations to do their part and continue to take a stand for what they believe in and then inspire others through speech writing.”

Students listened to the famous “I Have A Dream” speech in class, annotated the text and identified some of the literary devices Dr. King used, including similes, metaphors, repetition and amplification. They also read several of Dr. King’s famous quotes, such as “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way” and use their analytical skills to paraphrase the meanings.

In social studies, students listened to excerpts from Dr. King’s “I have been to the mountaintop” speech, delivered one day before his assassination. They learned he was an advocate of peaceful protests and was influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.

After listening to Dr. King’ speech, students shared what the words, “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward” meant to them, through words and illustrations.Social studies teacher Brett Bowden reminded students, “When you have days off, there are reasons for it – they serve important, historical purposes.”

Image Courtesy of Croton-Harmon Schools