Martin Luther King Art Lesson MLK Day Art Project MLK Art Activity MLK Artwork

This MLK Word Art Project helps students reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s message of peace, kindness, equality, respect and leadership while they explore oil pastel and paint techniques. Students create a word art piece using color blending and resist painting.

It works as a cross-curricular activity for MLK Day, Black History Month or social justice lessons. Students express their thoughts on equality through their artwork while building skills in color theory, blending and resist painting.

WHAT'S INCLUDED (23 PAGES, NON-EDITABLE)

• About the Resource
• Lesson plan (2 pages) with materials, learning outcomes, goals and Teacher Does/Student Does instructions
• MLK Word Art Hand step-by-step drawing handout for students
• Art piece demonstration step-by-step: 13 slides with images and descriptions
• Example of the finished art piece
• Bulletin board sign for displaying student artwork
• Rubric for assessment

Materials: pencil, eraser, black felt, step-by-step drawing handouts, watered-down paint or watercolor, card stock or thick paper, oil pastels, paintbrush and water.

HOW TO USE IT

Read through the lesson plan and gather your materials in advance. Look over the visual and text step-by-steps, and you may want to make a sample yourself so you can help students along the way. Photocopy the step-by-step drawing handouts and rubrics.

Print the finished example in color and show it before the lesson as your hook. Then project the step-by-step pages on a digital projector or document camera, or use them as your own guide while you demonstrate. Every step has both a visual and a text description.

FAQ

What techniques do students learn?

Oil pastel color blending and resist painting with watered-down paint or watercolor.

When can I use it?

For MLK Day, Black History Month or social justice lessons.

Can I display the finished work?

Yes. A ready-to-print bulletin board sign is included.

ALL TEACHER REVIEWS

★★★★ “Great resource! My students were engaged and learning.” Abby W.

★★★★ “This was a great resource to use in my elementary art classroom!” Maya Z.

★★★★ “My students really enjoyed completing this art activity for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.” Kara G.

★★★ “Super fun and engaging resource! Thanks!” Stephanie R.

★★★★ “Other teachers in my grade level were clamoring for the link - it's a simple yet versatile project.” Kandi T.

★★★★ “My students love this art project. They turned out so awesome. I can use it for different grade levels.” Jessica J.

★★★★ “Thanks for a great resource!” Caroline M.

★★★★ “We used this product in my school's after school program to go along with a Martin Luther King Jr. lesson! Amazing!” Tara M.

★★★★ “These turned out amazing! The kids loved making them.” Jennifer V.

★★★★★ “Great” Melanie V.

★★★★★ “My kids loved this resource! Thank you!” Brianne G.

★★★★★ “Great resource! I love the step-by-step directions, as I am not very artistic myself! My students really enjoyed this!” Jaynee P.

Get free, classroom-ready art lessons and printables in my Free Art Lesson Library.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathleen McGiveron (Ms Artastic) is an artist who has been featured on NBC LX News and designs art lessons for kids and educational resources for teachers. She is the founder of Ms Artastic and hosts the Ms Artastic YouTube Channel and Podcast.

TERMS OF USE

Images and lessons are copyright products.

YOU MAY: use this in creative ways and have as much fun with it as you like. For clip art, you may use the images as clip art, website graphics, binder covers or bulletin board decorations. Additional licenses are available for school use.

YOU MAY NOT: share it with other teachers, administration or districts (admin can buy additional licenses), sell it, give it out for free or photocopy it for others.

Sincerely,

Ms Artastic