Martin Luther King Jr Day word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

Martin Luther King Jr Day word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this Martin Luther King Jr. Day puzzle set for my 2nd and 3rd graders during our January unit. The kids had heard of MLK but had no idea what words like justice, equality, or civil rights meant when we talked about why we honor him. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like Martin Luther King Jr., justice, peace, dream, civil rights, equality, freedom, speech, march, love, hope, leader, January, and honor. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the MLK vocabulary finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess or indoor recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about whether everyone has equal rights today. The crossword I use for partners or as a review. I added a couple simple dove, podium, and dream cloud drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 2nd through 4th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers write one thing they learned about MLK on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.