Martin’s Big Words Resource Set

This book and lesson plans are excellent resources for showing students how asking questions can improve their comprehension of a story. Most children have never experienced segregation as it is described in this book. They will naturally have questions regarding this time in history and the key people presented in this text.

Readers who are growing in their ability to identify broad themes and messages while reading will clearly recognize the problems with segregation outlined in this book. They will have the opportunity to discuss the importance of MLK’s and Rosa Park’s actions to the movement for equal rights for all citizens, using evidence from the text to support their understanding.

The complex themes in Martin’s Big Words make this book ideal for developing readers who are practicing making inferences. In order to deepen their understanding of the setting and how African Americans might have felt during this time in history, students will need to make strong connections to other literature and their own personal feelings about leadership, exclusion and the desire to have equal rights.

Martin’s Big Words is an ideal book for readers who need additional practice capturing and retelling accurate facts to improve comprehension. This biography format clearly outlines Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, career and death, and students will be able to identify the distinct sequence, problems and resolution.

With simple language and beautiful artwork, Martin’s Big Words introduces early readers to a very important time in our country’s history as well as the people who influenced it most. Students will demonstrate their use of multiple strategies to derive full meaning about the setting, the problem and the people in this biography.

The BookPagez extension activities are a great way to push student engagement beyond the pages of the text. Try using this activity with early finishers, with students who show a deeper connection with the text, or as a center activity.

Use this "done for you" Running Record to assess oral reading fluency of Martin’s Big Words. Track meaning, structure, and visual accuracy using the first 100 words of the text to determine whether or not this book is a good fit for the readers in your classroom.

This set of Spanish student facing resources includes comprehension strategy practice pages, reader's notebook prompts (complete with Spanish Common Core "I Can" statements), and extension activities for use with Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. These resources are intended to be used with the lesson plans included in the Super Pack for this book.

Martin’s Big Words is not only an excellent anchor text for teaching comprehension strategies, it also pairs well with a phonics lesson about beginning blends. Either download the Martin’s Big Words Super Pack or this individual Word Work package to access lesson plans, interactive games and fun worksheets that directly tie word study to your classroom reading.

Before your students can fully comprehend and enjoy Martin’s Big Words, it’s helpful to review the new vocabulary used in the story. Either download the Martin’s Big Words Super Pack or this individual Vocabulary Builder for resources and activities that support Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary growth through fun and productive interactions with new words.