ESL WORKSHEET 2

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

LinguaHouse

March 12, 2019

Level: Pre-Intermediate (A2-B1)

Type of English: General English

Tags: People And Places; Society And Change; American Culture; Celebrities And Historical Figures

Publication date: 03/12/2019

Students listen to a mini-profile about the American civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The lesson focuses on vocabulary, listening comprehension, and speaking.

• CLICK HERE to download the student worksheet (color).
• CLICK HERE to download the student worksheet (b/w).
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher's notes (color).
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher's notes (b/w).
• CLICK HERE to download the audio (American English).
• CLICK HERE to download the audio (British English).

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929. He was born into a religious family, and his father was a preacher. When King was growing up, black people in the southern part of the U.S. did not have equal rights.

But he believed in non-violent solutions to this problem, and he was involved in many social and political events. He went to a good religious school in Pennsylvania where his teachers saw him as an excellent student.

Later, he was accepted by many universities, including Yale, but he chose to go to Boston University. He graduated at the age of 25 and became a pastor in Alabama.

King was very good at public speaking. He became a leader for many black people who believed in freedom for everyone. In 1960, he and 50 other African Americans went into a department store and asked to be treated like white people.

At that time, African Americans could purchase items from the store but they were not allowed to try on clothes or sit at a table in the restaurant, which was called the Magnolia Room. The 51 protesters sat in the Magnolia Room until the police arrived and arrested every one of them.

King worked hard to organize a big demonstration in 1963 in Washington D.C. There were over 200,000 people and it was there that he gave his famous speech “I have a dream”.

This started the big change across the country, and in 1964 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. King wanted bigger and faster changes. He wanted white and black people to live together in peace.

On April 4, 1968, while standing on a balcony in Memphis, he was shot dead by a sniper. After his murder, people of different skin color were crying and equal treatment finally began. Every year on the third Monday of January, Americans celebrate his birthday. (Today Americans celebrate his birthday every year, on the third Monday of January.)

Source: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/martin-luther-king-jr. Accessed on July 13, 2021.