The Many Faces Of Martin Luther King Jr., in Acrostic Poem

Acrostics, even the name gives me the notion of some coded trick.
But just the same we took on this simple form to talk to Martin Luther King Jr. today in third grade.
My students are involved in an extended study connected to the holiday we just celebrated. I felt these were fascinating. You might think I "helped' which I would gladly accept as what I did. But not really. My sheltered Immersion and EO students watched the 17 minute "I Have A Dream Speech" following the text they had ( and they thought of getting it out ) and then used their dictionaries, sharing with each other, and simply getting at it while I was prepping other things we are doing. In the end I found these lovely.
For the picture, I passed out photographs and they drew in 15 minutes.

I'm pleased!

M arch master magnificent

A frican America

R ainbow repose

T alk very good

I nnocent

N egroes never give up hope

L ucky man

U n stoppable

T ruthful teller

H arder worker

E xcellent

R espectful

K ing of knowledge

I mportant

Nice

G od was generous to give us MLK

Desiree Hernandez

M artyr

A very brave man

R ainbow

T ruthful

I ntelligent

N ever afraid

L eader

U n stoppable

T hankful

H andsome

E qual

R espect

K ing

I mportant

N ice

G od

Janet Barragan

M ighty

A rmy strong

R ighteous

T hinker

I nnocent

N on Violent

L eader

U n stoppable

T ough

H ero

E xcellent

R espect

K ingdom of God

I ntelligent

N ation

G enerous

Mark De Los Santos

M artin Luther King

A Mountaintop

R escue

T ook care of people in hospitals in his ministry

I had an Idea

N atural

L uther

U people made the world Unfair

T ruthful

H ero

E xpected success one day

R enew

K ing

I mportant

N on Violence

G reat

Esthela Zamora

M an mountaintop mighty marvelos

A ble approaching

R eal righteous

T hinker

I ntelligent

N on Violent

L eader

U niversal

T rustworthy

H andsome

E xcellence

R espectful

K ingdom of God

I mportant

N ice to everyone

G ood, great, generous, glory

Bryan Calderon

M artin, march

A ble , American

R eal, rainbow

T ruthful, thinker

I nward, impatient

N ever, nobel

L eader, lucky

U niversal, unusual

T ruth, teller

H appy, hero

E qual, everyman

R espect, respectful

K ing, know

I deas, important

N ation, nice

G od, great

Fatima Torres

M agnificent

A nnouncer

R eader

T eacher

I dea

N ever afraid of hate

L oud

U nusual

T ruth

H appy

E xcellent

R espect

K nowing

I mportant

N ice

G reat

Lixvect Garcia

M artin Luther King Jr.

A mazing African American

R eal

T eacher

I have a person

N ever afraid afraid

Limitless

U nable to be mean

T inkerer in history

H ardworking

E veryman

R espect

K ind of king

I mportant

N ice to people

G od believer

Bryan Lopez

M anly man

A ctive African American

R eal righteous rainbows

T ruthfully thinker teacher

I ntelligent innocent

N ego never afraid nobel

L eader luck loud

U niversal unusual

T ruthful thinking teller

H appy hero hard working

E veryman eager

R eality

K ing know king of the soul

I mportant ideas

N on violence is nice

G od good great

Carlos Gomez

M an

A dventure

R ainbow

Tough

I mportant

N on Violent

L eader

U n stoppable

T hankful

H ero

E qual

R espect

K ing

I nnocent

N ice

G enerous god

Antonio Perez

M arch master magnificent

A frican America

R ainbow repose

T alk very good

I nnocent

N egroes never give up hope

L ucky man

U n stoppable

T ruthful teller

H arder worker

E xcellent

R espectful

K ing of knowledge

I mportant

Nice

G od was generous to give us MLK

Desiree Hernandez

M arry He got married.

A ble Martin was able to rescue us.

R eader He was a good reader.

T eacher His teacher helped him understand.

I nteresting He was interested in giving people his words.

N egro All the Negroes were fighting with ideas.

L oud His loud clear voice was beautiful

U niversal The message was universal.

T hankful He was thankful for all people.

H ardworking Martin did some hard work.

E qual Helping kids to be equal.

R espect Giving respect to other people.

K ing of God

I ntelligent

N ice He was so nice to all people

G ood. He was good anywhere.

Fredy Morales

M agician

A pple

R ainbow

T ruth

I ntelligent

N egro

L eader

U niversal

T eller

H ero

E veryman

R espect

K ing

I mportant

N on violent

G od good

Gabriel Rojas

M anly, Marty, Mission, Martin Luther King Jr.

A ble, Airtight, American

R eal man, relative, retell,rainbow, reader

T offee, thankful, thinkful

I deas, incensed, intelligent

N atural, non violent

L ittle loud

U niversal, unlimited, unstoppable

Talented, transformative

H andsome, hero, happy man, human, hardworker

E earthspectator, excellent

R espect, rich in mind

K kind, king, know, Kingdom of God

I mportant

N on violent nations

G enerous God

Maria Ojeda

M artin

A frican American

R ethink

T ake care of the people

I mportant

N ation

L uther

U nited States of America

T hankful

H ero

E qual to people

R espect he had

K ing

I deas

N ice to others

G ood person

Juan Zepeda

M ighty

A frican American

R eal radical

T ell the truth

I ntelligent

N ever afraid

L oudly

U nusual

T eller

H ero

E veryman

R esourceful

K ind

I ntelligent

N on violent

G ood

Elijah Franco

M an, a very nice man

A ble, he was able to rescue the family

R eader, boy he was a good reader

T talks, he simply talks to everybody about what is right

I ntelligent, Martin was so intelligent but he could hear too.

N on violent. His life was forged in non violent action.

L eader, Martin took up leadership.

U nmedicated. Martin used no drug.

T hankful, To God Martin was thankful.

H ero, Martin is a hero.

E veryman respected this man.

R espect, Martin fooled with no one.

K ing, This man was a king.

I mportant. He was so important.

N ice. He was very nice this man.

G reat, That he was.

Brando Gomez

M artin Luther King Jr. Like his family a lot.

A ble to read about African Americans.

R eal and read also about his dream.

T urth because he liked to be a teacher.

I s Martin Luther King Jr. famous?

N ever would be afraid of white people’s hate.

L eader Martin liked to talk a lot.

U n stoppable and like a President in leadership power.

T ruthful and for this his words he is famous for truth.

H e always said he had a dream.

E veryday he had fun with words and speech.

R ead about Martin Luther King Jr.

K ings are famous guys to read about.

I like Martin Luther King Jr. because he had a dream.

N on violence is nice.

G od is a great, good form of generosity and love.

Jocelyn Gutierrez

M an, mercy

A pproachable, admirable

R aise, real

T ake, transform

I nclude, involve

N on Violent, native

L eader, likeness Luther

U nfathomable

T ramsformational teacher

H ospital, home

E xcellent

R ainbow

K ing, knows

I ntersting

N ice

G od, good

Daniela Zamora

M ohammed, Kenisha, Yolanda, Renisha these names came to mind today

A s I sat with my class watching them write to you

R eading your words

T elling themselves the story

I nscribed upon the skin of our nation

N egro they said, slowly, and then again in Spanish, they heard you say it Martin


L ooking at me I said, it was back, and a child finished, ah, back in the day-it was different

U glier, the pictures in black and white

T hrew bodies into walls with water cannons, they watched, incredulous

H ow did you go to school they asked me?

E veryday in third grade I got to go to the school where blacks once went, with Mrs. Peyton

R eally? They looked at me. Did you protest?


K inda I was nine. Like you. Watched the TV, learned, loved my teacher, she was a Negro.

Interesting the kids said and resumed talking about words that start with N.

N ice, I asked them, please don't just say nice, but they all did. He was nice.

G iving me, their teacher, a smile. Yes, Martin was nice. And died for a day I could teach you.


Mrs. Puglisi


See my Mrs. Puglisi's 100 National Standards