Martin Luther King, Jr. is the only American with a unique, individual holiday—not even American presidents are so remembered anymore. It's observed on the third Monday in January—January 18 this year—and the path to creating this holiday was uphill. Corretta Scott King (1927-2006) considered the day as one of interracial and intercultural cooperation and sharing. "Whether you are African-American, Hispanic or Native American, whether you are Caucasian or Asian-American, you are part of the great dream Martin Luther King, Jr. had for America," she wrote.

Since 1994, it's also been a Day of Service, "a day ON, not a day off," when people are encouraged to come together with volunteer projects to move us closer to achieving the dream Dr. King had for the nation. Dr. King once said that what we all have to decide is whether we "will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. Life's most persistent and nagging question is 'what are you doing for others?'"

Communities throughout the country offer opportunities for volunteers—use the searchbox at Serve.gov to find programs near you—or consider planning ahead with your students to develop a school-based day of service for 2011.

Few commemorations of the Civil Rights leader will occur without citing King's moving and powerful I Have a Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, August 28, 1963. Few will fail to ask whether we have moved closer to achieving his dream that America is living out the "true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

It was a question Martin Luther King later asked in the sermon, "Unfulfilled Dreams," delivered at Ebeneezer Baptist Church on March 3, 1968 less than a month before his assassination. "I guess one of the great agonies of life is that we are constantly trying to finish that which is unfinishable," he stated and he talked about Mahatma Gandhi, Woodrow Wilson, and various Biblical figures who died before seeing the fruition of their lifework.

The creators of Teach Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Western Michigan University MLK Celebration Committee believe that students K-12 are able to tackle this question and offer teaching ideas and resources grouped for elementary, middle and high school students. Materials encourage educators to move beyond textbook biographies to "...the years following 1963...years of tremendous growth and deepened insight. King was uncompromising in his stand against racism in the United States."

The site provokes discussion through introducing (and dispelling) four myths about Dr. King, including, "Martin Luther King, Jr. should be thought of as a great African American leader." "Compared to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. was an "Uncle Tom;" rather than using "any means necessary" he believed in a passive non-violence." "Now that we are in the twenty-first century we have achieved the goals King fought for?" The phrasing of the myths is intended to jar; the commentary does not, but emphasizes the scope of Dr. King's work, placing his life in a global context of meaning and achievement.

Audiovisual resources posted on the site (and linked through YouTube) include "I Have a Dream," other speeches, and videos of historical commentary.

For materials that help relate Dr. King's work to the present day, explore a 2008 speech by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama at Ebeneezer Baptist Church. The half-hour video recaps the civil rights movement, Dr. King's life and impact, and present-day concerns.

And for comprehensive access to primary sources, white papers, and teaching materials, Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University hosts the King Papers Project. As you might expect, a plethora of materials on King, his life, his speeches, and his work are accessible under this umbrella. Classroom Resources include document-based lesson plans, biographical essays, and an online encyclopedia of the civil rights movement.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Since 1994 and the signing into law of the King Holiday and Service Act, the holiday is a "day on, not a day off," a national day of service. According to the King Center, King's widow, Coretta Scott King, described the holiday this way:

Every King Holiday has been a national "teach-in" on the values of nonviolence, including unconditional love, tolerance, forgiveness and reconciliation, which are so desperately needed to unify America. It is a day of intensive education and training in Martin's philosophy and methods of nonviolent social change and conflict-reconciliation. The Holiday provides a unique opportunity to teach young people to fight evil, not people, to get in the habit of asking themselves, "what is the most loving way I can resolve this conflict?"

Maybe you've given your students background on the holiday and prepared them to get involved in the local community today. But Martin Luther King Jr. Day shouldn't be the only day your students are ready to serve—and King isn't the only topic that can connect service and history education.

President Barack Obama's United We Serve initiative calls on citizens to come together to improve their communities. The government Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service website reflects that call, and provides resources you can draw on throughout the year.

Use this site to familiarize yourself (and your students, depending on their grade level and readiness to organize projects) with service opportunities in your area. Search by city, state, or zip code; register your own project; or read up on planning a project with the site's detailed Action Guides.

Now consider your curriculum and your local community. Don't limit yourself to Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, or to the third Monday of January. Think about the Great Depression, the New Deal, the Progressive Era, the women's rights movement, the victory gardens and scrap drives of the World War II homefront, the Berlin Airlift. What sorts of projects might you guide students in initiating (or at least considering) for any of these topics or time periods that would also help them learn—and feel connected to—historical content?

Helping to preserve history can be service, too! Listen to teacher James Percoco speak on teaching with memorials and monuments and think about your local history. Are there places that need young volunteers? Locations that students could research and then prepare their own interpretive materials?

Use Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a reminder not just to memorialize history, but to empower students to connect with, interpret, and preserve it in the service of the present!

Sounds good, you say, but maybe you need resources for teaching about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, before you head off onto wider projects. Last year, we recommended a variety of online resources in our Jan. 13 blog entry. Here are those recommendations again—and a few new ones! Remember to search our Website Reviews and try our Lesson Plan Gateway for even more links to great materials.

• King Center — founded in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, the Center works to educate the public on King's life and message and to preserve his spirit of service. It includes information on the history of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute — includes lesson plans and an extensive collection of primary sources in the King Papers Project.
• History Channel King page — videos, speeches, photo galleries, and topical essays.
• Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site — includes lesson plans.
• EDSITEment — lesson plans based on primary sources.
• NARA — pages analyze resources including a court case on who holds copyright to the "I Have a Dream" speech, an original program for the March on Washington, and primary sources related to King's support of Memphis sanitation workers' protests in 1968.
• Library of Congress — the site's Today in History entry for January 15, King's birthday, provides links to related resources elsewhere on the website.