Saturday, September 12, 2015

9/11 Lesson and Commemoration

Friday was a unique day for us at EHMS as it marked the 14th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on our country. Our classes were shortened so that we could attend a special program meant to commemorate and remember this terrible day in American history.

I realized a couple of years ago that students of middle school age no longer remembered the events of that day. My students this year were not even born when the attacks took place in 2001. That being the case, I took the opportunity to explain, as best I could, what happened and who was responsible. It was an extremely abbreviated explanation, and overly simplistic, but it gave the kids an idea of what happened and how the events of that day still affect us today. Why did my Mom have to go to Iraq? Why is my Dad in Afghanistan? Why is airport security so tough? All questions whose answers are rooted in the events of September 11, 2001.



I showed the students a video clip of news coverage from that day. The videos showed the planes striking the towers and the towers collapsing. The shock heard in the voices of well-known morning news people like Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, etc. seemed to make an impression on the kids. We then attended the program where the students were very well behaved.


*HOMEWORK ALERT* - The Guided Reading and Vocabulary Builder assignments are due on Monday morning when the students arrive. Please make sure these assignments are complete and ready to go.

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