Patriot Day - Teaching Rememberance

Today is a tough day for all Americans. 

But we are Americans and we will not let terror win. 

That was the message that this great resource from The BrownBag Teacher held for my students. (Click the picture above to get this free download at The Brown Bag Teacher's TpT store). It was a wonderful reading passage with a graphic organizer that outlines the main idea of the passage. The passage discusses the events of this tragic day 13 years ago. The great thing about this Patriot Day resource is that the message is about how we as a nation changed and overcame the attacks not about the scary, sad, and horrifying events that could be too traumatic for younger kids. 

It taught my kids that the world was different before this happened and opened a conversation about the events my kids weren't aware of. My kids focused more on how we have changed and asked about how life was before. Some questions I was asked were  

"Was I really alive then?" "What was it like?" 

"Did you have to miss school?" "Did you know anyone?" 

The comment that most struck me was "I don't want to go to New York it's too scary." This was probably the most heartbreaking comment. But unfortunately in the news all they hear is the bad things. After this comment I googled pictures of what New York and the World Trade Center Memorial looks like, so they could see how New York had changed and grown out of something so tragic. I also showed the memorial pictures of the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (Hilarious that my kids had no idea what the Pentagon was...when I explained it was a Government Building they were shocked.) 

We also watched the Brainpop video September 11: America Under Attack. Even if you don't have a brainpop subscription you can watch this video it's free! This video was helpful in explaining the day as well. 

I also found these resources that I will be using next year (already ordered the book!) from Corkboard Connections! Click the picture to see the resources that go with this great story!

Today is a tough day, even 13 years later it still gives you chills when you think about where you were when you go the news. Living through this day in any capacity is even tougher to explain to kids, especially kids who weren't even born when this terrible day happened. 

Hopefully you find these resource as helpful as I did!

We are Americans and we will not let terror win.

Proud to be an American.