How to Approach Teaching 9/11 in Upper Elementary

Kirsten 0:00

This is the social studies teacher podcast a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm curious to know if you southern teach an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies, I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

So the first one is a pretty easy one. BrainPOP I love their video, it's super straightforward. It's great video discussing the events of September 11, and why it occurred.

The second activity is a really cool story called boatlift, an untold tale of 911 resilience. This is a YouTube video that shares an example of heroism and how it comes in the most unexpected ways. There is a little bit of language. So definitely preview this one just in case to make sure it is appropriate for your classes. But this is a really cool perspective.

And the third activity I have for you is to read the book, 14 cows for America. This is a children's book that you can buy on Amazon or anywhere where books are sold, that shares the story of the Messiah, people of Kenya who gave an extraordinary gift to the grieving people of the United States.

And then the fifth activity I have is a resource I created called The Patriot Day WebQuest. So it kind of goes into more of the holiday in itself that evolved from September 11. This is a printable and digital WebQuest. That goes into Patriot Day in the also going into the events of September 11. You can always mix and match, you can do the BrainPOP video followed by the Patriot Day rep WebQuest. You could read the book and watch the videos. It's up to you.

But I really like these activities that are easy to implement in, you know, you're right at the beginning of the day, at the end of the day really only takes about 15 minutes at the most. I hope you're able to take some time this week to talk to your students about Patriot Day and 911 because it is so important to talk about with your students. And I think personally, they're probably interested in your perspective, even though they might have heard it over and over again, by parents or other teachers. It's always good to share your own perspective to those students so they can get an idea of why this is such an important event to talk about.

All right, well, that's the end of this episode. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.