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Remembering 9/11

Parents and Teachers, here are some suggested activities that your children can do as they research the events of September 11, 2001, at home or school. Teachers: Why not challenge your students to research this topic at home and present information when they come back to school? Parents: Explore these sites with your children and discuss with them the information that you find.

Indiana Academic Standards
English/Language Arts

Standard 4: Writing Process/Research and Technology

English/Language Arts

Standard 7: Listening and Speaking

Social Studies

Standard 1: History

Remembering 911

visit this site
Visit the official U.S. Government's web pages remembering the 9/11 anniversary.

Suggested Activity

Privacy is an important American freedom. But how do we balance privacy and protection from terrorism?

From this site, read the "Fact Sheet" listing what the United States and its partners are doing to defeat Al Qaeda and how America is being protected against attack.Remember the events of this day by viewing the photo essays and playing the videos. Once the content of this event has been researched, try to answer the opening question: How do you balance personal privacy with protection from terrorism?

Tips for Parents and Teachers

Parents, guide your children as they begin thinking about the complicated issue of privacy. You can do this by listing the pros and cons of sacrificing some privacy, and helping them explore ways to detect and monitor potential threats.Bring this to a personal level by talking about privacy in the home.

Teachers, divide your class into debate teams to discuss these issues. Or, form small study groups to research the challenges of national privacy issues, or bring it closer to home by talking about privacy issues at the school level.

World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition

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You can view over 5,000 design proposals for the World Trade Center.

Suggested Activity

Select "exhibition" to look at the proposals submitted by architects from your state. After viewing some of the proposals, decide whether or not you agree with their winning decision. Present your opinion along with supporting facts to your classmates or to your mom and dad.

Tips for Parents and Teachers

Have the students complete this activity in their classrooms or at home.

The World Will Always Remember September 11

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Sponsored by the US Government, see how countries across the world held events and played their national anthems in remembrance of Sept. 11.

Suggested Activity

View the many nations that held remembrance events and listen to each nation's national anthem. Write your own proposal of how your classmates or family can hold your own remembrance event, and present your suggestion to them.

Tips for Parents and Teachers

You can have students work in small groups to brainstorm, create, and present a proposal to the class. If students are working on this at home, have the child and parent work on this project together, then present it to another friend. Submit your ideas for commemorating this day to this site by using the form below.

2nd Grade "Heroes" Poem

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This is a poem written by a 2nd grade classroom commemorating those who help us nationwide.

Suggested Activity

Read this poem written by a second grade class. Next, list the heroes you have in your community, select one of your community heroes, and write a thank you letter for the contribution this person makes to your community. Include a drawing with your message.

Tips for Parents and Teachers

You can encourage your own students to write their own poem. For tips on writing poems, read a lesson submitted by Buddy² teacher Beth Barefoot from Morrison-Mock Elementary School titled Poetry - Cheaper by the Dozen.

Teacher's Suggestions

Towers of Hope
submitted by J. Huggins
Seneca High School English Teacher
Seneca, South Carolina

In memory of the one year anniversary of the September 11th tragedy, my classes created a visual of the twin towers with individual responses to writing prompts. After peer and teacher editing, the final drafts were typed and adhered to red, white, or blue construction paper (1/2 of an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper).

The writing prompts were as follows: You have two choices when responding to the memory of September 11th.

• You can write a letter (in business or friendly letter format) and tell me what the following four words mean in light of the tragedy: loyalty, pride, unity, and honor.
• You can write a letter to one of the following audiences: your parents, the Seneca High School student body, your Seneca City Council, or your future family. Write a letter full of your memories of this tragic day, suggesting what may happen in the future, as well as what can be done to prevent any other attacks on U.S. soil.

Tip - You will need construction paper and white paper for this project. It helps if you complete the final presentation with a computer. Using different fonts and colors makes this final presentation unique.

credit: NEA website, with modifications