Resources for Teaching 9-11*
This September marks the 10 year anniversary of 9-11. You may find the following websites and books helpful as you are teaching about this event. Note that our GPS only include 9-11 at the 5th grade level, and even at that age you need to choose resources carefully and guide discussion thoughtfully.
Children’s Literature about 9-11 (useful for both younger and older students)
Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey by Maria Kalman. A fireboat, launched in 1931, is retired after many years of fighting fires along the Hudson River, but is saved from being scrapped and then called into service again on September 11, 2001.
New York’s Bravest by Mary Pope Osborne. This tale of a 19th century urban folk hero, Mose the firefighter, represents the courage and strength of firefighters throughout history. Dedicated to the firefighters who gave their lives on September 11, 2001, the book offers an opportunity to discuss the events of that day in a more oblique way.
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. A lovely tale memorializing the French aerialist, Phillipe Petit, who performed on a tightrope stretched between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. The author refers to the events of September 11, 2001, only on the last page of this book, but voices a subtle and moving elegy for what has been lost and the memories that remain.
This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort Selected by Georgia Heard & illustrated by 18 renowned picture book artists. A beautiful and healing collection of children’s poems and illustrations.
Messages to Ground Zero: Children Respond to September 11, 2001 Collected by Shelley Harwayne with the New York City Board of Education. Writings and drawings of children attempting to make sense of the incomprehensible tragedies of September 11, 2001. Primary sources!
NCSS Journal Articles On Teaching 9-11
Chick, Kay A. “Making Meaning for Children: The Events of 9-11,” Social Studies and the Young Learner, 17, no. 1 (2004): 25-29.
Hess, Diana and Jeremy Stoddard, “9-11 and Terrorism: ‘The Ultimate Teachable Moment’ in Textbooks and Supplemental Curricula” Social Education, 71, no. 5 (2007): 231-236.
Web Resources for Teaching 9-11
Bill of Rights Institute: www.billofrightsinstitute.org
The Clarke Center at Dickinson College: www.teaching9-11.org
Foreign Policy Research Institute: www.fpri.org/education/teachingwaronterror/
Library of Congress Sept. 11, 2001, Documentary Project: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/911_archive
The Sept. 11 Digital Archive: http://911digitalarchive.org
* Adapted from an article in the July News & Notes newsletter from the Georgia Council for Social Studies.