TeachersFirst's September 11 Resources
Other TeachersFirst Special Topics Collections
This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help students understand the events of September 11, 2001, and to plan lessons or discussions so students can see the events of September 11 in connection with history, current events, and the challenges and balances of national security. Whether you stop to observe September 11 separately from your regular curriculum or include it through curricular connections to writing and social studies topics, these resources can help today's students imagine the events of a day before their memory but ever present in the American consciousness.
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Teach + Learn: National September 11 Memorial and Museum - National September 11 Memorial and Museum
Grades
K to 12
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Tech and learn all about September 11 using interactives, timelines, lesson plans, and more from the Memorial Museum in New York. Learn all about the history of the World Trade ...more
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Tech and learn all about September 11 using interactives, timelines, lesson plans, and more from the Memorial Museum in New York. Learn all about the history of the World Trade Center, explore primary sources about 9/11, and much more. Do not miss the interactive Lady Liberty exhibit under the Teach and Learn menu to see a clickable photo of the artifacts left as an impromptu memorial created at a NY firehouse that lost 15 of its men. The FAQ page is a great starting point for those unfamiliar with the events of 9/11. A special section provides ideas for talking with children about 9/11. The site includes many media files: interviews, video and more to help understand September 11.
In the Classroom
Check the teacher lesson plans for ideas. the plans range from kindergarten to grade 12. Incorporate some of the interactives as part of your class commemoration of September 11. Have students record their own video or audio interviews. Try Spreaker, reviewed here, with adults who recall the day and add them to a class or school wiki memorial. Add a Speakpipe widget, reviewed here, to your wiki page so visitors can add their own recollections. If you do not have time to spend more than one class period on 9/11, Teach and Learn will provide rich experiences and material for discussion. Be sure to allow your students time to talk and ask questions about this disturbing day in history.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Center for Civic Education - Center for Civic Education
Grades
5 to 12
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The Center for Civic Education offers this site loaded with information and resources that support the democratic process. Choose the resources tab to take advantage of many lesson...more
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The Center for Civic Education offers this site loaded with information and resources that support the democratic process. Choose the resources tab to take advantage of many lesson plans for all grade levels on topics such as President's Day, voting, Women's History Month, and many more. Choose the More Lesson Plans link to see a list of all lessons sorted by grade levels from K-12. Another interesting portion of the site is found at the media tab. Choose from video or photo galleries or the 60 Second Civics option. 60 Second Civics is a daily podcast accompanied with a short question. Previous podcasts are archived for access at your convenience. Subscribe with iTunes or Podcast Alley or visit the page to listen.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): branches of government (53), civil rights (120), constitution (91), democracy (15), elections (75), electoral college (14), lincoln (82), martin luther king (35), presidents (125), sept11 (17), washington (29)
In the Classroom
Share a link to the podcasts via your web page or blog. Have students answer the daily question then respond with a short journal entry or with comments on your webpage. Use lesson resources to supplement your current curriculum or commemorate events such as 9/11, MLK Day, Presidents Day, or Constitution Day. View videos on your interactive whiteboard (or projector). Assign videos to groups of students to view then report to the class. Rather than a traditional report, challenge cooperative learning groups to collaborate on a topic found on the site using Titanpad reviewed here to share ideas and information.
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Remembering 9/11 - CBS News
Grades
7 to 12
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This collection of stories from CBS have information about the effects of 9/11. They also host information about the victims, coverage about the opening of the new Trade Center, and...more
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This collection of stories from CBS have information about the effects of 9/11. They also host information about the victims, coverage about the opening of the new Trade Center, and information about the results of the re-building efforts on ground zero. To see a montage of the events that led up to 9/11, check out While America Slept, at here.
In the Classroom
Use this site as a cooperative learning activity during a lesson or unit on the events of September 11th or as part of a broader discussion on international relations, terrorism, or the role of government in balancing personal liberties and national security. Create a graphic organizer to guide students through the site (or have them create their own in small groups), highlighting what's most important and the important facts and details. For help creating easy graphic organizers, try using Holt Interactive Graphic Organizer, reviewed here, or bubbl.us, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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While America Slept - The True Story of 9/11 - CBS News
Grades
7 to 12
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Often times students only hear about the catastrophe of 9/11, and not the events that lead up to it. Although it's a little "plain vanilla," this site from ABC offers ...more
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Often times students only hear about the catastrophe of 9/11, and not the events that lead up to it. Although it's a little "plain vanilla," this site from ABC offers a contextual timeline about the events leading up to 9/11. Starting from August 11, 2001, the timeline details what America was doing and what the hijackers were doing, day-by-day, and shows how CIA analysts and FBI agents try to sound the alarm about the rising threat, and were ignored.
tag(s): sept11 (17)
In the Classroom
Use this site on the interactive whiteboard or projector to show students the context of the day. During a class discussion, display the timeline on a projector or interactive whiteboard for students to see and navigate together. Read the details aloud, or have student volunteers take turns reading the events aloud. Make sure that between each event you provide some sort of explanation, i.e. who the people mentioned are and what the significance was of each action. Include this discussion as you study the role of government in the protection of its citizens and balancing individual liberties with national security. Assign students to create multimedia posters using Lucidpress, reviewed here, or an infographic using Visme, reviewed here, showing the conflicting roles of government.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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9/11: The Day that Changed America - Scholastic, Inc.
Grades
1 to 8
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This site explains the events of 9/11 in kid friendly language and provides ideas for activities and lesson plans. It includes information on how kids and schools in the New ...more
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This site explains the events of 9/11 in kid friendly language and provides ideas for activities and lesson plans. It includes information on how kids and schools in the New York area were affected by the attacks, as well as an understandable summary of the events that transpired.
tag(s): sept11 (17)
In the Classroom
Save this site as a favorite and use the lesson plans and activities in your classroom during a lesson or unit on 9/11. Use the articles as a reading activity, allowing reading pairs to read the articles after a discussion on the topic. Be sure to pair students, allowing weaker readers a partner to help them. Have students write and record a podcast "news" story about 9/11 using a simple tool such as Podomatic, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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September 11 Teacher Awards - Tribute World Trade Center Organization
Grades
K to 12
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Are you looking for ways to inspire meaningful discussions of September 11th and to help make sense of this tragedy? The Tribute World Trade Center Visitor Center of New York ...more
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Are you looking for ways to inspire meaningful discussions of September 11th and to help make sense of this tragedy? The Tribute World Trade Center Visitor Center of New York City presents awards to honor teachers who have created exemplary educational projects for students to express and sustain the memory of September 11th. This site shares their projects from the globe and involving all aspects of the arts and humanities, including history, language arts, visual, media and performing arts. Although this site is mainly designed for grades 5-12, there are some activities for younger elementary students found in the "Resources for Your Classroom" section of the site.
In the Classroom
Use these award winning ideas to commemorate September 11 in a lesson to demonstrate unity or build worldwide understanding. Use the concepts as a springboard to a collaborative project. Ideas vary from sending chains of origami cranes as a wish for peace, composing and singing a song for unity with an online tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, writing letters to local politicians, creating poems and transforming them into digital videos or multimedia presentations using ThingLink, reviewed here, or taking responsibility for the environment while creating a sense of community by planting gardens. Choose from many ways to inspire students to recognize the importance of September 11 and to involve them in working together to become a more tolerant society. You might be so amazed with the results that you will want to submit your students' projects to be considered for next year's Tribute Center September 11th Teacher Awards. The annual award ceremony takes place on February 26, to commemorate the 1993 first attack on the World Trade Center.
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September 11 Timeline of Events - Tribute World Trade Center Organization
Grades
4 to 12
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This tribute to 9/11 is a series of interactive photographs that highlights the episodes that transpired from shortly after 8:00 a.m. when the American Airlines flight was hijacked...more
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This tribute to 9/11 is a series of interactive photographs that highlights the episodes that transpired from shortly after 8:00 a.m. when the American Airlines flight was hijacked and struck the first tower of the World Trade Center, to the aftermath when the pile of debris that was once the Twin Towers became flooded with volunteer rescue workers doing the indescribable heroic work of helping the surviving victims and recovering the remains of the human lives that were destroyed. Move your curser over the photographs to read actual descriptions from flight attendants, survivors, firefighters, family members and others who were part of tragic history in the making. This is an opportunity to "relive" that day, almost minute by minute, as if you were actually there.
In the Classroom
Display this pictorial interactive September 11th timeline of the attack on the World Trade Center on your classroom projector or interactive whiteboard. After reading real accounts of what happened, have students work with a partner to create podcasts (news broadcasts, mock interviews with survivors and others involved, or even a student perspective of how that day changed the United States forever). Have students create podcasts using a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here). Alternatively, have them narrate an image using ThingLink, reviewed here.
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Free Documentaries - freedocumentaries.org
Grades
8 to 12
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This website is a source of free, downloadable documentaries. It is a nonprofit site. The site explains, "you can stream interesting and provocative documentary films for free!" Teachers...more
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This website is a source of free, downloadable documentaries. It is a nonprofit site. The site explains, "you can stream interesting and provocative documentary films for free!" Teachers will want to preview before you share with your class simply because of what "provocative" could mean. Most films are full length, but some are short. There is a helpful menu of topics on the right hand side of the computer screen. This menu makes it easy to navigate and find the type of documentary that is needed. Documentaries range from 9/11 and the London Bombing to The Road to Guantanamo to The Panama Deception to many others.
In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. View clips relevant to your topics of study. Use this website to contrast a documentary with the facts that are being taught. Use this site as a point-counterpoint to other perspectives available on the web as part of a discussion of bias. Compare and contrast analysis of the materials versus the known facts is one good use for this website. A short documentary could be shown during class as a launch point for students to create their own documentary style video projects. Share the videos using a site such as Teachers.TV (explained here). Teachers of gifted and high achievers will great possibilities for challenging critical thinking using this site.
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September 11,2001 documentary project - Library of Congress
Grades
7 to 12
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From the Library of Congress' American Memory project, this site links to a large collection of audio, video, text, and artwork related the events of September 11, 2001. Users ...more
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From the Library of Congress' American Memory project, this site links to a large collection of audio, video, text, and artwork related the events of September 11, 2001. Users can search by media, by topic or by title.
In the Classroom
This site would be most useful to students doing research on the 9/11 attacks, but also could provide teachers with supplemental material for a lesson on the events of that date. Although teachers will remember the day vividly, most students were young enough when it occurred that their memories will be clouded. Another use for this site is as an example of the power and necessity of primary sources in documenting any event. Compare these resources to accounts we have of Pearl Harbor and other major events as you ask student to conduct an interviewing project of their own, perhaps of local history.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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September 11 Digital Archive - Center for History and New Media
Grades
7 to 12
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A good start for accessing a wealth of information related to the events of September 11, 2001, this site provides links to research databases, first person accounts and photo and ...more
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A good start for accessing a wealth of information related to the events of September 11, 2001, this site provides links to research databases, first person accounts and photo and sound galleries. For most teachers, 9/11 is a very recent event and is fresh in our minds. However, for students, the details of that terrible day may be fuzzy either because they were young when it happened, or because they were shielded from much of the news coverage. This site can help present the account. Among the "Special Collections" is a link to an innovative sound memorial site that provides a montage of voices and sounds recorded on September 11. Although the main site does not, some of the linked sites require Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom
Preview carefully for younger students. Use the site in your discussions of current events and terrorism-related topics or share it as a resource for high school students doing research projects. As politicians talk about Sept 11, this site can help fill the gaps in your students' background. You can easily demonstrate primary and secondary sources with these engaging examples.
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9/11 - Voices of Reflection - NPR
Grades
6 to 12
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This collection of first-person accounts, reflections, and musical offerings makes an interesting retrospective on the September 11 attacks, and one that classes can listen and react...more
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This collection of first-person accounts, reflections, and musical offerings makes an interesting retrospective on the September 11 attacks, and one that classes can listen and react to together. These recordings could offer a variety of ways in which to focus a discussion of those events.
tag(s): sept11 (17)
In the Classroom
Use some of the first hand accounts as a way to teach both about primary sources and the events of 9/11. Divide the class into cooperative learning groups, preferably with 4-5 differing groups. Assign each group a different primary source from the site, with the intentions of presenting a summary to the class. Once all the groups have presented their summaries, play a quick game "survivor" style in which students defend their pieces by validity and reliability. Have a representative from each group go to the front of the classroom, presenting a brief argument where theirs is the most reliable source. After each has presented, have the class vote off sources in rounds until there is only one left! This is a fun way to both teach the content & incorporate historical thinking skills.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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September 11: Bearing Witness to History - Smithsonian
Grades
10 to 12
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This virtual exhibit provides a collection of stories, images, and objects that represent a material record of September 11, 2001. More than just another 9.11 Web site, this resource...more
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This virtual exhibit provides a collection of stories, images, and objects that represent a material record of September 11, 2001. More than just another 9.11 Web site, this resource sensitively documents the people and stories behind the commonplace objects that survived and were carefully preserved. Audio clips of personal narratives by museum curators are included. This is a thought-provoking, awe-inspiring site that could be used to generate a discussion about the value of material artifacts in historical interpretation. Use with AP or Honors level history students.
In the Classroom
The portion of this site with the most impact is the video posted with live footage of the ABC broadcast as the events of 9/11 were unfolding. Open the site on the interactive whiteboard or projector, and play the video for students as a way to introduce the topic. What's nice about it is that it brings everyone to the same page, as some kids may not remember the details or may have forgotten the extreme emotion involved in that moment. It is a very powerful video, and really relays the significance and the pure shock on the part of News Anchors and Civilians alike on that day. Use the video to lead into a lecture or conversation about what followed the report.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Graphic Witness
Grades
9 to 12
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Visual arts and social commentary come together in this site that looks at human history through the lens of artists and illustrators. Topics include graphic arts in wartime, 19th century...more
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Visual arts and social commentary come together in this site that looks at human history through the lens of artists and illustrators. Topics include graphic arts in wartime, 19th century news illustrations, 9-11 aftermath, and art under duress. Use this site to provoke discussion, guide reflective writing, or inspire personal artistic expression. These compelling images would make very effective anticipatory sets when projected in the classroom.
tag(s): sept11 (17)
In the Classroom
Use the images to create a visual discovery activity in your classroom - for example, use the collection of drawings to teach the events of 9/11 to your students. Share the images on the interactive whiteboard or projector, with students filling out reflections about each image. Reflections should focus on what they observe, infer and predict about each image. After showing a few of the more powerful images, have a class discussion as to what students wrote in their reflections. Going back to each image - what did we learn? What can we assume? What does this picture tell us about this event? You would be surprised about the emotional impact students learn, in addition to the content. This would be a good activity to do as a review, when students are able to use the information on class to project about the images. A great resource for a US history course.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Remember, Rebuild, Renew - Lower Manhattan Development Corp.
Grades
6 to 12
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The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's site offers presentations on the 7 designs submitted for reclaiming the area once occupied by the World Trade Center buildings. Users can...more
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The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's site offers presentations on the 7 designs submitted for reclaiming the area once occupied by the World Trade Center buildings. Users can view slide shows for each proposal and read the architects' descriptions of how their design best meets the LMDC's three-part goal.
tag(s): sept11 (17)
In the Classroom
What do your students think the best memorial would be?
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Library of Congress 9/11 Acquisitions - Library of Congress
Grades
6 to 12
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This page offers an entry point to the various images and materials about the 9/11 attacks which the Library of Congress has acquired. The collection includes photos, newspaper accounts,...more
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This page offers an entry point to the various images and materials about the 9/11 attacks which the Library of Congress has acquired. The collection includes photos, newspaper accounts, books, and works of art inspired by the attacks. While there is likely no single definitive collection of this material, this one is an extensive resource.
In the Classroom
Use this site as a learning center or station during a unit on September 11th, focusing mainly the images and posters available. The images could be used for a picture walk or to accompany a lecture.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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September 11, 2001 - New York Times
Grades
9 to 12
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This site is a collection of the New York Times biographical sketches of those who died in the 9-11 attacks. Poignant, simple, and inspiring, this is a site which invites ...more
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This site is a collection of the New York Times biographical sketches of those who died in the 9-11 attacks. Poignant, simple, and inspiring, this is a site which invites a response.
In the Classroom
Try using it with students as a springboard for writing or other creative expression.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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