9/11 Teaching Resources

This Saturday marks 20 years since the attacks on September 11th. Below are some resources for teaching more about this in your classrooms. In addition, Eric Hillman, an instructional coach at the Jr. High, is available to speak to classrooms from his first-hand account as someone who was on the east coast during these events. You may contact Eric via email is you would like to him to share his story with your class. In addition, Jackie White's (Early Literacy Coordinator) husband was at the Pentagon that day.  He is also available to talk to classrooms. If there are other teacher who were present at any of the attack locations and are comfortable providing reflections and insights, please let me know.

Resources below are a compilation from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, National Education Association, and Public Broadcasting Service.

9/11 Memorial and Museum

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is committed to providing relevant and engaging learning opportunities for students, teachers, families, and the general public.

Commemorating September 11th

Each year on the anniversary of 9/11, the families of victims gather for a ceremony on the 9/11 
Memorial plaza to read aloud the names of the 2,983 men, women, and children killed in the 
September 11, 2001 attacks and February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Six 
moments of silence mark the times when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck, 
when each tower fell, and the times corresponding to the attack at the Pentagon, and the crash 
of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

Learn more

Lesson Plans

These inquiry-based activities explore the history of the World Trade Center, the events of 9/11, the role that first responders played, and the many ways the country has changed in a post-9/11 world. 

Learn more

Webinar Stories

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum offers a collection of first-person accounts of the attacks and their aftermath as a part of the annual Anniversary in the Schools webinar program.

Learn more

NEA

Lesson Collections:

9/11 Memorial & Museum K-12 lessons and teaching guides.
How To Teach The Sept. 11 Terrorist Attacks To Young People Nine lessons for grades 3-12.
9/11 Anniversary Teaching Guide K-12 lessons and activities.

Background Resources:

Teaching And Learning About 9/11 With The New York Times  The New York Times archive of reporting and multimedia.
September 11 Digital Archive more than 150,000 digital items: emails, first-hand stories, and images

Approaches to Teaching:

How To Teach 9/11 To Students With No Memory Of It Addresses the change from teaching as current event to teaching as history.
Teaching Sept. 11 To Students Who Were Born After The Attacks Happened Stresses the need for teaching the event and its aftermath in all its complexity.
Making 9/11 Relevant to Young Learners Examines how teachers can make 9/11 relevant to young learners, how textbook treatments have changed, and how much of what they teach is mandated by state standards.

Memorial:

9/11 Memorial and Museum The official memorial website.

Images:

Remembering 9/11 With Indelible Pictures 27 images. Includes a viewer advisory.
The Falling Man An Esquire Magazine article that examines the power of the image.
The Story Behind the Haunting 9/11 Photo of a Man Falling From the Twin Towers  Video (4:17) Interview with Richard Drew, the photographer who took the photograph.

PBS

Recommended resources for the classroom
National September 11 Memorial & Museum  

• An in-depth FAQ about the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, with particular attention to the Twin Towers and the 9/11 Memorial that stands in their place today.

• Two interactive timelines that chronicle both the attacks and the Ground Zero recovery. Note: Both timelines incorporate videos and images from the attacks, so please view them first before sharing them with students who may be upset by the content.

PBS NewsHour 
Check out NewsHour’s full coverage of 9/11 over the last two decades at this link.
Retro Report
Take a look at Retro Report’s lesson plans on September 11th here.
PBS Learning Media
For 9/11 resources on PBS Learning Media, click here. You may also want to watch Reflections on the 9/11 Memorial, a short video from NOVA Online in which visitors weigh in on the design and importance of the memorial.
Share My Lesson
For Share My Lesson’s lesson plans on September 11th, click here

Bibliography

9/11 Memorial and Museum


National Education Association


Public Broadcasting Service