September 11th for Kids

Its always a little tricky each year to decide how to approach your class with the topic of September 11th (or Patriot's Day as they call it).  I usually feel that it is best to focus on the patriotic celebrations of the day as well as giving thanks to first responders.  Of course your students are going to see or hear the news, commercials, adult talk, ect about September 11th and it is good to let them know what it's all about-- without scaring them. For that, I like to rely on some really great children's literature to get the discussion going. Here are a few of my favs:

This one is great for lower El! It was written by a class of first graders :)

Such a sweet story with beautiful illustrations- perfect for lower or upper El

This is a great book to show Upper EL kids how everyone came together to help out. The message is super but it is a little long for lower El to sit through-- I usually show my 2nd grade class the book and read parts of it aloud while showing the pictures-- it has some really great illustrations.

Now that we call 9/11 "Patriot Day" I think it's a great opportunity to kick off a civics unit for primary students with a discussion about what a Patriot is and what is mean to be a patriot.  I made some writing pages for a brainstorm & quick writing assignment (I even added a page with regular lines for intermediate students! I am always trying to remind myself to do that when I make products for TPT)

You can grab this simple little writing paper for FREE here:

Wouldn't it look so cute hanging up with a cute flag craft like this one that I found on Pinterest from B-inspiredmama.com??

What do you do with your class for 9-11?