Every year as September 11th {also
known as Patriot Day} approaches, I find myself pondering how I can appropriately
honor the date as a teacher of young children. The tragedy that occurred
on September 11th, 2001, is something that is beyond the comprehension of a 5
year-old brain...yet as a teacher, I feel that it's important to somehow
"teach" or honor the date in a special way. I knew I could not
spend the day recounting the graphic details of the tragic events of that
day. {It's obviously MUCH too much for a little person!} However, I felt
that I could honor the lives lost, the firefighters, police officers, and
countless other brave heroes of that day by teaching my students about the
incredible country in which we live.
I have been collecting my thoughts and ideas and have been working
to develop a plan for next week. Initially, I was planning to blog about this AFTER I taught
about it...but the more I thought about it, I realized it may be MORE helpful
to others, perhaps to YOU, if I shared my ideas BEFORE the date
too! That way, if any of YOU are looking for ideas to honor the date... perhaps
you can find some ideas/resources here.
To get started, I began by looking at my kindergarten social
studies standards. I teach in Indiana, so I am responsible for teaching
the following social studies standard that I knew would be a perfect fit for
next week's lessons:
Students learn that they are citizens of their school, community
and the United States; identify symbols of the nation.
Foundations of Government
K.2.2 Identify and explain that the President of the United States
is the leader of our country and that the American flag is a symbol of the
United States.
I don’t have my lesson plans finalized yet…but I do have a
collection of nice resources that I can share with you! Here is a glimpse of what I have planned so
far! {Hope you can use some of these ideas and resources!}
"Setting
the Stage 2 Engage!"
My dear friend, Hope King (Elementary Shenanigans), wrote an INCREDIBLE ebook called "Set the Stage 2 Engage"
this summer highlighting the importance of setting up your classroom
(environment, atmosphere. etc) in order to ensure maximum student engagement.
{She also taught an EPIC session at the SDE Vegas conference on this,
which blew me away!!!} So, I knew my next step was figuring out a way to
"flip" our regular classroom environment into something that would be
theme related and GRAB the attention of my kiddos the second they walk in
the door. My goal is to have them turn the corner in our hall and say,
"WOW!
What are we doing today?! It's got to be something GREAT!" The theme
of "Patriot Day" wasn't quite as easy to brainstorm decorations for
as last week's SUPERHERO Day (Click HERE to view our "flipped" SUPERHERO classroom!)...but I
knew I could do something cool and attention getting! So, I did some
bargain hunting and found some of these goodies:
Plastic table covers/backdrops are inexpensive and go A LONG
WAY in decorating the walls of your classroom and hall! Be
creative!!!
Dollar Store/Craft Store two sided stars can be used on windows,
walls and as hanging decorations for just a few bucks!
Bulletin board paper from your supply closet can be used to make
just about ANYTHING! I made some three-foot USA letters out of poster
board (similar to the ones above) and plan to put them in my classroom windows
too. I'm also picturing a GIANT flag like this...
OH! And if you know me, a
theme day is NEVER complete without a fun costume!
I will be wearing this
striking suit:
{YES! It IS a boy’s youth
costume…but it was CHEAPER! Hey! I’m a
bargain hunter!}
And my side-kick, Mrs. Kidd, will be sportin' this beauty:
{Oh yah. We rock the costumes! You'll have to wait
'til next weekend to see our actual-factual photos! And
yes..."Someone" might have a specific portion of her TPT earnings
earmarked to purchase crazy costumes. #iamnotcrazy #iamENGAGING }
Be sure to stop by my blog NEXT weekend to actually SEE what it
all ended up looking like!
Awesome
Patriotic Resources!
Well, I KNOW y'all already know how incredibly EPIC the
legendary Mrs. Deanna Jump is! {And if you don't...go ahead and climb on out from under that
rock! #JK}
But seriously, if there happens to be anyone who doesn't know
about this sweet, southern inspiration...check her out by clicking HERE...RIGHT NOW! DO NOT DELAY! {Poof!
Instant inspiration for any K teacher! #thankmelater} Of course,
Deanna had the PERFECT resource for scaffolding my plans... and here it is:
Using this baby, and a few other resources that I will list at the
end of this post, my plans are coming together in an EPICALLY AMERICAN way!
Here are some highlights of my planned activities:
In an age-appropriate way, I am going to talk to the kiddos about
why September 11th is an important day in our country. I plan to use this PowerPoint presentation
as part of my introduction. It is great
for young children…not “too” many details.
Then I am planning to share how we can honor this day by thinking
about and being thankful for our great country and the community heroes that
serve and protect us.
I plan to highlight how important it is to recognize and show appreciation
for our service men and women and community heroes. Here are a few resources that I plan to use!
This is a nice little freebie which includes lots of neat coloring
pages about American heroes. LOVE the “Not
all superheroes wear capes” page!
Perfect 9/11 connection!
Check out this FREEBIE by the awesome Eric Bohrer! It includes both writing and picture
templates for making thank-you notes for our community heroes!
Then I plan to connect to our social studies learning standards
and teach about the American symbols.
This video is an excellent mini-movie which tells all about
the American Symbols. Check it out!
Here are a few of the EPICALLY AMERICAN activities that I plan to
use too…
Statue of Liberty Activities
Here are some other great activities that I plan to use to review
all the things we learned about American Symbols:
1. Make an
American Symbols Booklet (Elizabeth Hall)
3. Play the “American
Symbols Interactive Pocket Chart Game” by
GrowingKinders
4. How about
playing a "Four Corners" type of P.E. game…but use American symbol
posters in each corner for your “calling spots??” Sounds fun!
And what thematic study would be complete without a yummy snack?? I’m thinking about trying one of these…
I’m looking forward to making 9/11 {Patriot Day} a
special and meaningful day for my kinders.
If you do something special to honor this day, please share it with us
in the comments below!
.jpg)
