9/11: Ten Years Later
Resources for Educators

Image from the Library of Congress

September 11, 2011 marks the ten year anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.  This tragic event changed the course of history for the both the United States and the international community. How should educators teach about the circumstances leading up to the event, the actual events of the day, and the aftermath in a thoughtful and appropriate manner? Most of your students may not even remember September 11, 2001.  Today’s high school seniors were only in the second grade in 2001. 

Below is a compilation of educator resources for teaching about 9-11 and global conflict and resources for promoting peaceful resolution of conflict. To learn more about peace and conflict worldwide, join us October 19-20 in Chapel Hill for World View’s annual K-12 global education symposium (November 9-10 for higher education educators).  Click here for more information.

U.S. Department of Education, 911 Materials for Teachers
The Department of Education has complied several materials developed by federal grantees and agencies in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001. www.ed.gov/911anniversary

U.S. Department of Defense, Remembering September 11, 2011: We Will Never Forget
This special feature has links to speeches, stories, and photo essays to commemorate the anniversary of 9-11.
www.defense.gov/home/features/2010/0910_911/

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
The DHS has a section for students to learn more about the history and responsibilities of this U.S. government agency. There is a special section on counter terrorism www.dhs.gov/xstudents/

CIA World Factbook
To find out general information about countries involved in global terrorism view the country profiles available from the CIA. The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. Reference tabs include: maps of the major world regions, flags of the world, a physical map of the World, a political map of the World, and a standard time zones of the World map. www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Rendering of the 9/11 Memorial

9/11 Memorial, Teaching Guides
The organizers of the 9/11 Memorial are committed to working with teachers to offer useful educational programs and materials about the events of September 11, 2001, the historical context of the attacks, and the post-9/11 world. Site contains tools, lessons, webcasts, and other resources for K-12 educators. www.911memorial.org/teaching-guides-0

Education World,  September 11: Lessons and Resources For Classroom Teachers
Education World has pulled together dozens of 9-11 resources, including lesson plans, classroom activities, articles, and more. www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson244.shtml

Teacher Planet, 9-11 Unit
Teacher Planet offers links to lesson plans and worksheets related to 9-11.
www.teacherplanet.com/resource/911.php

September 11: Teaching Contemporary History
This was an online conference for educators sponsored by the National Museum of American History, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, the Pentagon Memorial Fund, and the Flight 93 National Memorial. Recordings and resources from the event can be accessed. smithsonianconference.org/september11/

Choices Program at Brown University, www.choices.edu
The Choices Program offers several curriculum units and resources including:

• A free Teaching with the News lesson, "Oral History and September 11".  This online lesson will help students who may have little or no recollection of the attacks to explore their human dimension by interviewing people about their 9/11 experiences.  
• A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq (curriculum unit), supplemented by Scholars Online videos featuring academics and policymakers such as U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, encourages students to recreate the national public debate that took place as the country stood on the brink of invasion in March 2003, and to explore four distinct options the U.S. public considered at the time. Watch a video preview here.
  
• The United States in Afghanistan (curriculum unit), includes an exercise aimed at helping students consider the costs and benefits of the war in Afghanistan and articulate recommendations for U.S. policy there.
  
• Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy curriculum unit activities include role-playing to consider a range of options for U.S. policy toward terrorism and then letter-writing to national policymakers based on a student's views.

National Geographic: Remember 9/11
National Geographic has a special feature specifically to remember 9-11. Through this site you will find links to television episodes, videos, books, podcasts, and many other features.www.nationalgeographic.com/remembering-9-11

National Council for the Social Studies
This link provides a variety of resources and lesson plans on 9/11 and the war in Iraq. www.socialstudies.org/resources/moments

PBS, America Responds
In the days immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorism attacks, PBS pulled together resources to help educators teach students about war, peace, tolerance, patriotism, geography, and other related issues.  www.pbs.org/americaresponds/educators.html

Pearson Online Learning Exchange, Remembering September 11
Pearson offers two multimedia units to help teach the evens to of 9-11, one for grades K-12, the second for grades 6-12. www.onlinelearningexchange.com/content/products/remembering911.html

The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, Education Materials
The Pentagon Memorial Fund is dedicated to offering valuable educational resources and materials surrounding the events of September 11, 2001 and the historic significance of the Pentagon Memorial.  Users can search a database of resources by keyword, grade level, subject, or specific resource type.
pentagonmemorial.org/learn/education-materials


Anti-Defamation League, Committing to Respect: Lessons for Students to Address Bias.
This guide includes three lessons to assist Pre-K – 12 grade educators in helping their students better understand concepts of bias and discrimination and respond to them in productive ways. www.adl.org/education/9-11_committing_to_respect.pdf

Thinkfinity, 9/11 Never Forgotten
This special section from Thinkfinity and partners such as National Geographic and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, offers lesson plans and resources for middle and high school students. thinkfinity.org/9-11-never-forgotten

Library of Congress, The September 11, 2001, Documentary Project
This project captures the heartfelt reactions, eyewitness accounts, and diverse opinions of Americans and others in the months that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/911_archive/

National Geographic: Starting from GROUND ZERO.
Ten years after 9/11, how have the survivors healed—and what wounds still remain?ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/remembering-9-11/gallery?source=emali_channel#/1

National Geographic: 9/11 Interviews.
This web-only interactive includes over two hours of eyewitness accounts and expert commentaries about the policies and events that led up to the attack and aftermath. www.nationalgeographic.com/remembering-9-11/interviews/?source=email_channel

National Museum of American History, Bearing Witness to History: Remembrance and Reflection
A collection to commemorate the ten year anniversary and a corresponding digital archive of pictures of objects having to do with 9/11.  Be sure to explore the links to additional educational resources. americanhistory.si.edu/september11/  

The Newseum,War on Terror: The FBI’s New Focus.
The Newseum in Washington, D.C., is expanding its FBI exhibit with a new display of artifacts from 9/11 and other terrorist plots that have never been on display to the public before. The Newseum selected 60 pieces of evidence the FBI had in storage for use in terror trials, including huge pieces of an airplane that survived ramming into the World Trade Center towers. newseum.org/

Foreign Policy. Think Again: War
www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/08/15/think_again_war

National Archives, 9-11 Commission Records
www.archives.gov/research/9-11/

Rethinking Schools. War, Terrorism, and our Classrooms
www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/sept11/index.shtml

The New York Times. How Do You Teach About 9/11?
learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/how-do-you-teach-about-911/

Globalization101.org, Ten Years Later: The Global Impact of the 9.11 Attacks
www.globalization101.org/news1/9-11-Attacks

eSchool News, Teachers Prepare for Tenth Anniversary of 9/11
www.eschoolnews.com/2011/08/23/teachers-prepare-for-10th-anniversary-of-sept-11/

Class Brain, What Happened on 9/11(for kids)
www.classbrain.com/artfree/publish/cat_index_17.shtml

New York Times, Chilling Echoes from September 11
www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/opinion/23mon1.html

CNN Special Edition, September 11 Attacks
topics.cnn.com/topics/september_11_attacks

Facing the Future, Peace and Conflict Resources
This site provides a list of recommended resources for teaching and learning about peace and conflict, including topics such as war, prejudice, coexistence, and reconciliation and links to related lessons from Facing the Future.  www.facingthefuture.org/

Teaching Tolerance
Founded in 1991 by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance supports the efforts of K-12 teachers and other educators to promote respect for differences and appreciation of diversity. Teaching Tolerance serves as a clearinghouse of information about anti-bias programs and activities being implemented in schools across the country. www.tolerance.org/

World Affairs Council, Teaching Local and Global Conflict in the Classroom
This comprehensive unit provides resources for peace studies, conflict resolution, international affairs, and links to specific areas in the world with conflict.
www.world-affairs.org/sites/default/files/2006-10-23_-_web_version_teaching_conflict.pdf

The Foundation for P.E.A.C.E
The Foundation for P.E.A.C.E. was founded in 1979 to promote community and international peace by helping people: find personal peace; share their views of world peace and how to achieve it; and promote peace at community levels. www.promotingpeace.org

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
Peaceful Tomorrows is an organization founded by family members of those killed on September 11th who have united to turn grief into action for peace. By developing and advocating nonviolent options and actions in the pursuit of justice, the organization hope to break the cycles of violence engendered by war and terrorism. www.peacefultomorrows.org/

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research Institute
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research Institute at Stanford University supports educational and research programs that enhance understanding of King’s dream of global peace with social justice.  mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/

PeacePlayers International
PeacePlayers International uses the game of basketball to unite and educate children and their communities.  www.peaceplayersintl.org/

Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace is dedicated to empowering young leaders from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence. http://www.seedsofpeace.org/

PeaceBuilders International
PeaceBuilders International is a program for communities and schools to promote positive, healthy behaviors while reducing violence, injuries, bullying, and other negative behaviors. It was named a Best Practice of the International Safe Schools Program of the World Health Organization. www.peacebuilders.com/

Workable Peace
Workable Peace is an innovative secondary school curriculum that integrates the study of intergroup conflict and the development of crucial civic and social skills into social studies and humanities classes. www.workablepeace.org/

Facing History and Ourselves
Facing History and Ourselves is a national educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development and lessons of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. www.facing.org

Beyond the Fire
Beyond the Fire introduces the real-life stories of 15 teenagers, now living in the U.S., who have survived war in seven war zones. These stories tell of loss, hope, fear, strength and despair—and most of all, resilience. archive.itvs.org/beyondthefire/   For resources on conflict zones, click here.

Do you have information to share?

Do you have information that you would like to share with other educators across the state? You are welcome to submit interesting global education programs that are going on in your schools, announcements about global education seminars, new resources that others might find interesting, etc. Please email Julie at jmarante@email.unc.edu with your "update-worthy" items!

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