Remembering September 11th

Hard to believe it has been 14 years since the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City.  I remember the day very vividly as I have a cousin and an uncle who both work downtown Manhattan, one who worked in the Twin Towers.  Luckily, they were both out of the city that day on business, but such a sad day in our country's history.

We had a powerful discussion Friday morning about September 11th.  I shared pictures and memories of my visit to New York City just days after the attacks (I had planned a visit with my family and we had the opportunity to go down to Ground Zero.  It is a moment and visit I will never forget.)  We watched a "kid friendly" video that gave background about September 11th.  We read some books as well, one of which reminded the students that everything will be alright.  The students had so many questions and concerns.  It was really a touching moment.  I told them to each go home and ask their parents if they remember where they were Sept. 11th and what they were doing at the time of the attacks.  Hopefully some of them had that discussion with their parents.

The students then used their iPads to illustrate pictures in honor of September 11th.   While these 3rd graders were not alive on this horrible day in history, they did a nice job illustrating pictures and showing they will never forget what they learned today and what happened in New York City.   Check out all their illustrations on their student blog pages (link is on the right of my blog page).