September 11th, Patriot Day and Homeschool

It's been so long since I've posted anything. It's been so crazy busy, and I haven't really been able to put many full thoughts together to write something worth reading. However, today I thought I'd share some resources I found to start the discussion of 9/11 and Patriot Day with the kids, specifically Jenna, whom I am home schooling right now. I started simple and gave her more information as we went.

1. The first thing I did was verbally explain to her that it IS Patriot Day today. I gave her the simplest explanation of 9/11, with basic information. She doesn't know much about New York itself, what the twin towers mean, what the Pentagon is...so some men who do not like America used airplanes to crash into the two tallest buildings in the United States. Many people died, including firefighters and police officers trying to rescue the people in the buildings. There was also an attack on the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and another plane that the brave people took back over from the men crashed in Pennsylvania. Patriot Day is to remember all of these heroes and be thankful for and proud to live in America. Something to that effect  :)  I also asked who the current President is and told her who the President was at the time.

2. All three of the kids did this activity: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Patriot-Day-ABC-Order-Activity-FREEBIE-869394. Cutting, coloring, gluing, ABC order.

3. We looked up pictures of the original twin towers and the Pentagon. By using "original" I was trying to bypass any actual attack pictures, which I did, and also saw a picture of the memorial. I showed her pictures of George W. at the site, with some firemen, when he was told of what happened at the school. She wanted to see pictures of the plane crash, that would not be happening at this time. One of the pictures of George W. with a firemen showed their emotional faces, Jenna asked what happened (as in why they looked sad). I told her that many people lost their lives, those firemen probably lost friends who were trying to save other people, and that it was a sad day for America. In the search, the side-bar also showed Bin Laden, who I explained briefly as the leader of the group of men who attacked America, and that our military and government caught him.

4. I skip-read this: http://www.classbrain.com/artfree/publish/cat_index_17.shtml. I read this next. I asked her what a hero is. She said, "Someone who saves the day."  :)  http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/memorial-day/kids-poems-rhymes/the-american-hero.html. She learned what the term "civilian" is referring to and that all of the firefighters, responders, people on board the plane in Pennsylvania are heroes.

5. I read to her (and she read a few sentences) the Patriot Day Proclamation from George W. Bush September 2002. It's so long she really didn't want to read it, I did most of the reading...slowly with emphasis. That is Patriot Day and when it started.

6. I watched this with her. http://www.brainpop.co.uk/humanities/historymodern/september11th/. Animated description of the day. Now, I have conclusions of my own about why the towers fell, the Pentagon getting hit that differ from this video, but I just pointed out that this is the government's explanation of the events.

7. Next she wanted to do this one and enjoyed it, simple, fun. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Patriot-Day-printable-book-for-primary-grades-September-11-866807.

8. I printed this whole resource: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Patriot-Day-9-11-CLIP-Creative-Learning-in-a-Pinch-820814. Jenna started the word search, but took a much needed break (if you call self-initiated, self-reading in her room a break lol)

-I'm going to help her with the crossword "spiral" and math (show her how to use a calculator since we're not on multiplication yet). She played with the calculator on her own for a little bit while I was reviewing and publishing this. I gave her some shortcuts about multiplication with 10s and 11s, which she may not retain, but also using the calculator to CHECK the work not just get the answer. We also haven't gotten into "ones" on the clock, so I guess we'll start that since it's on the same page as the math wheel. :)

-Tomorrow I think we'll get into the Pledge of Allegiance. When she was in school they said it in class, so she knows it. But I found a cute printable of it that I printed on card stock, and this other sheet to break out the meaning. It's a pocket calendar and Pledge for classrooms. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Printable-Patriotic-Kids-Pocket-Chart-Calendar-and-Pledge-of-Allegiance-297639.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pledge-of-Allegiance-Reflection-September-11th-Patriot-Day-Activity-45142.

-I want to stick to the patriotic theme this week, maybe emergency response.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Emergency-9-1-1-Mini-Activity-Pack-Lesson-Plan-Ideas-658508.

Seriously, this is the most planning for her home schooling I've done in the last month. But today was very motivating.