9/11 Stations - 2015

In class today, students went from station to station looking at and analyzing political cartoons that came out shortly after 9/11.  Some of them are pretty complex, but I feel like the students are getting them.

For each one, I ask several questions - starting off with the basic, and working my way to the more complex and more abstract.

I'll give you some examples in a minute.

Before they got to that though, they watched a short video on the Pearl Harbor attacks:

A couple of the cartoons referenced Pearl Harbor.  As many of the students had never learned about this event, I thought it was only fair (and necessary) to give them some background information.

Here are a couple examples of what the class did - although, I'm giving different political cartoons.

1.  What is the heading on this cartoon?

2.  What are the three images?

3.  What happened in each of the 3?

4.  What is the Statue of Liberty doing?

5.  Did Japan or al Qaeda actually/ officially declare war?

6.  What is this cartoonist saying?

1.  Who is in this picture?

2.  Where are they?

3.  How do you know?

4.  One man is saying, "We've reached the top."  What 2 places could "the top" mean?

5.  What is this cartoonist trying to say?

1.  Who are the people in this picture?

2.  Where are they standing?

3.  What is unusual about them?

4.  The heading says, "TWIN TOWERS..."  Why?

5.  What is this cartoonist trying to say?

Students may earn extra credit by reading and discussing the blog with an adult.  In order to prove you were here today, choose one of the political cartoons and answer the questions on a piece of paper with the adult you read the blog with.  Make sure your name, date, and hour are on the paper.

Turn it in on Monday.

If you want to tell them about some of the cartoons that were around the room, please do.

Sept. 11, The Middle East, and The United States

First of all, sorry that the map didn't work yesterday.  It works from my computer, but not from mobile devices.  If you read and discussed, and told me about it, you still got the credit yesterday.  I've changed it, but I don't love the new map, as it is a bit difficult to read the coordinates.

For the rest of the week, we're discussing the Middle East, the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks - how they changed the world, and how they changed the United States.

Today, I tried to get a feeling for what the students have already learned.  There is a lot of misinformation out there.

After that, and a little discussion, we watch the news bulletins as they happened.  What we watch is actually a much shorter version of the clips you'll see below.  If you weren't here, check them out.

Students may earn extra credit by reading and discussing the blog with an adult.  Ask the adult what they remember from 9/11 and the days and months that followed.  Write down a few of their responses on a sheet of paper and have them sign it.  Make sure that your name, date and hour are on the paper and turn it in tomorrow.

Editorial Cartoons

We walked around the room today looking at editorial cartoons that came out shortly after 9/11/01. Students had to use some of those "critical thinking" skills that people are always talking about. As you know, the cartoons aren't straight forward. They're symbolic. As has been the case of late, I don't have a lot of time to write, so I'm going to put a cartoon up here. To get the credit, read and discuss the questions below it with an adult. Write the answers on a scrap of paper, and have the adult sign it. (You might also consider telling them some of the other pictures we had in the room today.)

1.  Who are the people in this picture?

2.  Where are they?

3  What is above their heads?

4. What does that mean?

5.  Why is the comment "We've reached the top" ambiguous?  (Ambiguous means it can mean more than one thing - in this case, the word "top" is referring to two things...)

6.  What is the cartoonist trying to say?

EC Survey

Chances are some of you are reading the blog today because of the Extra Credit Survey I passed out.  I'll be interested in the results of the survey, and I'm planning on using it to inform my teaching and use of this blog in the classroom.

We finished up our 9/11 stations today - and for the most part wrapped up our discussions.  We may talk about it a little bit tomorrow as well, but we're probably ready to move on.

We did watch a time-lapsed video of Freedom Tower being built.  I had a lot of questions about that yesterday.  I think I gave some of my students some incorrect information about the tower today.  I said that I didn't think it was completed yet, but wikipedia says it was "topped out" in August, due to open in 2013.  ...I'll have to make sure I clarify that tomorrow.  My brother lives in Brooklyn and often works in Manhattan.  He was supposed to get me some original pictures of it.  Come on man.  Seriously, bro.

By the way, here's the video in case you're interested:






If you want the extra credit for reading and discussing the blog with an adult today, discuss the following question: what would get more students to read the extra credit blog, or play the extra credit geography games?  After discussing this, write the following quote on a piece of scrap paper: "We should never have lived like we were skyscrapers."  Then, have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.

Who's Michael Jordan?

Tomorrow is the anniversary of 9/11.  Most of us probably don't remember that at the time Michael Jordan was considering coming out of retirement.  In fact, that was the news of the morning. 

I asked my students today how many of them knew who Michael Jordan is.  Almost all of them raised their hands.  They said things like, "Who doesn't know who Michael Jordan is?!?!" with something like contempt in their voices.

"It's crazy," I said, egging them on, "Seriously, I have students who don't know who Michael Jordan is."

Guffaws from the class.  "You can't really blame them, because most of them were barely alive in 2001.  This is after his prime, when he came back out of retirement.  Isn't it weird though," I continued, "that I have students who don't know who he was?"
Resounding consent from the classroom.

"So, you can imagine how I feel when I tell you that the majority of my students have no recollection of 9/11.  I'm neither shocked nor saddened - they were barely alive at the time.  But it is a strange feeling.  How can they not have heard about the single most important historical event of my lifetime?"

That may be extreme.  The majority of my students have heard about 9/11, but they know very little about it.  I don't blame them, but it is a surreal feeling.  I feel like I'm on the HMS Firebrand. I see the rocks ahead - I know that the students are going to know less and less about this event - but I can't turn the ship around.

Maybe this is even worse, but I think it's the last year I'll teach the lesson.  It's not in our standards, and there is such a push to teach to the test.  But I still feel like it's important.  It's worth it.

At any rate, if you read and discussed the blog and want the extra credit, discuss 9/11 with the adult you read the blog with.  See what they remember about it.  Then write down some of their thoughts (at least three sentences) and have them sign the paper.