From: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/09/learning/lesson-plans/10-ways-to-teach-about-9-11-with-the-new-york-times.html?campaign_id=55&emc=edit_ln_20210910&instance_id=40008&nl=the-learning-network®i_id=87786509&segment_id=68559&te=1&user_id=84b2ee5fd6f96f96fb9947382a4f4a06
TEACHING IDEAS
10 Ways to Teach About 9/11 With The New York Times
Ideas for helping students think about how the Sept. 11 attacks have changed our nation and world.
Nicole Daniels and
Sept. 11, 2001, is one of those rare days that, if you ask most adults what they remember, they can tell you exactly where they were, whom they were with and what they were thinking. It is a day seared in memory. But for students who were born in a post-9/11 world and have grown up in the aftermath, it is complex history that needs to be remembered, taught and analyzed like any other historical event.
Twenty years ago, four commercial planes were hijacked by operatives from the radical Islamist group Al Qaeda. One plane was flown into the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and two others were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. A fourth hijacked plane crashed in Shanksville, Pa. Almost 3,000 people died that day, including more than 400 emergency workers.
In the wake of those attacks, the United States initiated a global “war on terror” to destroy Al Qaeda — a campaign that expanded into decades-long wars in Afghanistan, Iraq (even though Iraq was not responsible for Sept. 11) and elsewhere. In the wake of Sept. 11, the United States changed in other fundamental ways as well, from increased police surveillance to a rise in Islamophobia.
Below, we provide a range of activities that use resources from The New York Times, including archival front pages and photographs, first-person accounts, and analysis pieces published for the 20th anniversary. But we also suggest ideas borrowed from other education organizations like the Choices Program, RetroReport, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and the Newseum.
On Sept. 30, we are hosting a free event, featuring Times journalists, for students that will look at how Sept. 11 has shaped a generation of young people who grew up in its aftermath. Teachers and students can register here, and students can submit their own videos with questions, many of which we hope to feature during the live event.
1. Reflect on What 9/11 Means to You
In the essay “What Does It Mean to ‘Never Forget’?,” Dan Barry writes:
Inevitably, someday there will be no one alive with a personal narrative of Sept. 11. Inevitably, the emotional impact of the day will fade a little bit, and then a little bit more, as time transforms a visceral lived experience into a dry history lesson. This transformation has already begun; ask any high school history teacher.
Or, ask any student. They are at the center of the transition that Mr. Barry describes.
Invite students to respond to one or more of the following questions, and share their responses with other students from around the world by responding to our related Student Opinion question:
What does Sept. 11 mean to you? Is it mostly a “dry history lesson” or does it resonate for you in deeper ways?
What do you know about the events that took place on Sept. 11? Where and how did you learn about them?
What questions do you have about that day and what happened next?
Have the events of Sept. 11 and its aftermath affected you personally in any way? If so, how? How do you think they may have shaped your generation as a whole?
The Student Opinion prompt is intended to prepare students to participate in our live panel on Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Teachers and students can register for the event here; students can submit their questions here — we might use them during the panel.
Note: To ensure your class has a shared understanding of what happened on Sept. 11, you might want to have students watch this two-minute video or scroll through this interactive timeline, both created by the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Alternatively, students can watch this five-minute video from the History Channel which is focused on the attacks at the World Trade Center.
2. Interview Someone Who Remembers
Although teenagers today are too young to have their own personal memories of Sept. 11, people they know and love do. The Choices Program at Brown University has created a lesson plan that walks students through the process of conducting an interview about Sept. 11 with someone they know while also considering the importance of oral history.
The accompanying student handout suggests questions that students may want to ask, such as: What were you doing on Sept. 11, 2001? How did you find out about the attacks?
After conducting their interviews, students can share what they have learned in small groups and with the class. They might even create an oral history book or site that they can share with future classes.
For inspiration or as mentor texts, students can take a look at this “Revisiting the Families” collection of short follow-up interviews and articles that Times reporters did to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks. It offers small glimpses of those who lost family members, and of their lives since.
3. Revisit History’s First Draft
Newspapers have been described as “history’s first draft.” Reporters and editors from around the world who published on the morning of Sept. 12 had less than a day to figure out how to make sense of what happened for their readers.
Invite students to look closely at the New York Times front page (or the full paper) from that day. They can click on the individual articles as well. What do they notice? What questions does the front page bring up for them? What do they learn about coverage on that first day?
Then they can investigate front pages from other newspapers from around the world and across the country. The Newseum (you’ll need to create a free account) provides images of front pages of over 100 newspapers from dozens of cities — from Anchorage and Richmond, Va., to Turku, Finland, and Osaka, Japan. Business Insider compiled some of the images from the Newseum’s archival, to show what the front pages of newspapers from around the world looked like on Sept. 12.
Students can choose three or four front pages and take note of the similarities and differences that they see in coverage; what choices might they have made had they been editors that day; and what additional questions these front pages raise for them.
4. Look Closely at Archival Photos
Photographs can be a powerful and accessible way for students to learn more about what happened on and after Sept. 11. Students can study the New York Times photo collection “The Towers’ Rise and Fall,” which was originally published on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, to see what stories these 72 images tell about the World Trade Center, the terrorist attacks and the aftermath.
Students can closely investigate two or three images using our What’s Going On in This Picture? protocol from Visual Thinking Strategies:
What is going on in this picture?
What do you see that makes you say that?
What more can you find?
Or, you can invite students to take on the role of curator in a museum who is creating an exhibit about Sept. 11 in New York. They can choose only six to eight photographs to tell the story. Which images would they select and why?
5. Listen to and Read First-Person Stories
Students can watch one or more of the three-minute videos from the “Portraits Redrawn” series that was created by The Times for the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. The six videos are all interviews with people who had a family member die in the attacks.
They can watch this 10-minute video from VICE in which a civilian mariner talks about assisting with the world’s largest boat lift that rescued half a million people from Lower Manhattan.
They can also watch this 12-minute RetroReport video that features interviews with emergency workers who survived the attacks at the World Trade Center and do all or part of this related lesson plan (and student activity).
Or, students can read this article about a survivor navigating life with post-traumatic stress disorder after the attack on the World Trade Center.
After watching or reading, they can consider: What have you learned about Sept. 11 by hearing stories of survivors, families and people who died in the attacks? And, how do first-person stories change, or deepen, your understanding of what happened?
6. Consider the Importance of Memory
To learn more about the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, students can watch the above 18-minute video from our Film Club series. Then, they can respond to the questions below in writing or discussion.
What moments in this film stood out for you? Why?
Were there any surprises? Anything that challenged what you know — or thought you knew?
What messages, emotions or ideas will you take away from this film? Why?
What connections can you make between this film and your own life or experience? Why? Does this film remind you of anything else you’ve read or seen? If so, how and why?
Then, students can read a 2019 article about the opening of the 9/11 Memorial Glade in Lower Manhattan — a memorial for people, largely rescue and recovery workers, whose illnesses and deaths came years after Sept. 11, 2001.
After watching the video and reading the article, students can reflect on the following questions in a class discussion:
Why do we memorialize people or events? What purpose should a memorial serve?
What purpose does memorializing Sept. 11 serve? How do you think Sept. 11 can be most effectively or meaningfully memorialized?
What concerns or challenges should societies or organizations be mindful of when they create memorials? Why?
If you’re interested in furthering the conversation about the memorial in your class, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum has a collection of resources for teachers and students.
7. Evaluate International Repercussions
In an address to Congress and the nation on Sept. 20, 2001, President George W. Bush made it clear that the response to the terrorist attacks would not be confined to a single military strike on one group, network or country: “Our war on terror begins with Al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.”
Help students uncover the motivation behind the attacks and evaluate the international repercussions of the “war on terror” using the following resources:
The Terrorist Attack: Who was responsible for the attacks on Sept. 11? Why did they target the United States, and particularly civilians? Britannica and USA Today each offer brief summaries of the plot and the roles of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. To go more in depth, you might have students watch the three-part documentary series “Road to 9/11” from the History Channel, which provides a 360-degree overview of events that led to the attack.
To help students understand why the World Trade Center, Pentagon and U.S. Capitol were targeted, see the 9/11 Memorial and Museum lesson plan, “Targeting American Symbols.”
The U.S. Response and the Global “War on Terror”: On Oct. 7, 2001, just weeks after the attacks, Mr. Bush announced that America had started a bombing campaign against Al Qaeda, the group responsible for the attacks, and the Taliban, the group that harbored them in Afghanistan.
So began the longest war in American history, which ended this year with the removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. What did the war accomplish? Use our Lesson of the Day on “The U.S. War in Afghanistan: How It Started, and How It Ended” to have students evaluate the causes and consequences of the 20-year conflict. They can also watch the 10-minute RetroReport video (embedded above), which looks at the decisions that shaped the war. And, they can use our Lesson of the Day “What Will Become of Afghanistan’s Post-9/11 Generation?” about how the lives of young people in Afghanistan have suddenly changed with the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Beyond The Times, see the five-part lesson plan “The Costs of War,” created by the Choices Program, which examines the human, economic, social and political costs of the “war on terror” through videos and class discussions.
Veterans of the War in Afghanistan: Listen to voices of veterans in The Argument podcast episode “You Don’t Bring Democracy at the Point of a Gun” or read about their experiences in the essay “Serving in a Twenty Year War.” How do these firsthand accounts and perspectives change how students understand the realities of the so-called war on terror? What questions would they ask these veterans if they were New York Times reporters?
After exploring one or more of the pieces in this section, students might discuss the prompts below:
What is terrorism? Why do some individuals and groups target civilians for political purposes?
Was the United States justified in using military force in Afghanistan after Sept. 11? What is the legacy of the “war on terror”? Has it made us safer?
What lessons can we learn from the war? How do you think the United States and other countries should work toward preventing future terrorist attacks? If the United States, or another country, were hit by foreign terrorism again in the future, how should we respond? What principles, critical questions and experiences should help us form our response?
8. Examine Ripple Effects in the United States
In the two decades since Sept. 11, many aspects of American life have changed, from travel and art to education and immigration. Your conversation with students about post-9/11 America could take on any one or many of these topics. Below, we suggest two possible lenses, based on recent Times texts, through which to examine the ripple effects in the United States:
Muslims in America: Invite students to read “Muslim Americans’ ‘Seismic Change’” by Elizabeth Dias and consider how the aftermath of Sept. 11 has brought both challenges, including a surge in Islamophobia, but also possibilities for the Muslim American community, such as the election of Muslim Americans to Congress and award-winning television featuring Muslim American actors and stories, that would have been unfathomable 20 years ago.
Civil Liberties and Surveillance: Two decades after the attacks, police departments across the United States, and particularly the N.Y.P.D., are using counterterrorism tools, like facial recognition software, to combat routine street crime. Although police officials say these methods have helped thwart would-be attacks, others say they subject everyday people to “near-constant surveillance — a burden that falls more heavily on people of color.” Invite students to read “How the N.Y.P.D. Is Using Post-9/11 Tools on Everyday New Yorkers” and debate the benefits and drawbacks of these tactics.
After reading one or both of these articles, students might discuss the following questions:
In what important ways has Sept. 11 transformed American life?
Did anything described in the articles connect with anything you’ve experienced, read or witnessed? How have these changes affected your life, whether you knew it or not?
What does America’s response to Sept. 11 say about the United States today?
9. Explore Why Conspiracy Theories Sometimes Flourish
Today’s students are often familiar with conspiracy theories and their popularity on social media. Here is how one student responded to our 2020 Student Opinion question: Do You Think Online Conspiracy Theories Can Be Dangerous?:
Conspiracy theories can either be malicious, dumb fun, or anything in between. Some conspiracy theories can be serious and about tragedies such as 9/11, but some conspiracy theories can be interesting, such as bots in a video game being alive. I enjoy a conspiracy theory every now or then, but I wouldn’t take them as an absolute truth, you always have to take them with a grain of salt.
In the article “How a Viral Video Bent Reality,” Kevin Roose writes about how the conspiracy film “Loose Change” energized the “9/11 truther” movement and also supplied the template for the current age of disinformation.
Students can read this article and consider some of the questions raised in the article:
Why do you think some people are drawn to conspiracy theories?
What role does technology play in the spread of conspiracy theories?
Respond to this quote from the article: “A more urgent lesson to take from ‘Loose Change’ is that conspiracy theories tend to flourish in low-trust environments, during periods of change and confusion.” Why do you think that is? How does that lesson apply to today’s world?
You can pair this article with the Student Opinion question mentioned above, inviting students to post their own comments in response to that question, or with our Lesson of the Day “How to Deal With a Crisis of Misinformation,” which includes strategies for countering misinformation.
10. Join Our Live Panel for Students: The Post-9/11 Generation
How did 9/11 shape the generation that grew up in its aftermath?
With New York Times journalists and student voices, we will discuss this question at our special interactive panel on Sept. 30. The panel will feature Yousur Al-Hlou and Biz Herman, who examined how Sept. 11 has been taught in classrooms around the world, and Kiana Hayeri, who photographed young Afghans as they experienced the recent withdrawal of U.S. troops from their country.
We encourage students to submit 30-second videos containing questions for the panelists or reflections on what Sept. 11 means to them. Register for the panel here, and submit student questions through this form.
Want more? For the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, in 2011, we published this roundup of hundreds of resources from The Learning Network and The New York Times for teaching about Sept. 11 and the aftermath, including ideas from educators across the country and links to the front pages of The Times for the 10 days after Sept. 11.
Nicole Daniels joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2019 after working in museum education, curriculum writing and bilingual education. @nicoleolived
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