Making Connections to Contemporary Events

Time: Two 45 min. sessions

Materials:

                 Computer with Internet Connection

                 Projector

                 KWL Chart

                 Photographs of Twin Towers/Ground Zero 

                 Anti Muslim Photographs

                 Venn Diagram

 

Procedure: Whole Group Activities

 Session 1- Ask students to raise their hand if they have ever heard about 9/11.  For those who do so, ask them what they know about it.  Document this information in the K section of the KWL chart.  Next, ask if anyone has questions about 9/11.  Document these questions under the W section of the KWL chart.

 

Show the video from Nickelodeon's Nick News episode for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 located at  http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/nick-news-what-happened-the-true-story-of-september-11th-full-episode.html. 

 

Discuss the show with students.  Ask what they learned from the video and document it in the L section of the KWL chart.  Ask if any of them had misconceptions (define as "thinking something is true, when it isn't") about 9/11 or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Finally, ask if there are any questions that students still have.

 

Session 2- Revisit questions that children still had at the end of session 1.  Answer as many as possible.

As a group, view the pictures of the Twin Towers/Ground Zero.  Ask students how they think people felt after seeing these images, since most Americans learned about what happened through television, which used videos and photographs to show what happened.

 

Next, revisit the misconception that many people had that all Muslims were terrorists.  Show pictures of anti Muslim sentiment that followed 9/11.  Ask students why they think some people felt this way about Muslims following 9/11.

 

Finally, ask students if they think there are any similarities between the anit Muslim sentiment that followed 9/11 and the anti Japanese sentiment that followed the attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

Assessment:

Have students work in small groups to complete a Venn Diagram comparing the anti Muslim sentiment that followed 9/11 and the anti Japanese sentiment that followed the attack on Pearl Harbor.