Remembering 9/11 with a Picture Book

When I woke up this morning, I planned to write a post about remembering 9/11. First, I read a bunch of posts from other bloggers who did the same. I came across a touching post at Clutter-Free Classroom, where she tells a story from her morning and the morning of 9/11. Finally, I headed back over here, and realized that today I have 911 followers. What a strange coincidence.

During my first few years of teaching, I would always do something with my 6th grade students to remember 9/11 and to celebrate our pride for our wonderful country. Between the passing of time, and my change in grade levels, in recent years my students have not been old enough to remember 9/11 because they were not born yet.

9/11 is a huge and important part of our history that my students will one day need to learn about. However, I find that many of them have very little knowledge about what happened. At their age, I do not feel that it is my responsibility to be the one to discuss it with them.

So, I simply "remember" the day by reading them The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. My mother bought me this wonderful book during my first year of teaching, and I read it every year to my students on {or after} 9/11.

It's a nice story to celebrate the memory of the Twin Towers without raising too many questions. The students love the pictures and stories regardless of what they do or do not know. I can't wait to read it again tomorrow!