Helping students connect to the events of September 11 can be a challenge. This webquest for middle and high school students requires critical thinking skills, and asks students how they want to remember the day that changed their lives.
How do remember the tragedy of 9-11? What is an appropriate way to memorialize this event. The Curriculum and Instruction Department in the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College of Education has developed an excellent webquest to assist your students with these questions. It also incorporates good research skills and critical thinking.
The task is create a memorial for September 11th. In order to prepare students research monuments and memorials. They must examine various monuments to determine what they memorialize, the group that sponsored the monument, and how well the monument represents that memory, and the quality of the monument. A worksheet/rubric is provided for students to evaluate the monuments.
The resources page has links to various types of monuments and memorials. There are also links to information about the victims of the Twin Towers, Pentagon, Flight 93. Depth is added by providing links to firefighters, police, and families of the victims of 9-11.
Ultimately, students are to design their own 9-11 monument. They must be prepared to explain its symbolism and reason for its design. Rubrics are provided for teacher use.
What makes this webquest library friendly is that students are not stopped by lack of computers. In my library I have only patron computers with Internet access. I had students begin their research using books and reference materials. I rotated the student groups through the Internet computers. Everyone was able to continuously stay on task.
This webquest is an excellent tool for connecting students to their world.
Are you looking for music for commemoration events? Take a look at Resources for 9-11 Commemorations.
Connect students to the history of the US flag with this book and activities.
