Late Elementary (3-5)
Lesson Plans

NEA Guidance for Teachers and Education Support Professionals

Lesson Plans and materials are divided into five sections. Click on the link below to go directly to to the desired section or scroll down through the entire list.

Facing Personal Feelings

Facts About Terrorism and War

Do Something!

In Addition.

Suggested Reading and Music Lists

Facing Personal Feelings

To obtain the desired Lesson Plan, click on the title.

(* indicates a Lesson Plan that is located on another site such as the American Red Cross. You may be asked for your name, email address and other information to obtain access to these plans. All materials listed are available for free.)

Sending Liberty and Faith Across the Nation (n18)

Through the sending of patriotically themed stuffed bears across the nation, Americans can share the experiences they had on September 11 and how their lives have changed in its aftermath.

Smithsonian Commemorates American Experiences on Sept. 11 (n11)

To permanently archive everyone's experience on September 11 in the September 11 Digital Archive, available online on the anniversary of the tragedy in conjunction with the exhibit, September 11: Bearing Witness to History.

Facing Personal Feelings (rl01)

To help students understand their personal feelings following a tragic event and to see that a wide range of feelings is normal.

Stress and Relating to Others (rl02) *

To help students understand others' reactions to a tragic event, express ways to support each other and deal with their own feelings.

APA & Discovery Health Forum: Alliance to Renew American's Sense of Hope (n10)

To provide teaches, students, parents and all other Americans with the tools needed to regain a new sense of hope via a co-produced one-hour documentary "Aftermath: The Road to Resilience" and accompanying information kits.

Media Literacy (rl03) *

To help students process what they saw on television, heard on the radio, or read in the newspapers or other media sources about the tragic event. Also to give students an opportunity to talk with one another about what happened and how they are feeling.

Have We Felt This Way Before? Reacting to Tragic Events (rl04) *

To have students compare reactions to tragic events in the past with reactions to this event and to help students understand that feelings of uncertainty and sadness will gradually subside.

One Year Later: Remembering Sept. 11 (n20)

To make sure that students and staff understand the anniversary effect, its corresponding reactions, and that they prepare for it and memorialize it.

Remembering Sept. 11: Tips for Students (n21)

To provide a list of ways in which students can protect themselves from emotional distress around the anniversary of September 11.

Poetry of Peace (n25)

To elicit responses through writing and composing music about the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

America Changed (n37)

Students will identify changes they've seen in their city, state, country over the past year and use poetry to further reflect upon these changes.

Kindness Towers Here (n44)

To reinforce the concepts that each of us has an impact upon one another and that each of us can make a difference. To remind all members of the learning community that each person has a story to share. To practice all components of the writing process.

Facts About War and Terrorism

To obtain the desired Lesson Plan, click on the title.

(* indicates a Lesson Plan that is located on another site such as the American Red Cross. You may be asked for your name, email address and other information to obtain access to these plans. All materials listed are available for free.)

Communicating the Facts (rl05) *

To identify and communicate students' perceptions of an act of terrorism or tragic event. To reach to correct misconceptions. To determine what further information is needed to form rational opinions about the event.

Be Media Savvy (rl06) *

To compare and evaluate news stories based on point of view, the use of fact, opinion, and bias.

Impact of the Facts (rl07) *

To identify the impact of terrorism and tragic events on the family, community, nation, and the world.

Facts About Terrorism and War (rl08)

To recognize that people help people during all types of emergencies.

Do Something!

To obtain the desired Lesson Plan, click on the title.

(* indicates a Lesson Plan that is located on another site such as the American Red Cross. You may be asked for your name, email address and other information to obtain access to these plans. All materials listed are available for free.)

Building a Memory (n38)

To design/build a memorial to 9/11.

Family Disaster Plan (rl09) *

To help students and their families learn about family and community preparedness.

Community Preparedness (rl10) *

To give students and opportunity to "experience" the community planning and decision-making required to prepare for, respond to, and recover from an emergency, and to gain an appreciation for those in the community who respond when disaster strikes.

Do Something! (rl11)

To have students clarify their understanding of tragic events through verbal and nonverbal expressions and to have students communicate their gratitude and concern for community helpers such as fire and rescue workers, and police officers.

Healing Tools, Routines and Rituals (rl12) *

To help students understand that they can help themselves feel better by taking care of themselves, by following their established routines and by identifying activities that make them feel better.

The Fabric of Community (n39)

Construct/paint commemorative quilt that honors our community.

Moving Forward (n40)

Building a "moving" memorial to 9/11.

In Addition...

To obtain the desired Lesson Plan, click on the title.

(* indicates a Lesson Plan that is located on another site such as the American Red Cross. You may be asked for your name, email address and other information to obtain access to these plans. All materials listed are available for free.)

Crisis Management Institute's Sept. 11 Guides*

In the following guides you will find suggestions for working with staff on preparedness for fall, for the 9/11 anniversary, and on setting school climate that fosters trust.

Peaceful Tomorrows from the Families of Sept. 11 Victims*

Peaceful Tomorrows is an advocacy organization founded by family members of September Eleventh victims.

Smithsonian's National Museum of American History Exhibit on Sept. 11 (n12)

On the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Behring Center will open a commemorative exhibition, "September 11: Bearing Witness to History," containing artifacts, images, and personal stories. The 5,000-square-foot exhibition opens on Sept. 11 and closes Jan. 11, 2003.

Journey for America: A Living Memorial (n16)

To remember the 4000 lives lost on September 11 in a cross-country walk in which a flag is carried for each fatality, ending in New York City on the anniversary of the first year anniversary of the tragedy.

Suggested Reading and Music Lists

Suggested Reading                                                   

Eve Bunting, Smoky Night

Lucille Clifton, Everett Anderson 's Goodbye

Barbara Cohen, Molly's Pilgrim

A Guide for Using Molly s Pilgrim in the Classroom by Susan Kilpatrick

Janice Cohn, Why Did It Happen: Helping Young Children Cope in a Violent World

Jamie Lee Curtis, Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods that Make My Day

Norah Dooley, Everybody Cooks Rice

Ed Emberley, Go Away. Big Green Monster!

Karen English, Nadia's Hands

Margaret Holmes, A Terrible Thing Happened

Patricia Polacco, Thunder Cake

Ellen Stoil, Pip's Magic

Dr. Seuss, My Many Colored Days

Dr. Seuss, The Sneetches and Other Stories

Judith Viorst, The Tenth Good Thing About Barney

Suggested Music

Music has the power not only to express difficult and deep emotions but also to draw people together. To complement the Facing Fear curriculum, you may find some of the following music useful. In addition, we suggest asking your school music specialist for titles of appropriate CDs or tapes for your class. MENC: the National Association for Music Education is also a good resource for appropriate music titles. Visit the Web site at www.menc.org and look for the section titled "0 Say Can You Sing."

Expressing Grief/Mournful

Dona Nohis Pacem by Bach

Finlandia by Sibelius

Funeral Ikos by John Tavener

"Pas de deux" from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake

Pavane for a Dying Princess by Ravel

Symphony no. 3, Eroica. second movement, by Beethoven

Calming/Soothing

Adagio in G by Tomaso Albinoni

"Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide by Bernstein

Danses Sacre et Profane by Debussy

Harp Concerto in C major, third movement, bv Francois-Adrien Boidldieu

Irish Blessing and numerous other pieces for chorus by Rutter

La Mer by Debussy

Lux Aeterna by Skip Lauridsen

'The Moldau" from the symphonic poem Ma Blast

by Bedrich Smetana

Prelude to (he Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy

Performances by pianist George Winston

Recordings of nature sounds such as rainforest, rushing water, birds, rustling trees

Changing Your Mood

Folk dances

Grand Canyon Suite by Grofe

Klezmer

Scott Joplin rags

Strauss waltzes

Tchaikovsky ballets (Swan Lake, Nutcracker Suite)

Uplifting

Appalachian Spring by Copland

Cuban Overture by Gershwin

Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik by Mozart

Fanfare for the Common Man by Copland

Symphony  no. 9, Ode to Joy, by Beethoven

Symphony no. 2, London Symphony, by Ralph Vaughan Williams

"The Promise of Living" from the Tender Land by Copland

Choral pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Energizing

"Spring" from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi

Latin and tango selections

American in Paris by Gershwin

Selections from West Side Story like "America" by Bernstein

"Entrance of the Queen of Sheba" from the Solomon oratorio by Handel

Sousa marches