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Sept. 13, 2021, 4:14 p.m.

Educators reflect on the significance of teaching about 9/11

Summary

For their first assignment of the school year, high school journalists from our network of Student Reporting Labs asked educators in their schools about the significance of teaching 9/11, what the events meant to them, and why it’s important to study the history before and after that day.

Five Facts

  • Who is interviewed for this piece, and what do they have in common?
  • What are some of the reasons these teachers believe teaching about 9/11 every year is important?
  • Where are some of the different parts of the country that these teachers represent?
  • Why was 9/11 personally significant to some of these teachers?
  • How might understanding the events of 9/11 and what followed help understand world events today, according to this piece?

Focus Questions

  1. What do you find most meaningful or important in learning about 9/11? What do you still find most confusing or uncertain?
  2. Do you think 9/11 will be as significant a moment in history for your generation as past crises, such as World War II or the Great Depression? Why or why not?
Media literacy: How do you think using student journalists to interview these teachers shaped the final piece? Why do you think the students themselves were not shown asking questions?

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