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New York, NY, September 13, 2001 — Urban Search and Rescue specialists continue to search for survivors amongst the wreckage at the World Trade Center.
Photo by Andrea Booher/ FEMA News Photo
I never know if it’s the right thing to do. I didn’t write it into my lesson plans. I hesitate every year about teaching 9/11 to my gifted students. But there’s a part of me that thinks they need to know the truth. The need to have some seed of understanding about the meaning of that tragic day.
In my email on Monday morning, I read “Teach this Poem” from the Academy of American Poets. I forgot that I had signed up for this email, but I was glad it came. The lesson gave me strong footing for talking about the unspeakable tragedy of 16 years ago.
First we looked at a photo of the destruction, writing down things we saw.
Some words collected from the image
dust
ash
destruction
devastation
war
dark
despair
collapsed
ruined lives
Then we read Lucille Clifton’s poem Tuesday, 9/11/01. We noticed in the structure of the poem spaces, no capital letters. This structure, someone said, expressed how raw and true her response was. One student read it aloud. The others hummed at the end, that hum when words hit you right in the gut.
I looked at their faces, the faces of my students who were innocent of terror and fear, but they heard it, they saw it, they got it. And this understanding made me so extremely sad.
At the end of class, Faith came to me and said, “I need a hug.”
She knew it was me who needed the hug.
How do we best teach this history that is still so new and raw? Pictures, poems, words, talk, tears. That’s how.
My students wrote their poetic responses. Some wrote the facts they learned. Some wrote their own feelings. Some wrote through the eyes of the helpers.
I wish I didn’t have to teach this day. I wish this day never happened. I hope my students walked away with not only the details of the tragedy, but also a heart of kindness, hopefulness, and (please God) peace!
Madison’s journal page
Reflections on the Teche 
I struggled with this yesterday. My students weren’t even born in 2001 and I wondered how to address it. I did a book talk for Nora Raleigh Baskin’s “Nine, Ten”, but this is an excellent idea I will file away for next year.
Such a hard day and a difficult lesson. I admire you for teaching it. Love Clifton’s piece.
Heartfelt post. Thanks for sharing.
I think all students need this information and in a very non-political way which is what you did. Song, poems, or real pictures are the key for me! ❤
And yes, it’s a hard day as is Kennedy’s assassination, Challenger, and 9/11. Horrible events with disastrous consequences for the world.
I am an elementary education major and I have thought about this many times wondering how i would talk about tragic events especially 9/11 in the classroom. I enjoyed this blog because it gave me insight on how to incorporate informing my future students.
I was teaching Developmental English at an HBCU when 9-11 happened. That’s pre-College Composition. https://bohemiotx.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/a-new-instructor-in-a-college-classroom-during-9-11-01-by-jd-meyer/
Thank you for so sensitively planting that seed of understanding within your students.
Thank you for taking the time to teach and talk about this! I do feel that as difficult as it still is to think about it, we need to talk about it and teach the future generations about it. The event itself is tragic and hard to process, even still today, but there are so many things we learned from it, about ourselves and us as nation. Thank you for being so brave to take on such a difficult subject!
Every year, 9/11 gets me on so many levels. When is it history, and how can it be history when it’s still SO fresh in our minds. It’s good you give space to commemoration in your classroom. Kids can handle sad stuff, but it’s harder to understand and handle the stuff that’s not talked about.
Hope all is well with you, my friend! Sending a hug your way!
Thanks, Melanie, for the hug. I need it. Love to you, too.
This day always hits hard because we lost friends and neighbors on 9/11. You were right to find a way to mark the day with your kids, Margaret, especially through poetry, which allows us to access powerful feelings so clearly.
I think your friend Melanie above makes a really strong point, “Kids can handle sad stuff, but it’s harder to understand and handle the stuff that’s not talked about.” I applaud you for going down this path with your students, a very difficult one even for us adults. Lucile Clifton’s poem is very sad, but very strong and understandable, relatable–and a good place to begin a dialogue. Thanks for this rich blog post Margaret, and beginning a dialogue with your young students.