9/11 and Seventh Grade

As I was thinking about how to address the importance of today with my 7th grade homeroom it hit me that they were mere kindergarteners when the 9/11 attacks happened. So I opened my class today by asking what they remembered about this day seven years ago. Their responses ran the gamut from thinking the attacks had happened close to here, to thinking it was a movie, to not remembering a single thing about the day. After our discussion we watched a four minute video that had President Bush's speech from that night along with still images set to a song. I, of course, teared up thinking of all those dear people and how they must have been feeling. My class was so silent and mesmerized by what they were seeing but I don't think they could really connect that it had happened and that it had affected real people and how it changed the course of our lives forever.