Teacher Brief- September 11, 2001

Teachers Brief- September 11, 2001

Mary Currie
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Teacher Brief- September 11, 2001

Introduction
September 11, 2001 a day that changed America. This day completely shifted the way
America ran and operated. Do you remember where you were on that fateful day? Maybe you
were in school, at home, at the doctor, or at the grocery store, wherever you were you probably
stopped and completely focused on the nearest TV or radio. You probably cried, prayed, or just
stood there in shock. This day more than likely affected you in some shape or form. But have
you ever thought of how your current students were affected? Well, they probably werent even
born; but yet, this day in our countries history still affects them.
Every year on September 11th there is always some kind of tribute that takes place, but
have you ever stopped to think that maybe some children dont fully understand why those
tributes take place? Well I believe it is our jobs as teachers to teach our students about that day.
We should explain to them what happened, who was involved, how it affected America then, and
how it still affects America today.
Basic Facts and News Stories
First, the teacher can share their memories of that day with them and then explain these
facts. On September 11, 2001, four American planes were hijacked, three were flown into
buildings, and one was crashed into a field. They were hijacked by an Islamic extremist group
called Al-Qaeda (National September 11 Memorial 2011). At this point, students probably will
have questions of what is a hijacker, or what is Islamic extremist group? The teacher will have to
then explain to their students what these things are in most age appropriate way possible. For
hijacker, they should use the dictionary definition which is a person who hijacks and hijack
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Teacher Brief- September 11, 2001

means to rob a vehicle after forcing it to stop (Dictionary). For the Islamic extremist group, they
will need to explain the Islamic religion and the different sectors of the religion to the students.
As 9/11 memorial describes it, Islamists see Islam as a guiding ideology for politics and the
organization of society. That is, they believe that strict adherence to religious law should be the
sole basis for a countrys law, as well as its cultural and social life. While some Muslims believe
this, many do not. Islamist extremists believe violence is acceptable to achieve these ends. alQaeda is one of many Islamist extremist groups (National September 11 Memorial 2011).
After students are aware of those facts, the teacher should then explain how two planes
were flown into the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York City and how they both
eventually collapsed due to the weight of the plane and the burning jet fuel. The collapse caused
many other buildings around the towers to collapse as well, leaving very few survivors from the
two towers and those buildings. The next fact to be talked about should be that the third plane
was flown into part of the Pentagon Building in Washington D.C, but that only part of the
building was effected unlike the Twin Towers. The plane that went into the Pentagon hit on the
west side military headquarters and the jet fuel caused a fire that made that section of the
building collapse (History 2010). The fourth plane was taken back by brave Americans and
crashed into a field so that no more buildings had to be impacted. It is believed that they attacked
the cockpit with the fire extinguisher causing the plane to flip and dive into the ground at 500
miles per hour, leaving no survivors (History 2010). At 9pm that night, President George W.
Bush gave an address to the nation from the Oval office. He talked about what had happened that
day and tried to comfort America. One of his well-known quotes from that day is Terrorist
attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation
of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve (History
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Teacher Brief- September 11, 2001

2010). To help this discussion and teaching teachers can use the book America Is Under Attack:
September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell by Don Brown. This book is an age appropriate
and explains the information of that day in a sensitive and clear way for students (Brown 2011).
Heroes, Victims, and Survivors.
Once teachers have taught the basic facts of happened on September 11th, they will have
to face the hard task of talking about the 3000 victims of that day. Nearly, 3000 people died that
day and it is the largest loss of life on American soil due to a terrorist attack (National September
11 Memorial 2011). Teachers will have to explain how the people who died were just common
day people. As former President George W Bush said in his address the nation that night, [t]he
victims were in airplanes, or in their offices; secretaries, businessmen and women, military and
federal workers; moms and dads, friends and neighbors (Bush 2001). The victims were not just
from the Twin Towers in NYC, they were from the planes, the Pentagon, and rescue workers
who had gone into the buildings to save people and put out the fires. On the tenth anniversary of
September 11th, the 9/11 Memorial was open. It is stands in the place of the two Twin Towers and
is call Memorial Park. It has two large reflection pools at the bottom of where the towers were
grounded and has the names of all the victims from that day etched in around them.
Luckily there are many heroes and survivors from that day and teaching about these
people can help teachers keep students positive after talking about the victims. There were many
survivors from that day who were able to make it out of the Twin Towers before they collapsed.
There were also eighteen survivors who were pulled from the rubble the day after alive (National
September 11 Memorial 2011). There are stories after stories about people who for some reason
were late to work, or decided to stop for coffee on the way in, or took the long way to work, that
would end up surviving September 11th due to these small reasons. At the memorial alongside the
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Teacher Brief- September 11, 2001

reflection pools, there is the Survivor Tree. This tree actually survived the attack and was
removed from the sight, rehabilitated, and replanted at the memorial to be a reminder of survival
and rebirth (National September 11 Memorial). The article 9/11- Survivors of the Twin
Towers by Daily Mail tells about many of these stories and is a great resource for teachers to
look at when telling about the survivors.
Now for the heroes of this horrific day, there too many to even begin to count. There are
so many people who are considered heroes of September 11th, from the firefighters who were
trapped inside when the buildings collapsed to the Salvation Army volunteers who handed out
hot chocolate and coffee to the works cleaning up the ruble. There were close to 400 first
responders who unfortunately did not make it out alive from the Twin Towers, who are all
considered to be heroes from that day (History 2010). The people that took back over Flight 93
and crashed it into the field are also considered heroes for their bravery and sacrifice. They did
an extremely heroic act by taking back the plane and knowingly crashing it to save others. One
of the people from that flight is Todd Beamer whose last audible words were You guys ready?
Lets roll became a term many soldiers used over in Afghanistan (United Heroes). There were
also hundreds and hundreds of volunteers, firefighters, rescue personnel, etc. who worked nonstop in the days following the attacks the try to recover as many bodies as possible from the
rubble. The 9/11 Memorial Museum that opened up in May 2014 shares many of stories of these
heroes along with eye witness stories, survivor stories, and victims families stories.
How America was Affected Then and Now
September 11, 2001 changed America as we once knew it. This day shook America to its
core and sent us into a way of living many of us had never experienced before. For months and
even years, Americans across the country mourned this attack. As stated earlier this was the
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Teacher Brief- September 11, 2001

largest lost life on American soil due to a terrorist attack. So many Americans were in some way
affected from the loss of a family member, friend, co-worker etc. or they were just heartbroken
for all those who did lose someone. Another way America was affected is that security was on
extreme high alert from that day on for many months. All planes were grounded and flights
cancelled for two days following the attack and even when flights were allowed to take place
there were strict guidelines for the pilots and extreme security measures taken. As TSA
administrator John Pistole said For the first time in nearly 100 years of flight, the skies above
the United States were shut down in response to an attack. Security around all government
buildings or places of high interest was also extremely high. On the day of the attack most
schools across the country were released early or cancelled. But the biggest way that America
was affected was that this sent us into war. On October 7 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom
began. This was an American led international operation to remove the Taliban from power in
Afghanistan and remove Osama Bin Ladens terrorist group (History 2010). Osama Bin Laden
was the leader for the terrorist group Al-Qaeda who took responsibility for the attack.
Our troops stayed in the Middle East for almost 13 years fighting the Taliban and
searching for Bin Laden. In 2011, Bin Laden was finally captured and killed by the US Military.
Until that day, a large number of our troops were still in the Middle East fighting this war but in
June of that year President Obama declared that they would start removing troops from overseas
and would be done by 2014 (History 2010). This attack went far beyond that day and affects
America still to this day. We are no longer in war in the Middle East even though we still have
some troops over there, but that is for more current reasons. The attack changed security
measures across the country especially when it comes to TSA. All passengers flying on any flight
coming into, going out of or flying with in the US are checked against the governments no fly
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Teacher Brief- September 11, 2001

list. Screening for explosives on passengers, luggage, and the planes is now extremely advanced
and done on very flight. TSA also works very closely with government intelligence to check for
any information regarding attacks and flights (Pistole 2011). America has come a long way since
September 11, 2001 in their security measures across the board.
Conclusion
Now that all of that information about September 11, 2001 has been stated and explained,
one begins to wonder what made this occur and how to some people in other countries was this
an okay thing? That is a very tough thing to explain and requires a lot more research. This brief
just explains in details what happened on 9/11, who the heroes, victims, and survivors were, and
how this has affected America then and now. A lesson based off this brief would teach students
about the events that took place on 9/11 from the World Trade Center, to the Pentagon, to the
plane that was crashed in Pennsylvania. Students would also learn about the heroes and victims
from that day and how maybe they can be a hero in their own community. Lastly it would teach
them about how this still affects us today and how we continue to remember this tragic event
throughout the country. Some key things that could also be taught alongside this would be what
terrorism is, how does it affect people and what a hero is. In the WebQuest, students will be able
to work with interactive time lines of the events, read and see news stories, and see age
appropriate videos and pictures from that day. Students will be able to go through the WebQuest
and hopefully answer the questions of what happened that day, why, who all was involved, and
how does it still affect us now? They will also complete an activity on how they could be a hero
in their own community based off of the stories they read about. September 11, 2001 is a day that
changed America, that no one will ever forget and that our students today should be taught about.

Teacher Brief- September 11, 2001

References
Brown, D. (2011) America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell. New
York: Square Fish Publishing.
Cooper, G. (2002) 9/11 Survivors of the Twin Towers. Retrieved March 1, 2016 from
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-136382/9-11--Survivors-Twin-Towers.html
Hijacker. Dictionary.com. Retrieved March 1, 2016 from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hijack
History.com Staff. (2010) 9/11 Attacks. Retrieved March 1, 2016 from
http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks
National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (2011) 9/11 Primary Sources. Retrieved February
15, 2016, from http://www.911memorial.org/911-primary-sources
National September 11 Memorial & Muesum. (2011) 9/11 Interactive Timelines. Retrieved
February 27, 2016 from http://timeline.911memorial.org/#FrontPage
National September 11 Memorial & Museum. FAQ about 9/11 (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2016,
from https://www.911memorial.org/faq-about-911
National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (2011) Lesson Plans 3 - 5. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 27, 2016, from https://www.911memorial.org/lesson-plans-3-5
National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Rescue-Recovery (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2016
from https://www.911memorial.org/rescue-recovery
National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (2011) Statement by President Bush. (n.d.).
Retrieved February 27, 2016, from https://www.911memorial.org/sites/all/files/Statement
%20by%20President%20Bush%20in%20His%20Address%20to%20the%20Nation.pdf
Pistole, J. (2011) Addressing CSIS: Evolution of Aviation Security since 9/11. Retrieved March 1,
2016 from https://www.tsa.gov/news/speeches/addressing-csis-evolution-aviationsecurity-911
United Heroes. (2001) Todd Beamer. Retrieved March 1, 2016 from
https://www.unitedheroes.com/Todd-Beamer.html