1-Pager
All grades  Project 1 week

Inside 9/11: A Survivor’s Story

Melissa Z
Updated
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.9
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1
+ 5 more
1-pager

The Challenge

You are asked to understand 9/11 as a turning point in U.S. history by examining how eyewitness accounts, public memory, and historical evidence reveal both the immediate attacks and their long-term effects on national security, civil liberties, war, and public attitudes. The challenge is significant because people who did not live through the event often know it only through simplified narratives, while the event’s aftermath also included increased nationalism, fear, and discrimination that shaped communities in the United States and beyond.

Challenge Question

How might we create age-appropriate ways to talk about 9/11 at our school so that students and families can understand its impact on the United States through eyewitness stories, evidence, and reflection?

Standards

  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.7 - Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.9 - Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (e.g., Washington's Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech, King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"), including how they address related themes and concepts.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 - Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9—10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Competencies

  • Effective Communication - Students practice listening to understand, communicating with empathy, and share their learning through exhibiting, presenting and reflecting on their work.
  • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - Students consider a variety of innovative approaches to address and understand complex questions that are authentic and important to their communities.
  • Content Expertise - Students develop key competencies, skills, and dispositions with ample opportunities to apply knowledge and engage in work that matters to them.
  • Collaboration - Students co-design projects with peers, exercise shared-decision making, strengthen relational agency, resolve conflict, and assume leadership roles.
  • Academic Mindset - Students establish a sense of place, identity, and belonging to increase self-efficacy while engaging in critical reflection and action.

Learning Partners and Clients

Students will learn with an eyewitness guest speaker who was inside the Twin Towers when they were hit, using his testimony as a primary source to understand the event’s human impact and historical significance. A virtual guest speaker who is Palestinian American and experienced racism after 9/11 can help students examine how nationalism, fear, and bias shaped life in the United States afterward. These partners serve as authentic voices and audience members as students act as public historians, selecting stories and evidence to explain why 9/11 still matters in schools today.

Phase Overview

Phase Key Experiences
Discover
I can step into the role of a public historian by listening carefully to an eyewitness from inside the Twin Towers, asking thoughtful questions, and identifying why 9/11 still matters, how it changed life in the United States, and what root causes and later responses people still need to understand.
Examine
I can compare the guest speaker’s oral history with news footage, photographs, timelines, and written firsthand accounts to identify which details each medium emphasizes about 9/11. I can analyze speeches, memorial texts, and other significant U.S. documents to explain how people responded to the attacks and how ideas about safety, nationalism, and unity shaped the country afterward. I can investigate how some Americans, including Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian American communities, experienced racism and bias after 9/11 by listening to a second speaker or studying credible testimony. I can work with classmates to discuss evidence respectfully, build on others’ ideas, and determine which stories and sources best help younger students understand why this history matters.
Engineer
I can develop a grade-appropriate public history piece that combines eyewitness stories, key evidence, and clear narration to help students at school understand the importance of 9/11, its impact on the United States, and the human consequences of the nationalism and prejudice that followed.
Do
I can present my public history piece to a small student audience, gather feedback and questions, observe what helps them understand the history clearly and empathetically, and use that real-world data to evaluate how effectively my work communicates why 9/11 matters.
Share
I can share my public history work in an interactive school showcase with peers, staff, families, and community guests by presenting key stories and evidence, inviting audience questions and reflection, and explaining how this project changed the way I listen, think critically, and talk about difficult history with empathy.