Search

A close look at artifacts from September 11, 2001, can spark a powerful classroom lesson on the historic attacks. Some artifacts are massive, some fit in the palm of a hand, all serve to tell the story of what happened on 9/11 and in its aftermath. Throughout the year, students use these artifacts, and the stories behind them, to examine the attacks and their significance, why they happened, how people and institutions chose to respond, and how (and why) we remember what happened. With the 15th anniversary of the attacks, these questions take on a new importance. How do teachers impart the significance of the day, while underscoring its ongoing relevance 15 years later? How do they substantively explore a complex and emotional topic in the first days or weeks of school? Why is 9/11 important? Why do we remember? The answers lie within artifacts and the stories they tell, artifacts like a handheld radio and its connection to a story of survival, loss, and compassion. This article offers teaching strategies, an activity idea, and additional resources to help teachers broach this topic with their students.

On December 21, 1911, Fremont Weeks, an employee of the Adams Express Company, was arrested while on the job at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. Police suspected that Weeks was selling and "transmitting chances" in a lottery, which at the time was considered gambling, an illegal action in Missouri. While Weeks was being held at the police station, Police officers went to his residence and seized items, without a search warrant, and turned over the evidence to U.S. Marshal A.J. Martin. Based on the evidence taken by the law enforcement officials, Weeks was indicted on charges of gambling and using the U.S. Postal Service to distribute chances in a lottery. As a result of the evidence used during the trial, Weeks was found guilty by the jury of illegal gambling. "Weeks v. The United States" was argued before the Supreme Court on December 2-3, 1913. The question of interest to the Court was whether or not the evidence seized from Weeks's residence without a search warrant was a violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Court decided to overturn Weeks's conviction by a unanimous vote, not because he was innocent of the charges but because the evidence that had been used to convict him had been obtained without a search warrant and was thus a violation of the Fourth Amendment protecting him against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Supreme Court decision banning illegally obtained evidence in federal court serves as a point of entry for the study of search warrants and the Fourth Amendment. Teaching suggestions for the study of search warrants and the Fourth Amendment are presented.

On their visit to the National Archives Experience in Washington, D.C., students in Jenni Ashley and Gay Brock's U.S. history classes at the Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, participated in a pilot program called "The Constitution by Cell." Armed with their cell phones, a basic understanding of the Constitution, and a willingness to participate in an undisclosed learning experience, they arrived with a sense of curiosity and excitement. Unbeknownst to them, they would leave with resources and ideas that they would later use to develop a digital story about the Constitution and their experience at the National Archives. This article describes the "Constitution by Cell" activity that uses cell phones to learn about the U.S. Constitution. This activity can be easily adapted to a classroom setting. Six steps to creating digital stories with cell phones are presented.

The article discusses the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City that features artifacts from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. Topics discussed include individual and collective memories of people who witnessed or survived the accident, volunteer work to help support rescue, recovery and clean-up workers at Ground Zero, and a list of resources help students examine the attacks and their significance.

The article reports that New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza came up to bat in inning and mentions that WITH baseball team Atlanta Braves launched home run left of center. Topics discussed include father lost by New York City firefighter (FDNY) Ronnie Geis on 9/11, how President Franklin D. Roosevelt provided assurance that sports can boost public morale, and how marathon had brought power to people.

The article offers information on several 2017 events related to terrorist attack in the U.S. September 11, 2001. It discusses a professional development workshop at the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City in January, focusing on the challenges face by educators when tackling September 11 terrorist attack in the classroom. It presents the exhibition "Cover Stories: Remembering the Twin Towers on The New Yorker" at the 9/11 Memorial Museum about the history of the World Trade Center.

The article discusses a court case wherein Fremont Weeks of Adams Express Co. was arrested while on duty at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, suspecting that he was selling and sending chances in a lottery. It says that while he is detained, the police seized items from his boarding house without a search warrant. However, his lawyer appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court that the police violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Hence, the court decided to acquit him.

The article focuses on suggestion for classroom activity including display and distribution of copies of magazine "The New Yorker" and ask students to look at the cover. Topics discussed include telling students that the journal covers to immediate aftermath of 9/11 attacks in 2001, resume of Broadway theater performance with dimmed marquees honoring the victims, and The Concert for New York City participated by celebrities and entertainment industry.

In late December of 1951, a news story out of Mims, Florida, shocked the nation. The story contained elements of prejudice, discrimination, injustice, lynching, rape, bombings, and murder. The story not only made headlines across the country, but also the world. On the evening of December 25, a bomb was placed under the floor joists of the bedroom of Harry T. Moore, a former schoolteacher and the executive secretary of the Florida chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, while he, his wife, and daughter slept in their beds. Moore had drawn attention to himself through his civil rights activities, which included registering African Americans to vote, fighting against unfair labor practices, and exposing cases of lynching and police brutality. His campaign against what he believed was the wrongful conviction of three African American males accused of raping a white woman, known as the Groveland case, however, attracted the immediate attention of the Ku Klux Klan. Moore died as a result of his injuries, followed by his wife nine days later. He was the first NAACP official murdered in the modern civil rights struggle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]