9/11

On this fifth anniversary of 9/11 it’s definitely in America’s consciousness but seems to be making less of an impact. There was a short announcement and moment of silence before the pledge today. I was asked by another teacher why I didn’t dress for the day (Red, White & Blue). As much as it’s on my mind and I’ve been reading and watching a lot about 9/11 it didn’t really occur to me.
We’re spending most of class talking about it and generating questions which I will be posting soon. We will work on answering them the next couple of classes. I couldn’t bring myself to show a video of the attacks, since I would have to watch it over and over. In class we’ve been reading about the attack and answering these questions:
Write the complete definition for terrorism from your book (US3) in your own words.

In paragraph form, what happened September 11th, 2001 in the United States?

What are two things that have changed in the world because of September 11th? (see US14 & 15 if you need help)

What was Osama bin Laden’s roll in the September 11th attacks?

We are currently at war in Iraq. What was the connection between the former dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, and September 11th?

Why do some people use terrorist tactics (suicide bombers, attacks on innocent people) rather than peaceful, democratic ways to get what they want?

How do the September 11th attacks compare and contrast to last year’s devastation by hurricane Katrina?

I’ve looked over the regular cartoons for today and there’s not one reference to 9/11. I guess in some ways we have moved on. I’m going to post a cartoon done shortly after 9/11 that has always stuck with me.



We’ve gone from not being able to think about anything else, to moving on in our lives while the ripple effect of the attacks (the War on Terror, Afghanistan, Iraq, terrorist attacks around the world) seems deafening.