September 11th Timeline Lesson Plan

I think one of the most important lessons I teach every year is my lesson on the events of September 11th. It so profoundly changed America and is so tragic and sad, but also filled with stories of incredible bravery and heroism. Some years I teach it on the anniversary regardless of my pacing, while others I have taught it toward the end of the year.

Either way, the best lesson I developed to teach about 9/11 was this cooperative learning timeline lesson plan. It truly makes for an amazing, thorough lesson on September 11th.

Your class is divided into 7 groups who each work together to put together a timeline for one aspect of the 9/11 tragedy. This  The 7 groups are:

• American Airlines Flight 11
• United Airlines Flight 175
• American Airlines Flight 77
• United Airlines Flight 93
• President Bush
• The World Trade Center Towers
• The Pentagon

After each group has analyzed their assigned minute-by-minute events, you lead a PowerPoint presentation of the whole day and each group shares their events, so that the class get get a true perspective of the chaos and confusion most Americans felt that morning.

Finally, an interview assignment is included for students to conduct after your lesson to get a better perspective of what happened.

This is a truly powerful lesson that can be download by clicking here. I promise, it will have a lasting impact on your students.

The download includes the 7 sets of timelines, a complete timeline of the whole day, a PowerPoint that matches the timelines, the interview assignment, and 4 videos of footage from 9/11.

Thank you for looking!