September 11th

Resources Compiled by:

Drew Racine, UT Austin
ALA
Susie Husted
Deon Dempsey
Scholastic

Except where indicated, the following information was compiled by Drew Racine at the University of Texas at Austin:
Lesson Plans

Another Day That Will Live in Infamy: Helping Students Explore Their Feelings and the Facts about the Terrorist Attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001
This lesson plan was created in collaboration with Bank Street College.

Tolerance in Times of Trial
Grade Level: Middle and High
Use the treatment of citizens of Japanese and German ancestry during World War II looking specifically at media portrayals of these groups and internment camps as historical examples of ethnic conflict during times of trial; explore the problems inherent in assigning blame to populations or nations of people. Students will also look at contemporary examples of ethnic conflict, discrimination, and stereotyping at home and abroad. There are several other lesson plans on this site.

Terror and Tolerance
This article discusses the illegal imprisonment of American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. It contains suggestions for classroom teaching with the use of primary historical documents: letters written by Japanese American middle school students to their teacher in Seattle, Washington in 1942 and 1943. The article, "'Dear Teacher': Letters on the Eve of the Japanese American Imprisonment" by Yoon K. Pak, was just published in Middle Level Learning, an insert to the September 2001 issue of Social Education, the flagship publication of National Council for the Social Studies.

Bias Against Arab and Muslim Americans: How to challenge it in your classroom
As the public recovers from its initial shock over the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. and talk of a U.S. response increases in intensity and volume, the danger of scapegoating Arab Americans may emerge not only in towns and cities but also in our classrooms.

Background Information

Introduction to Islam
Written for a non-Muslim audience, this site explains how the religion began, how it spread, how it is practiced today and the moral and ethical tenets of the faith. (Whole Internet Calendar 2001)

100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans: A Journalist's Guide
This site is a good source of background information from the Detroit Press.

American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee
This site contains a letter with advice for teachers and advice for Arab American parents.

How Terrorism Works
A concise overview on both domestic and international terrorism that helps you understand the range of terrorist activity.

How Osama Bin Laden Works
His name has been in the news constantly as a likely suspect.

September 11, 2001
Answers common questions about the events on Tuesday, including "What happened when?" and "Why were these explosions so powerful?"

How Stuff Works : How Black Boxes Work : How Skyscrapers Work : How Building Implosions Work : How Airport Security Works : How Emergency Rooms Work

Activism/Helping Out

American Tragedy
Find out how you can help the victims

Global SchoolNet has set up a space on the web to allow kids around the world to send their messages of hope, support, and condolences to those affected by the September 11th tragedy.

Check the New York City Board of Education website for a list of NYC schools. You can find their website at http://www.nycenet.edu/ for schools wanting to send letters to NYC schools.

Talking With Children and Adolescents

Coping With a National Tragedy
These online guides from the National Association of School Psychologists are available in several languages. Topics include: Promoting Tolerance and Peace in Children, Helping Children Manage Strong Emotional Reactions, Preventing Suicide, and Cultural Responses to Trauma and Crisis Response.

Discussing the News with 3- to 7-Year-Olds: What to Do?

Talking to Kids About War
This page offers professional advice in English and Spanish.

Disaster Recovery: Children's Needs
Detailed essays on recognizing stress in children, outreach for children, strategies for parents and teachers, and benefits of play in children and age-specific interventions.

Talking With Children When Disaster Strikes
Brief, age-specific suggestions.

Talking to Children About Violence and Other Sensitive and Complex Issues in the World
A lengthy list of questions and answers about how to handle talking with children.

New York State Department of Education: Crisis Advisory to Schools

Caring for Yourself

Managing Stress Reactions
This guide from the NEA gives you some ideas for nurturing your own emotional health.

ALA Pathfinder From the Federal government

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guide "After A Disaster: How to Help Child Victims" has a link to a bibliography of books for kids on a variety of mostly natural disasters.

National Institute of Mental Health "Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters"
This has an extensive bibliography for practitioners.

From private organizations

Connect for Kids has gathered a few good resources for adults to help children with their fears and grief.

For emergency information: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information

Resources from Susie Husted Resources for Families and Educators about Terrorism and Crisis Counseling

NYS Office of Mental Health. Crisis Counseling Guide: Age-Related Reactions of Children to Disasters

US Department of Education Press Release. School Officials Urged to Prevent Harassment of Muslim and Arab-American Students

Schwartz, Wendy. Arab-American Students in Public Schools. ERIC Digest, Number 142.

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Helping Children and Adolescents After a Disaster

Books to Assist Families and Educators in Talking About the Events of September 11th

Books for Parents and Educators [All Titles are Non-Fiction]
Arnow, Jan. Teaching Peace: How to Raise Children to Live in Harmony.
Cappello, Dominic. Ten Talks Parents Must Have with their Children About Violence.
Cohn, Janice. Raising Compassionate, Courageous Children in a Violent World.
Dobkowski, Michael. Coming Age of Scarcity: Preventing Mass Death and Genocide in the Twenty-First Century.
Fitzgerald, Helen. The Grieving Child: A Parent's Guide.
Giggans, Patricia Occhiuzzo. 50 Ways to a Safer World.
Mellonie, Bryan and Robert Ingpen. Lifetimes: A Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children.
Miller, Maryann. Coping with Weapons and Violence in School and on Your Streets.
Romain, Trevor. Bullies are a Pain in the Brain.
Silverman, Janis. Never Too Young to Know: Death in Children's Lives.
Simpson, Carolyn. Coping with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Trozzi, Maria with Kathy Massimini. Talking with Children About Loss: Words, Strategies and Wisdom to Help Cope with Death, Divorce, and Other Difficult Times.
Whiting, Debra Alexander. Children Changed by Trauma.
Wolfelt, Alan. Healing a Child's Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas for Families, Friends, and Caregivers.
Wolfelt, Alan. Healing Your Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas.
Zunin, Leonard. The Art of Condolence: What to Write, What to Say, What to Do at a Time of Loss.

Books for Children [All Titles are Fiction unless Noted Otherwise]

Bang, Molly. When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really, Angry.
Brown, Laurie Krasny and Marc Brown. When Dinosaurs Die.
Bunting, Eve. Smoky Night.
Cannon, Janell. Stellaluna.
Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul: 101 Stories of Courage, Hope and Laughter. [Non-fiction]
Chicken Soup for the Pre-Teen Soul: 101 Stories of Changes, Choices, and Growing Up for Kids Ages 9-13. [Non-fiction]

Coerr, Eleanor. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.
Cohn, Janice. Molly's Rosebush.
DePaolo, Tomie. Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs.
Harris, Robie. Goodbye Mousie.
Penn, Audrey. The Kissing Hand.
Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say.
Sperry, Armstrong. Call it Courage.
Voirst, Judith. The Tenth Good Thing About Barney.

Books for Teens [All Titles are Fiction unless Noted Otherwise]
Carmi, Daniella. Samir and Yonatan.
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II : 101 More Stories of Life, Love and Learning. [Non-fiction]
Cohn, Janice. Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate.
The Color of Absence: 12 Tales About Loss and Hope.
Cormier, Robert. After the First Death.
Fitzgerald, Helen. The Grieving Teen: A Guide for Teenagers and Their Friends. [Non-fiction]
Gay, Kathlyn. Silent Death. [Non-fiction]
Grollman, Earl. Straight Talk About Death for Teenagers. [Non-fiction]
Jones, Frances. A Circle of Love: The Oklahoma City Bombing through the Eyes of our Children. [Non-fiction]
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Walker's Crossing.
Ousseimi, Maria. Caught in the Crossfire. [Non-fiction]
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Haveli.
Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind.
Tolan, Stephanie. Flight of the Raven.
Westall, Robert. The Machine Gunners.
Why Do They Hate Me? [Non-fiction]
Wolfelt, Alan. Healing Your Grieving Heart for Teens. [Non-Fiction]
Yukio, Tsuchiya. Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War.

Books about the Middle East and Arab-Americans [All Titles are Non-Fiction]
Ahmed, Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search for Saladin.
Ali Shah, Sirdar Ikbal. Muhammed: The Prophet.
Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History.
Baylis, Thomas. How Israel Was Won: A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
Chomsky, Noam. Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians.
Elliot, Jason. An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan.
Grazda, Edward. Afghanistan Diary: 1992-2000.
Khushwant, Singh. Train to Pakistan.
King, John and Bradley Mayhew. Lonely Planet Pakistan.
Lerner Geography Department. Turkmenistan: Then and Now.
Lerner Geography Department. Uzbekistan: Then and Now.
Lippman, Thomas. Understanding Islam: An Introduction to the Muslim World.
MacKey, Sandra. The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation.
Margolis, Eric. War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet.
Marshood, Nabil. Palestinian: Teenage Refugees and Immigrants Speak Out.
Naff, Alixa. The Arab Americans.
Rashid, Ahmed. Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia.
Skaine, Rosemarie. The Women of Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Thomas, Paul. The Central Asian States--Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan.
Wolfe, Michael. The Hadj: An American Pilgrimage to Mecca.

resources recommended by Deon Dempsey Background on Afghanistan

country profile from the U.S. Department of State

statements, images and links from the Study of Islam Section of the American Academy of Religion

50 professors of Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern Studies from the US and Canada produced this site which includes expressions of sympathy, statements from academic, Muslim and humanitarian organizations, and clarifications of Islamic law

Afghanistan, the Taliban, and the US

selected internet resources from the UC Berkley library

America Unites

Scholastic's news coverage and resources for children, teachers and parents.

Anthrax information from the United States Postal Service

Stories about the Islamic world, conflict resolution and peacemaking from author Aaron Shepard
Islamic World

Stories
The Stone in the Temple: An Islamic Legend
A peace tale about the founder of Islam. When four tribes each claim a certain honor, Muhammad must find a way to satisfy them all. Grades 2 and up.

Abraham and the Idols
A tale about Abraham, patriarch of both Islam and Judaism. When an idol-maker's son scorns all idols, he faces the wrath of his father, his town, and his king. From the Koran. Grades 5 and up.

The Magic of Mushkil Gusha: A Tale of Iran
An unlucky woodcutter is helped by a mysterious, magical figure. Grades K-6.

The Enchanted Storks: A Tale of Bagdad
A caliph of Bagdad and his vizier try a spell that changes them into storks, then find they can't change back. Grades 2 and up.

The Gifts of Wali Dad: A Tale of India and Pakistan
A humble grasscutter tries again and again to give away unwanted wealth, only to receive ever-greater wealth in return. All ages.

Readers' Theater
The Magic of Mushkil Gusha: A Tale of Iran
GENRE: Folktale | CULTURE: Iran, Islam | THEME: Thankfulness, sharing | READING LEVEL: Grades 4-7 | READERS: 10 | TIME: 8 min.

Conflict Resolution

Stories
The Christmas Truce
The historic holiday truce of World War I, as seen through the eyes of a young British soldier. Grades 4 and up.

How Violence Is Ended: A Buddhist Fable
A prince must choose between taking his father's advice and taking revenge on the king who killed both parents. Grades 5 and up.

When the Twins Went to War: A Fable of Far East Russia
Clever young twins teach a lesson to the war-loving men of their clan. Grades 2-6.

The Legend of Lightning Larry
A tall tale about a gunfighter with a huge smile and a gun that shoots bolts of light instead of bullets. Preschool-Grade 6.

Peddler Polly and the Giant
When the king's most powerful warriors are defeated by a giant who's blocking the road, Peddler Polly must find her own way past. Grades K-6.

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September 11th