You might want to check-out my New York Times post that includes 9/11 teaching ideas and a student interactive quiz for English Language Learners.
With the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon coming-up in less than a month, I thought I would put together a “The Best…” list to highlight some relevant accessible sites for English Language Learners.
Teachers of very young students probably want to review some of the video clips to determine if they would be too disturbing to watch.
You’ll also be able to find these links on my United States History page.
There are certainly plenty of resources around that cover many of the country and worldwide effects of the attack in the years since then (and I’ll probably be compiling a list of them soon). This list, though, is focused on sites that talk about the day itself. I do, however, include one or two resources that provide some historical perspective.
Here are my picks for The Best Sites To Help Teach About 9/11 (not in any order of preference):
9/11 Then and Now from Channel One provides a simple run-down of what happened on that day, including video. It’s a good introduction and overview of the event.
Inside 9/11 is from the National Geographic. It has short video interviews, along with transcripts, of key people connected to the event, including survivors.
Online English News has a good report on the Reaction To September 11 that provides audio support for the text.
The CBBC News Around has a simple Guide to the September 11 Attacks.
At Sound Guide you can listen to President Bush’s address after the attack and complete the cloze (fill-in-the-gap) exercise.
Complete an audio exercise on 9/11 at the Web Language Lab.
America’s Day Of Terror from the BBC has a lot of excellent information. In fact, it might have too much for English Language Learners, so you might want to point students to particular sections of the site.
The Cable News Network has a special page of video and audio clips related to the attack.
New York Magazine has a Photo Gallery of that day’s events..
The Biography Channel has a Profiles of 9/11 Photo Gallery.
Here’s a collection of newspaper front pages from throughout the world on the day after the attacks.
The Wall Street Journal has an interactive graphic depicting the rebuilding, and changing, of the Manhattan skyline after 9/ll.
The Washington Post has an interactive called Sacred Ground:The Building Of The Pentagon Memorial.
CBS has an extensive feature called The Day That Change America.
The History Channel has a 9/11 site with many accessible resources.
TIME Magazine has a remarkable series of features on the day.
Remembering 9/11 comes from U.S. News & World Report.
Sacred Steel is a slideshow from the Washington Post, and shows what happened to the steel debris from the towers.
Rebuilding The World Trade Center is an interactive from The Orange County Register.
The New York TImes has a slideshow showing how people commemorated the 9/11 attacks in 2008.
The Freedom Tower Rises is a New York Times video on the rebuilding at the site.
Seventh Anniversary of 9/11 is a series of images from The Sacramento Bee.
Steel Artifacts is a New York Times slideshow showing how pieces of the World Trade Center are being used in memorials around the country.
The New York Times has several links to an incredible collection of videos about the attack.
The Challenge of Memorializing 9/11 is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.
Marking Sept. 11 Around the World is a Wall Street Journal slideshow.
8th Anniversary of 9/11 Terrorist Attacks is a New York Times slideshow.
Remembering September 11th is a series of photos from the Boston Globe’s Big Picture.
The 8th Anniversary of the Sept. 11 Attacks is a PBS slideshow.
Teachers can get some free sample lesson plans from a new and highly regarded 9/11 curriculum. Modifications would have to be made for ELL’s.
Some pretty amazing photos of the World Trade Center collapse on 9/11 were recently released, and the Wall Street Journal put them in a slideshow.
The New World Trade Center is a series of panoramas of the site where the Center is being rebuilt. It’s from The New York Times.
Memorial Pool Nears Completion at Ground Zero is an interactive panorama from The New York Times.
102 Minutes That Changed America is a good interactive from The History Channel.
Workers at the World Trade Center site have found the remains of an 18th century ship. It’s an unusual find, and I’ve decided to add some resources about it to this list:
Sailing Under The World Trade Center is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.
New York archaeologists excavate 18th century ship is an interactive from The Guardian.
There’s been a disappointing (to me, at least) controversy about building a mosque near the Ground Zero site in New York City.
You can see a slideshow about it from the New York Times.
CNN has a video on the controversy.
“The Mosque Controversy” seems like a decent interactive from The Wall Street Journal. It is, of course, about the proposed mosque to be built near the former World Trade Center in New York City.
The New York Times also has an article that can be modified to be made accessible to English Language Learners.
The Associated Press has a good interactive about the mosque.
“A Brief History Of Intolerance In America” is a good slideshow from TIME Magazine. It’s connected to controversy around the mosque near Ground Zero.
A related slideshow comes from Newsweek and is called Mosques in America: Faith and Anger.
NYC Mosque Protests is the title of a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee.
Contemplating Controversy: The Proposed Islamic Center Near Ground Zero looks like another good lesson plan from The New York Times Learning Network.
The View From Ground Zero is an interactive from The Washington Post.
What do you think Anne Frank would say about all the anti-Muslim sentiments being expressed in opposition to the proposed New York mosque (and mosques in other states, too)? Anya Cordell , the recipient of the 2010 Spirit of Anne Frank Award, has some ideas. Read them at THEN WHAT? The Consequences of Lighting the Anti-Muslim Fuse.
“The 9/11 Museum at Ground Zero” is from Fast Company and includes photos and videos of the museum, which is expected to be completed in two years.
“Life Returns To Ground Zero” is a Wall Street Journal slideshow on the planting of trees at the former site of the World Trade Center.
Tangible Progress at the World Trade Center is the title of a New York Times slideshow on construction at the World Trade Center site.
Muslims and Islam Were Part of Twin Towers’ Life is a New York Times article about the Muslim pray room that was in the Twin Towers.
World Trade Center: New Site Takes Shape is an interactive from the Associated Press.
The World Trade Center Site Over 55 Years is a slideshow from the PBS News Hour.
The Evolution Of Ground Zero is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.
Ground Zero is a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee.
Remembering 9/11 is a series of photos from The Los Angeles Times.
9/11 How One Day Changed The World is from USA .
September 11′s Better Angels is from Newsweek.
Remembering Sept. 11, 2001 is a slideshow from The Washington Post.
Tension Marks 9/11 Anniversary Events is a Wall Street Journal slideshow.
Remembering the Events of Sept. 11, 2001 is a New York Times slideshow.
Reviving Ground Zero is an interactive from The New York Times.
9/11 in 2010, Remembrance and Rebuilding is from The Big Picture.
9/11 on the Wall shows some pretty interesting post-9/11 wall art from around the country. It’s from The New York Times
Teaching 9/11: Lessons To Inspire Your Students has a large number of resources you can purchase, but also has some good free sample lessons. Thanks to Julie Mushing for the tip.
9/11 Artifacts at JFK Airport is a Wall Street Journal slideshow about items in storage that will be placed in the museum at the 9/11 site.
Controversy over the NYC Muslim Community Center & the 9/11 experience is a lesson plan from Teachable Moment.
“Ground Zero — Out Of The Ashes” is the title of a TIME Magazine slideshow. They describe it as “A look at where the towers once stood — ‘then and now’ — by photographer Joel Meyerowitz, who began who began photographing the site shortly after the September 11th attack.”
The 9/11 Interactive Timeline is an impressive site from the National 911 Memorial.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is the central link to tons, and I mean tons, of resources.
9/11: The 25 Most Powerful Photos is from LIFE.
One Day After at Ground Zero is from TIME.
President Obama in New York is a slideshow from The Telegraph.
Joel Meyerowitz Revisits Ground Zero is a fascinating slideshow from TIME.
Rise and Stall is a Newsweek slideshow on the history of the World Trade Center.
The World Trade Center Steel Program is a slideshow from TIME Magazine about the program to donate parts of the Center for memorials throughout the world.
Traveling through post-9/11 America is an interactive from The Associated Press.
An organization of educators and survivors’ families known as the 4 Action Initiative has released a free 236-page guide to teaching September 11.
You can read a nice description about it here, and access the entire curriculum here.
Ten years after 9/11: New York transformed is an Associated Press interactive.
Portraits of Grief comes from The New York Times.
Amazing new pictures of Ground Zero site shows One World Trade Center soaring above New York’s skyline is a photo gallery from The Daily Mail.
The Center For Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard has some very useful curriculum resources on 9/11.
Ten years after 9/11: New York transformed is an Associated Press interactive.
Remembering 9/11 is from National Geographic.
Remembering September 11 is a compilation of lesson resources from Pearson Education.
The New York Times Learning Network has begun a week-long posting of exceptional 9/11 teaching ideas. You’ll be able to find them all here.
September 11: Teaching Contemporary History comes from The Smithsonian.
9/11 Ripple is from CNN.
9/11: Then and Now is from Channel One.
Stephane Sednaoui: 9/11 Search and Rescue is an impressive slideshow from TIME.
Reflections on 9/11 is a joint project of The New York Times and YouTube.
911 Materials for Teachers comes from the U.S. Department of Education.
Thinkfinity has many related classroom resources.
CNN has a special Tenth Anniversary feature.
Ground Zero Now is an interactive from The New York Times.
9-11 Plus Me is a fascinating interactive from USA that’s hard to describe. Check it out.
The Reckoning: America and the World A Decade After 9/11 is a massive feature unveiled by The New York Times.
The Lessons is a particularly interesting part of that feature. It reviews how 9/11 is treated in textbooks around the world.
Sept. 11th and Its Aftermath is another NY Times section.
9/11 anniversary: The rise and fall of al-Qaida – interactive comes from The Guardian.
The 9/11 Decade comes from The Guardian.
Here Are The Sites I Used In My 9/11 Lesson is a post I’ve written.
Ten years later: A lasting impact on the world is an interactive from The Associated Press.
9/11 timeline: The story of the day is from the BBC.
9/11: Ten Years Later is from The History Channel.
9/11 anniversary: photographers recall day of horror – interactive slideshow is from The Guardian.
Alexander Russo has a not-to-be-missed post including several links to stories on the classroom and school where President Bush was reading to kids at the time of the attacks.
Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of 9/11: Including ELLs comes from Colorin Colorado.
10th Anniversary of September 11, 2001 has good resources from The National Association of School Psychologists.
The world observes the 10-year anniversary of Sept. 11 is a slideshow from The Los Angeles Times.
The Public Remembers is an interactive from The Wall Street Journal.
9/11 anniversary: New York remembers the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center is a Telegraph slideshow.
Memorials begin as America remembers 9/11 is a video from The Telegraph.
Remembering 9/11 is a NY Times slideshow.
Sept. 11: Ceremonies mark the 10th anniversary is an Associated Press interactive.
Photos: 10th anniversary of 9/11 is from CNN.
The Smithsonian has collected a ton of lesson plans related to 9/11.
September 11: Remembering and Learning From a Difficult History is from Facing History (thanks David B. Cohen).
One World Trade Center: Construction Progress is a photo gallery from Atlantic.
Reader Ideas | Teachers and the 9/11 Anniversary is from The New York Times Learning Network.
High Schools Teachers Address Post-9/11 Stereotypes is from U.S. News.
From Valerie Strauss’ blog: ““For Action Initiative” [is] an effort to provide teachers and community members with tools to help young people understand the attacks as well as challenges they face in ’s world. Those tools include 58 lessons, written and piloted by volunteer teachers and curriculum developers for grades K-12…
Inside Look at The 9/11 Museum In NYC is a photo gallery from The Associated Press.
10 ways the world has changed since 9/11 is a slideshow from The Washington Post.
Here’s an interactive from the 9/11 Memorial.
World Trade Center reborn is an Associated Press interactive.
How Not to Commemorate 9/11: Use 9/11 to Advertise Your Product is from The Atlantic.
9/11: United States marks 12th anniversary of attacks is a photo gallery from The Boston Globe.
11 moving images from 9/11 submitted by people around the world is from TED Talks.
President Obama spoke at the opening of the New York City 9/11 Museum, and it’s open to the public.
Here are some related resources:
Here’s a photo gallery of the museum from the Boston Globe.
The New York Times has several multimedia features: