The Curator’s Challenge
Recorded: Thursday, August 4, 2011

Duration: 50 minutes

Audience:
High school teachers, administrators

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Description:
Hear how curators decide what becomes part of the collection of the National Museum of American History, with special emphasis on collecting materials related to recent events. Then, participate in activities from a new lesson for high school students that invites students to become curators by collecting stories and artifacts that represent a post-9/11 world.

Memorial as Storyteller
Recorded: Thursday, August 4, 2011

Duration: 50 minutes

Audience:
Middle and high school teachers

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Description:
Participants will approach memorials as storytellers. Taking an object-based approach, we will explore: What is a memorial? Why do we create them? Why do they look the way they do? How can they help us understand an event? This interactive session will examine various 9/11 memorials, including notable objects in our collection, and offer lesson plans around this theme.

Small Children, Tough Topics: A Literature-Based Strategy
Recorded: Thursday, August 4, 2011

Duration: 50 minutes

Audience:
Elementary teachers and parents

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Description:
For over ten years, the National Museum of American History has helped young learners engage with history in the classroom, at home, and in the museum by starting with outstanding children’s books. Go behind the scenes with a museum educator to explore prewritten activities about September 11, slavery, or the Civil Rights Movement, and envision how you could apply the same strategy with other topics.

Roundtable: Conducting Difficult Conversations with Young People
Recorded: Thursday, August 4, 2011

Duration: 75 minutes

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Panelists included:

• Elaine Donovan
  Pentagon Memorial Fund, Director
  Lost her husband CDR William H. Donovan in the Pentagon
• Mary Fetchet
  Voices of September 11th, Founding Director
  Mother of Brad Fetchet, 24
• Roberta L. Schomburg, PhD
  Associate Dean and Director
  Carlow University, School of Education
• Hedda Sharapan
  Director of Early Childhood Initiatives
  The Fred Rogers Company

Discussion Questions:

• When the news broke in May of Osama bin Laden’s death, Yahoo reported that searches for “Who is Osama bin Laden?” skyrocketed. Sixty-six percent of those searches came from 13- to 17-year-olds. (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/10/schools-struggle-to-teach-911-to-students-too-youn/print/) How do you explain to students who Osama bin Laden was?
• How do you provide safe, validating spaces for your class to share their thoughts, feelings and concerns when students hold multiple, often contrasting view points?
• Why were the Pentagon and World Trade Centers targeted?
• Are we safer now? Will this happen again?

Writing the First Draft of History
Recorded: Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Duration: 50 minutes

Audience:
Elementary, middle, and high school teachers and administrators

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Description:
Oral histories are a rich resource to learn the details of a person’s life or an event from different perspectives, and to get a first impression of the impact on others. Nearly 700 people have been interviewed about the events surrounding the crash of Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. In this session, participants listen to short clips from oral histories to hear the direct experiences of family members, first responders, and those who had close association with the event. This session examines how oral histories can play an important role in understanding history through the voices of those who lived it.

Introduction to Resources from the Pentagon Memorial
Recorded: Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Duration: 50 minutes

Audience:
Middle and high school teachers

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Description:
An introduction to the Pentagon Memorial Fund’s new online educational resources, including lesson plans, interactive timelines, and an audio tour, developed for teachers to utilize in their classrooms. These educational resources can be used to teach students about the significance of 9/11, the events that took place at the Pentagon on 9/11, and the story of the design and construction of the Pentagon Memorial.

Story of the Memorial
Recorded: Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Duration: 50 minutes

Audience:
Elementary, Middle and high school teachers, administrators

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Description:
The 9/11 Memorial is opening on September 11, 2011 – the 10th anniversary of the attacks. The 9/11 Memorial Museum is opening a year later on the 11th anniversary. These entities are both the result of robust, and often public, discussions around how the site should be rebuilt. However, despite the public profile of the project, many people are unaware of what is being built and developed. This session walks through the current plans of the Memorial and Museum, offering exclusive looks at their designs, exhibitions, and education offerings.

Roundtable: The Past, Present, and Future of September 11
Recorded: Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Duration: 75 minutes

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Panelists included:

• Sharon Leon, Director of Public Projects at the George Mason Center for History and New Media
• James Gardner, Senior Scholar, National Museum of American History
• James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me
• Joan Brodsky Schur, educator

Panelist Questions Included:

• How has our understanding of the 9/11 attacks changed over the last ten years?
• Are there lessons learned from the teaching of past events that can inform our teaching of this one?
• What issues should we think about when teaching about September 11?
• How might we help students evaluate information they see and hear about this event?