A 2-part set of posts on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11 - PART II (K-12 Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources)

So here is my plan for the 2 days of posts:

• Part I - current news and issues (maybe "hot buttons"?) about the 25th anniversary

• Part II, classroom resources and lessons related to 9/11, to teach it in a history context/classroom

This post is going to be much more straightforward - you are either interested in teaching lessons about 9/11 or you are not. Part of that discussion would clearly be what grade levels are appropriate to teach about this content - material is available K-12 (and I will try to feature a little of everything below) but I am not advocating for anything other than assuming a secondary U.S. History course providing an overview of American History should NOT be ending in the middle of the 20th century. My 8th grade middle school curriculum covered from Reconstruction and Post-Civil War Westward Expansion through the 20th century - the last new material we covered before reviewing for the final exam was an overview of the events of 9/11 (as the realistic start of the 21st century as far as history is concerned).

So below I will feature resources from 3 different providers - looking at a specific levelled lesson in each case to represent what types of lessons are available to teachers. Then below that I will list several other providers with links to let you go "investigate" for yourself . . .

Situation in the 50 states on teaching about 9/11

I mentioned in the first post about the question of whether teachers needed to teach about 9/11 in their states. Below are some new summaries from AP News and the Pew Research Center to quantify a bit of that - links to the articles provided below:

"9/11 memories remain vivid in the U.S. 25 years later", Pew Research Center, Sep 2026, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/09/03/9-11-memories-remain-vivid-in-the-us-25-years-later/

"How every US state approaches 9/11 history in schools", AP News, Sep 2026, https://apnews.com/article/sept-11-education-schools-920a5427c69b01c136468aab8649ee9f

"Most states prompt schools to teach about 9/11, but the details differ, AP finds", AP News, Sep 2026, https://apnews.com/article/sept-11-25th-anniversary-schools-education-5bbe944901f47ae0b87d09ef3300a608

Resource #3 - 9/11 Curriculum from the Tunnel to Towers Foundation:

This is one of the newest efforts, and is unique because the Tunnel to Towers Foundation has created a full K-12 curriculum. While some picture books have been written for younger children (mostly on the impact of 9/11 on the people left behind) this curriculum attempts to tie it together into a cohesive strategy tying the events to a normal K-2 standard of community helpers. I will also link resources for the older student curriculums while featuring the materials for the youngest students here.

"Homepage for the Tunnel to Towers 9/11 Institute", Tunnel to Towers Foundation, https://t2t.org/9-11-institute/

K-12 curriculum units (4-6 per grade band - K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) in PDF downloadable format, Tunnel to Towers Foundation, https://t2t.org/9-11-institute/9-11-curriculum/

Information on the book series for younger students, Tunnel to Towers Foundation, https://t2t.org/9-11-institute/discovering-heroes-series/

News video from FOX News 5 (New York) describing the 9/11 Institute, https://www.fox5ny.com/video/1218983

Resource #1 - The 9/11 Memorial in New York City:

Let's start with the obvious one - the 9/11 Memorial has a huge amount of primary and secondary source material on the events of 9/11, but also an increasingly large collection of lesson plans and teacher PD material. I had to point out one of the resources I like the best - the three interactive timelines they provide (versions of timelines available within the museum) for virtual use.

I will include a number of links below, but for this post I'm going to feature their upcoming 25th Anniversary Digital Learning Experience, releasing this Friday (September 11th), and some examples from their viewing guide for Grades 3-5 (they also have guides for middle school and high school available). Note that the button in the first screenshot is not live if you want to register, BUT I have a link to the registration below.

I also want to mention that they do have virtual field trips available, BUT they are only free to New York City and New Jersey schools - there is a fee system in place for other schools across the country.

"Homepage for the National September 11th Memorial and Museum", 9/11 Memorial, https://www.911memorial.org/

"9/11 Anniversary Digital Learning Experience registration", 9/11 Memorial, Sep 2026, https://www.911memorial.org/learn/students-and-teachers/anniversary-schools-DLE-Landing

Lesson Plans, 9/11 Memorial, https://www.911memorial.org/learn/students-and-teachers/lesson-plans

9/11 Interactive Timelines, 9/11 Memorial, https://timeline.911memorial.org/

Virtual Field Trips, 9/11 Memorial, https://www.911memorial.org/learn/students-and-teachers/virtual-field-trips

Resource #2 - The Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, PA:

While the attack site in New York City is privately administered and the site at the Pentagon (technically Virginia, not Washington, D.C.) is part of a working government building, the Flight 93 National Memorial is the one site that was created and administered publicly by the National Park Service. While it is not as accessible as the other two sites to visit in person, they have worked extensively over the past decade (the memorial was dedicated in 2011, while the visitors center and other resources have only been available the past few years) to add new content and educator materials for the site of the "fourth plane". Most of the teacher resources here are going to focus on secondary students - I'm featuring the middle school lesson from the "Teach to Remember" curriculum below.

"Homepage for the Flight 93 National Memorial", National Park Service, https://nps.gov/flni/index.htm

"Teach to Remember 9/11 Lesson Plans, Flight 93 National Memorial (from the National Park Service), 2026, https://nps.gov/flni/teach-2-remember.htm

Historical Resources, Flight 93 National Memorial (from the National Park Service), https://nps.gov/flni/learn/historyculture/index.htm

Virtual Tour (recorded), Flight 93 National Memorial (from the National Park Service), https://www.nps.gov/flni/learn/education/virtual-tour.htm (segmented version) OR https://www.nps.gov/flni/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtour.htm (continuous version)

Other Teacher Resources on 9/11 beyond the ones featured above

"9/11 Anniversary Teaching Guide (Updated)" - asks how educators should acknowledge the anniversary of September 11th and educate students about the events of that day and their impact? (NOTE - Starts with K-2 and then moves to older students as the article progresses). From the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, Sep 2022, https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/911-anniversary-teaching-guide-updated#K2

"Lesson Plans from previous 9/11 anniversaries" - mostly high-school lesson plans. From PBS News Hour Classroom, 2025, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/tag/911

"The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial" - not a lot of educational material, but specific details about the Pentagon attack on 9/11. https://pentagonmemorial.org/"September 11 Terrorist Attacks: 25th Anniversary Coverage on C-SPAN" - 25 years of video archives, but also includes resources created by C-SPAN on the right side of the page, https://www.c-span.org/liveEvent/?September-11-Terrorist-Attacks

"Stereotypes, Media, and Islamophobia" - a mini-lesson designed to help students reflect on how the movies, shows, and books we consume can reinforce stereotypes about Muslims. From Facing History and Ourselves, May 2020, https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/stereotypes-media-islamophobia

"Teaching 9/11 When Students—and Their Parents—Don’t Remember It" (article), Education Week, Sep 2026, https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teaching-9-11-when-students-and-their-parents-dont-remember-it/2026/09

"Teaching the Next Generation" - focusing on 9/11 as a day of service for K-12 students. From 9/11 Day, 2026, https://www.911day.org/education/

"U.S Foreign Policy After 9/11 Lesson Plan" - focusing on the foreign policy decisions made over the past 25 years as a result of the events of 9/11. From the Council for Foreign Relations, 2026, https://www.cfr.org/education/teach/lesson-plans/u-s-foreign-policy-after-9-11-lesson-plan

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