Lessons That Embody KL Learning Commitment

Where were you on 9-11?  It’s a question everyone can answer . . . unless they were born after 2001.

 

This is why the ninth grade English and social studies teachers created the interdisciplinary lesson “The Stories of 9-11-01.”

"The Stories of 9-11-01"

An Active Learning Journey

  The students’ homework assignment was to ask a parent, sibling, relative, or neighbor to share a memory of September 11, 2001, and write it down.        

The next day, teachers divided the class into small groups and students shared the 9-11 narratives they’d heard. The teenagers listened closely—each story illuminated a new aspect of the day they’d grown up in the shadow of. 

“My dad was working at Windows on the World . . .”

“My mom walked home.”

“They packed up and drove to Poughkeepsie.”

 “She was scared to drink the water.”

Catherine Torrisi, an English teacher, and Patty Hinkley, a social studies teacher, brought the class together to watch a short film featuring survivors’ stories of that day. They also read Zahra Huber’s essay, “A Muslim-American Perspective.”

“What makes each of these stories different?” asked Torrisi.

“Where people lived,” answered one student.

“How old they were,” added another.

“Their culture,” was heard from several students at once.

 “Yes!” encouraged Hinkley. “So, what stories are we missing?”

 

District Reaffirms commitment to the K-L Learning Commitment

“The Stories of 9-11-01” is one of many lessons that embody the Katonah-Lewisboro Learning Commitment. The framework of expectations was first supported by the KLSD Board of Education in 2016.

In the KLSD, we strive to create learning experiences for all students that are intellectually engaging, relevant, and take place in an active learning environment.

Andrew Selesnick, Superintendent of Schools, reaffirmed the district’s commitment to the K-L Learning Commitment at Opening Day, the day before the first day of school, when teachers, teachers’ aides, special services, and administrators met together, then as schools and departments. MORE.