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Veterans Day

Veterans Day Lessons and Teacher Resources

Videos | Lesson Plans | Additional Resources

Introduction:

“Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring military veterans. Both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states, it is usually observed on November 11. … It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)“ The United States also celebrated Armistice Day on November 11th until Al King, an Emporia, Kansas shoe store owner campaigned to update it to ‘All’ Veterans Day. With the help of then U.S. Representative Ed Rees and President Dwight Eisenhower, “Congress amended this act on November 8, 1954, replacing ‘Armistice’ with Veterans, and it has been known as Veterans Day (official spelled without apostrophe) since.“ – Wikipedia

Lesson Plans:

• This reading comprehension lesson centers on Veteran’s Day and the book “Granddad Bud – A Veterans Day Story” (1-4)
• This Veteran’s Day activity uses the book “The Wall” (2-3)
• This coping with terrorism idea involves making song “puzzles” out of the words from patriotic songs (2-6)
• This game helps students learn about songs of the armed forces in a fun way (3-5)
• “Our Veterans Wall” is an idea that originated with “Dear Abby” (3-12)
• Students make sunset silhouettes of historical monuments in this Veteran’s Day/Memorial Day art lesson (5)
• In this thought-provoking lesson, students write letters to soldiers and apply critical thinking to the subject of war (6-12)
• This idea to send “Pocket Poems” to our troops has its roots in Black History and WWII (10)
  
• This is a successful and appreciated Adopt-A-Vet idea (Multiple/Other)

Videos and other Media:

• This History.com video tells the history of the holiday plus thirteen other video clips honor specific men and women that served their nation
• This is a quiet Veterans Day tribute with inspiring quotes and footage of soldiers from various wars
• This rousing patriotic tribute is set to Toby Keith’s “American Soldier”
• This well-produced video explains the purpose and meaning of Veterans Day and asks us to volunteer to serve those who served
• Here is a “ special line-up of films … that honor the fallen and reflect on our own duties of remembrance and action.”

Other Resources:

• The U.S. Army Center of Military History provides this chronology of Veterans Day’s evolution
• This is a Veterans Day site just for kids from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• This Department of Veterans Affairs web page offers resources for teachers and students.
• These are Veteran’s Day poems and rhymes for children.
• Edhelper offers a large collection of Veterans Day printables and puzzles
• Here is contact information for scheduling a veteran as a guest speaker at your school.
• Classes can correspond with soldiers, send care packages and adopt a platoon at these sites.
• Here are 7 additional ways your kids can celebrate Veterans Day