Remembering our Veterans

When I teach about Veterans Day in the classroom I share with my students that my grandfather, died in World War II at Iwo Jima. His sacrifice for our country meant that my dad and his brother, at the ages of 2 and 1, grew up without their father. My dad, over the years, has read numerous books on Iwo Jima and shared that wisdom with my nephew. For a project in my nephew's history course he had to pick a historical moment that made a pivotal impact. Naturally, he chose to write about Iwo Jima and tie in facts about my grandfather's service and death.

Here is his poster board display of his project

I've added this directed poppy art drawing lesson to my ever growing lesson ideas for Veterans Day.

If you'd like a Veterans Day pack to add to your lessons I've created this one

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

V is for Veterans Day

It's time to honor our veterans.  Here's my Veterans Day unit that includes letter writing, a poster, acrostic poem, a holiday overview, and ABC order dog tag badges.

You can get it in my store

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

Come Join the group!

Top 3 Posts in 2011: Bucket Fillers, Veterans Day and Classmate Memory Trays

I've not yet blogged a whole year, but my Top 3 posts viewed so far are:

#1  Classmate Teambuilding Memory Trays (2,277 views)

#2  The Value of Bucket Filling  (2,002 views)

#3  Veterans Day (1,143 views)

One of my most recent posts is a personal favorite though because I learned some very touching things about my students. They wrote about Prized Possessions, and one of my students brought in a necklace from the program "Beads of Courage" for children dealing with cancer and serious illness. Can I say that was POWERFUL!  For me that is a TOP post even if it only has 200 views.

Keep in touch. Find me at:

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Veterans Day Valor

Honor and appreciate the sacrifices of all veterans.

In remembrance of my grandfather who was killed in action on Iwo Jima.

I'm going to have my class write letters of thanks to veterans.

The letter header states

"Your service is the "Heart and Sole" of our country"

Gotta love the boot footprint heart!

Grab a copy of it {HERE}

The above letter template is part of my Veterans Day Unit

For even more Veterans Day lesson ideas check my other blog post {HERE}.

Veterans Day Ideas for the Classroom

Here's a peek at my plans for Veterans Day. Hope you find something you can use in your classroom.

 I read the story The Wall by Eve Bunting which is also a Reading Rainbow video.

This song is a wonderful resource too!

We also read and illustrate this poem:

I also have a Veterans Day Pack if you are interested.

(The poem above is included in the pack)

To wrap up our learning my school holds a special Veterans Day assembly where we invite military friends and family to be honored through songs sung by our student chorus.  A high school honor guard also is part of the program. My class will also be writing veterans special letters of thanks.

What are your plans for Veterans Day? 

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

Come Join the group!

Let's Say Thanks with American Pride

A patriotic activity I use every year is the "Let's Say Thanks" site sponsored by Zerox. You can have your students send a postcard of their choice to show appreciation and support of our military and country.  All the free postcards are designed by kids as seen by this sample from the site. This is such an easy, but powerful way to validate the sacrifice of our country's armed forces, especially with the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 upon us tomorrow.

Keep in touch. Find me at:

My TPT store

Pinterest