Falling between Halloween and Thanksgiving, Veterans Day doesn’t get as much attention. But if you can spare 15 minutes on November 11th, I think your students would benefit from this brief explanation of Veteran’s Day. It’s part of this lesson plan intended for secondary students, and I’ve included a logic puzzle to commemorate the day as well.
BET YOU DIDN”T KNOW!
(1) Before showing the two-minute video below, share this slide deck and discuss the questions. Have students guess at the answers. Make your own copy here.
(2) Show the video.
(3) Resume the slide deck to reveal the correct answers. Optional Teaching Moment: (Fact Checking/ Reliable Sources- See Slides 18 and 19 ) Explain that one thing in the video has been a source of confusion. Technically, Veterans Day honors veterans only and a veteran is one who HAS SERVED and has been honorably discharged. The video states that ALL military personnel are honored, including those on active duty. According to the Department of Defense, active military personnel are honored on Armed Forces Day in May. The video above was the most engaging one I found, and most kid-friendly videos have this same information, so I chose to use this one anyway. Here is more information about this.
LOGIC PUZZLE
If you have time, you can share this logic puzzle with students. If this type of puzzle is new to your class, HERE is a tutorial that shows how to solve these.
THANK YOU, VETERANS
At many schools, there are teachers or administrators who are veterans and this is a great time to thank them for their service. Your students may want to participate in making cards or banners to honor our vets.
If YOU are a veteran, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE and God bless you!
Love this! I’m going to do this with my students that week!
Glad it’s something you can use, Dana! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
Hi Donna! Sylvia and I are going to use this next week! Thank you!
Hey, Laura! So great to hear from you! I’m so glad this is something you can use, and I hope you and your students learn and enjoy! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!