Veterans Day Lesson Plan Ideas for Middle School English / Language Arts

Step One:

Choose any of the ideas below which feature videos to help students connect with the meaning of freedom along with the dedication, sacrifice, and life lessons from veterans in our country. You could easily spend an entire class period just exposing students to any of these resources (student / classroom friendly, too!)

Step Two:

Use my How to Write a Thank You Letter mini-lesson to help guide students through the process of writing a “real” thank you letter to a veteran. It’s OK if you don’t have specific names or contact information. There’s an organization called Operation Gratitude that will accept the letters and distribute them for you.

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https://www.history.com/veterans-stories

Multi-cultural aspects, like a Hopi veteran, an African-American veteran, connections between different nations, all inspiring stories

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxBQLFLei70&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0uyRc3Bz5KlHeoNBCbqY9Rm7Tt6CZInl7mlpaXdC8sjnr5W8M8GT3rnQE

Commencement Address – University of Texas at Austin 2014 Naval Admiral William H. McRaven

It’s incredibly inspiring, contains a life-changing theme, even a bit humorous, and contains so many life lessons learned from the military

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https://themedalofhonor.com/character-development?fbclid=IwAR3pfaem3SbOcwtr853GQq-ybuYfvaFR4wmyflYHOtpM8b02y5T_SBkgTmg

Teachers sign up for free and have access to dozens of lessons geared to middle / high school students that help students understand what freedom means in our country and that also build character. Lots of choices here, from lessons to webinars to other types of videos.

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https://www.operationgratitude.com/express-your-thanks/write-letters/?fbclid=IwAR2q41mQvuafjh8Qe931dUzsoIzMTc6E7zxX4wL8F7mh9nl-6Jlyy2vTcRs

Operation Gratitude (for writing letters of appreciation for veterans that the organization can handle by sending them out for you to the recipients)

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Don’t forget to take advantage of my

Thank You Letter Power Point Mini-Lesson!

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