Before honoring courageous veterans, get to know more about who they are and why November 11th is a special day. Scholars obtain such information through a read aloud of Eve Bunting's The Wall, grand conversation, and letter writing to thank those that bravely served our country. 

Concepts

veterans, veteran's day, thank you letters, Writing, read-alouds, reading aloud, group discussions

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Invite a local veteran to speak to the class about their experiences at war
• Locate pictures of the wall referenced in the story for pupils to browse when time permits
• Provide a brief history of the Vietnam War prior to reading the book 

Classroom Considerations

• The Wall by Eve Bunting is intended for grades three to five
• In the case pupils take more than one day to write their letter or the holiday falls on a weekend, conduct the lesson before Veteran's Day so recipients get their letter on time 

Pros

• Offers a variety of adaptations for exceptional learners
• Detailed teacher directions make for easy implementation 
• Provides Bloom's Taxonomy notes after most lesson steps 

Cons

• None

Common Core

W.3.4 W.4.4 W.5.4 SL.1.1.a SL.1.2 SL.2.1.a SL.2.2 SL.3.1.a SL.3.2 SL.4.1.a SL.4.2 SL.5.1.a SL.5.2