How Do You Celebrate Veterans Day in School
How do you celebrate Veterans Day in school? It’s easy to overlook Veterans Day in school, since it’s squeezed in between Halloween and Thanksgiving, leading up to Christmas. But, it is crucially important to show children ways they can remember and thank veterans. With younger students, you need to be careful about emphasizing war, guns, death, etc. But you can highlight bravery, sacrifice, and gratitude.
There are many books, both fiction and nonfiction that address aspects of the holiday such as The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans, by Barbara E. Walsh and Layne Johnson.
A teacher from Georgia, Moina Belle Michael was in Europe when World War I broke out. She began the tradition of wearing poppies for Veterans Day (inspired by John McCrae’s poem, In Flanders Fields). She established a workshop for disabled veterans to make and sell silk poppies.
Make Poppies for Remembrance
Have students make their own poppies. This poppy clipart is free on TpT from Sarah Peccorino.
Veterans: Heroes in Our Neighborhood by Valerie Pfundstein can also tie in with community helpers. It shows children that their neighbors can have stories about serving their country.
Ask children if anyone in their family or neighborhood served in the military and have them write thank you cards. Participate in a local Valentine’s for Veterans drive.
My 1st Book of Military Superheroes, by Sara Kale. Especially since Veterans Day comes right after Halloween, it would be useful for children to realize who are the real superheroes in life. Invite some local vets in to speak to the children.
Students can create their own military superheroes and write about why they are heroes. This soldier clipart is free on TpT from Scrappin Doodles.
H Is for Honor: A Military Family Alphabet, by Devin Scillian details an aspect of military life for each letter of the alphabet, such as F for Fight for Freedom.
Make a class alphabet book for Veterans Day. Help the children brainstorm some words: army, barracks, coast guard, drill sergeant, enlist, flight, general, helmet, etc.
Bring Math into It
Since the armistice for World War I was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, do some math activities, especially with doubles plus 1. Students just learning about teen numbers can use these worksheets for free on TpT from Latoya Reed.
Or, delve deeper into doubles with this Adding Doubles Game, free on TpT from Polka Dots Please.
Older students can research the various branches of the armed forces. What uniforms do they wear? How do their responsibilities differ? Learn the history of Veterans Day. It is also called Remembrance Day in Canada and the U.K. How do different countries mark the day?
Try an ELA digital activity on BOOM Cards with a Veterans Day theme. Students drag and drop the right word into the blank, for example: “medal/metal”; “brave/brav”; “ship/shipe”; “coast/coste.”
Did you know that there is an alphabet using military signal flags? Each flag represents one letter. Students can decode mystery words, using the flag alphabet.
Try this website to allow kids to type their name in flags:
Hope these give you some meaningful ways to celebrate Veterans Day in school. And, on Thanksgiving, we should all be thankful for the veterans who protect and serve!
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