Writing About Our Heroes

During Patriot Week, or the week of September 11th, I wanted my students to use their writing skills to convey the message of how important heroes are. Students see heroes in action everyday in some form, and there couldn't be a better week to recognize it. Over the course of three days, my kiddos completed three writing projects: one on 9/11 heroes, one on community heroes, and one on someone who is their own hero. I loved hearing their conversations of what being a hero truly means, and what they do for us!

On September 11th students completed an art piece that I adapted from The Space Coast Teacher (you can find it here!) Below the art piece students wrote a paragraph about what it means to be a hero. 

This had to be my favorite project of the week. I found this flag on TPT for free. Each student gets a piece to color, and when all of the pieces are assembled it creates a large American flag. Instead of just taping the pieces together, students wrote a letter to heroes we would find in our community. When displayed in the hallway, you can lift any flap to read over 60 letters! Since I completed this project with three classes, I also used white stars for additional students. 

On the last day students wrote a paragraph about someone who is a hero to them. I loved seeing the connections they have to the heroes in their lives, and the reasons they look up to them! By the end of the three days we had a massive list of character traits we could use to describe heroes, and they now believe that even a 3rd grader can be a hero too!