After reading this book independently, I decided to share it with my 4th graders...
Going into the read aloud, I knew that some of them had read this book already this year; however, the majority of the class had not. While reading the story, we discussed specific parts of the text and how the author's words about Phillipe Petit's life made this an entertaning and informative book to read. Once Petit accomplished his life goal of crossing the wire between the towers, the feeling of amazement, suspense, and surprise quickly switched to sentiments of confusion and sorrow that left my students speechless...
"And now the towers are gone."
As a group of 9 and 10 year old children, it became clear to me that most of them (including hte ones who had read this book already) did not know what happened on September 11, 2001. Why would they know about this tragedy? They were babies when it happened! Some of them that had an idea of what happened were told by their parents and/or family, friends that were affected in some way on that tragic day. I explained briefly to them that there was a terrorist attack on the United States and we cannot imagine why anyone would want to harm others.
Our discussion evolved into, as a class, a search on our online school library catalog and World Book Online. Students wanted to know more specifics about this event, Phillipe Petit, New York City, view actual pictures of the towers before and after 9/11...
I found that a lot of the books about 9/11 are simplified so the event and details lose their meaning and leave students still questioning; a lot of the literature caters to the middle and high school age population. These are three books that I found that would cater to the K-3, 3-6 grades.
I would be interested in finding other resources - books, videos, etc. that would provide more information to students in an age-appropriate manner. Anyone have any suggestions on this topic? I did find a few after researching in my school library -these tiltes and authors are noted below.
The Man Who Walked Between The Towers provided my students the opportunity to discuss the career aspirations and courage of Phillipe Petit, the twin towers and September 11th, and the powerful messages that Mordicai Gerstein had for his readers. My students responded in their journals to this book to what they felt his purpose was for reading this book. For the most part, students felt entertained by Gersteins words, illustrations, and "keeping you on the edge of your seat" chain of events leading up to Petit's walking on the wire. On the other hand, they also felt that the author wanted to inform us of Petit's dream of walking between the towers, but to also prompt us in finding out about what happened to the towers in New York City.
What a powerful and moving piece of literature - this one will definitely become a part of my classroom library!
September Roses, J. Winter
The Little Chapel That Stood, A.B. Curtiss
Fireboat, M. Kahlman
September 11 (We the People: Modern America Series), M. Englar
I love that, beyond the information provided about Petit, your students were intrigued to learn more about the setting - 9/11 and the WTC and wondered about the author's purpose of the story. I,too, enjoyed learning about Petit's dreams and aspirations. I particularly love how Gerstein gives just enough information about the towers to hook the readers into wanting to know more. As you said...they were all babies when the attacks happened.
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