ross-Curricular Lessons for Veterans Day
On Veterans Day, we honor the men and women who bravely served their country. Teach your students about the hard work and sacrifice that have kept the United States safe. For academic holiday lesson ideas, you may want to use Kids Discover Online as a resource with your students. Celebrate by sharing these 5 patriotic cross-curricular lesson ideas with your students from our World War I, World War II, and How America Works Units.
Language Arts
To begin, have students interview a person who served in the armed forces during a war. After you have approved the questions and reviewed the basic procedures for interviewing, have students arrange for the interview. Students might discuss how they felt their interview went, including the awkward or difficult parts and the parts that they felt went smoothly. For students who cannot interview a veteran, consider having them research and present what they would have experienced using our World War II Unit.
Music
Our country has several patriotic tunes that have meant a lot to the men and women in the armed services. Create a playlist of different songs, display the lyrics, and discuss the similarities and differences found. Afterward, have students pick one of the songs to dive deeper into. They can journal why that particular song would mean so much to veterans and their families. Pair this with Our National Identity from How America Works for a complete classroom experience.
Community Service, Math
For the months of November and December, encourage your entire school to hold a donation drive to benefit the veterans and activity service members in your community. This can be done by creating military care packages, a toy drive for children of military families, or gathering supplies for veteran service organizations. After the donation drive is complete, make this a math-centric activity by graphing what was collected and comparing results amongst different classrooms.
Art
To begin, have a discussion with your students as to why veterans are essential to our country. What do they fight for, and how do they keep us safe? Afterward, your classroom can begin creating cards and posters that thank veterans for their service. Either coordinate with parents at your school with military ties or deliver them to your local VA office. Consider pairing this activity with Stars and Stripes from the How America Works Unit for some inspiration.
Social Studies
First, have students look at the pictures of soldiers that are featured throughout the World War I Unit. Have them also look at the illustration of trenches in Trench Warfare on the Western Front and read the descriptions of how soldiers lived in them. Ask students to write diary entries for several days in one week in which they are in the trenches. Urge students to use descriptive words and phrases to give as realistic an impression of life in the trenches as they can.
Cross-Curricular Lessons for Veterans Day Kids Discover
