Veterans Day is just around the corner, and now is a great time to start thinking about how you can commemorate the day with your students.
The Medal of Honor Character Development Program has several elementary and secondary lesson plans that make it easy to start conversations with your students about the importance of Veterans Day and how we all can honor those who have served our country, not only in November but year-round.
In this lesson, students will focus largely on veterans and the sacrifices they have made for our country. Featuring the story of Medal of Honor Recipient David G. Bellavia, this lesson explains the significance of honoring veterans and also helps students evaluate the challenges faced by veterans who return home from foreign conflicts.
This lesson focuses specifically on Vietnam War veterans and incorporates the living history video of U.S. Army Sergeant Gary Beikirch, a Vietnam War Medal of Honor Recipient. Key takeaways from this lesson include the importance of honoring veterans and the challenges veterans face when they return home from war.
This lesson is a great option if you are already planning on incorporating a visit from a local veteran or active duty service member into your Veterans Day plans. Featuring the story of Medal of Honor Recipient Jay Vargas, this lesson asks students to analyze the challenges service members face and learn how to develop insightful interview questions.
Designed for upper elementary students, this lesson helps students identify the importance and symbolism of the Vietnam War Memorial as well as why it is important to remember all veterans.
This lesson is a great option for lower level elementary students. It focuses on discovering what citizenship means and culminates with students writing thank you letters to service members through the non-profit organization Operation Gratitude.
Don’t have a full class period to incorporate one of the above lessons and need additional Veterans Day options?
A great activity for middle and high school students is to watch one of our Medal of Honor Recipient oral histories and then write an essay about the importance of honoring and remembering those who have served our country.
For elementary students, you can show your class our video of Medal of Honor Recipient Gary Beikirch reading “The Wall” by Eve Bunting and then facilitate a classroom discussion about the importance of honoring all veterans.
Another option would be to have students write thank you letters to one of the 65 living Medal of Honor Recipients. You can find information about how to do that here.
The Medal of Honor Character Development Program is a free resource that teaches courage, commitment, integrity, sacrifice, citizenship, and patriotism to students through educationally grounded lessons developed by teachers for teachers. Both the elementary and secondary resources of the CDP teach students to recognize and exemplify these values, making them useful as Social Emotional Learning resources, as a classroom management system, or as a tool to create a positive and healthy school culture.
For more lessons revolving around our six core values, visit our website. To stay up-to-date on new lessons and teaching resources, sign up to receive our monthly newsletter.