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Many thanks to everyone on this listserv who sent me ideas for Veterans = Day. The following are the replies which I received: ***************************** I polled my faculty/staff as to whom among us was a veteran or married to = a veteran. I also asked students to ask their parents if they were vets. I = think we did a bulletin board display. We wrote thank-you notes to all the = veterans who were part of our school family. We also announced the names = of veteran faculty on the day, and reminded students to thank them for = their service. Several veterans told me they were very touched and = appreciative of this. Try reading "The Wall" by Eve Bunting and discussing the Vietnam war. = Older children "Park's Quest" which is a novel about the same topic, by = Katherine Paterson. My Daddy was a WWII Solider (tells of the home front during the War). = Rose Blanche -- a story of the war (both picture books) ***************************** Read a good book and discuss the implications of war and doing nothing. = Invite in a soldier to talk about his/her experiences -- for example, my = son--a special forces member of the Army (Green Berets)--can relate = experiences as a peace keeper in the Middle east, work in Grenada, Kosovo, = and Bosnia. Personal Q & A sessions bring the importance of the work home = to young listeners. Surely an army, navy, airforce recruiter would = consider visiting with a set standard for goals of the discussion. ***************************** At my schools, it's been the usual patriotic songs. Some schools have put = together student presentations on the various services or wars. Generally,= veterans are only introduced. The K-6 crowd for the most part will lose = interest in someone speaking about their service. They just aren't ready = for it yet. It's more about being able to comprehend than anything else. = I've also seen schools encourage children to bring in pictures of parents = or relatives who have served. The children can then talk about these = people in their classes. ***************************** There are some great programs on The History Channel dealing with = veterans. I do not know if any tapes are available, but I'm sure that if = they are, they will be on the Hist. Chan. web site. Discuss the sacrifices= made, i.e. WWII vets gave up at least 4 years of their lives to their = country for freedom. Eating cold meals for days on end and needing to = deal with the elements, let alone the enemy. ***************************** I read The Wall by Eve Bunting and show the website at http://members.aol.com/deweytj/index.htm This is the first year I have used this activity and plan to do it = w/4th-6th. My 6th graders were solemn as could be but we had a good = discussion afterwards. This is not an original idea; someone on LM_Net = posted it . ***************************** One thing we have used quite successfully with our upper grades is Red = Skelton's version of the Pledge of Alliegence. You can find it on the = Internet at http://train.missouri.org/~emgeer/flagpled.html It really helps explain that part of our heritage. My son worked at a = local radio station when he was in high school, and he recorded it for us = with patriotic music in the background. That was effective too. The main = page of this site has other information on the flag too. Our local VFW Auxiliary has a great presentation on the various flags that = have flown in our country and they present that for us.=20 =20 We also have had someone from the band play taps on a trumpet after one of = our students or teachers explains what that means. After some preparation study, we had our students make hearts with words = of appreciation and thanks and present them to the veterans that volunteer = to help us with our program. We also have had the students hang these in = a display in the hallway. We've used hands, too, to represent the helping = hands of the military. Another thing I've done is have students interview family members about = their military contributions. We then have used this for things such as = essays, to write letters of thanks, for oral presentations, etc. ***************************** Bill McLoughlin, Library Media Specialist Brookside School, Worthington, Ohio BROOKM.Media@Worthington.k12.oh.us =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.html See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors: http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=