Terrorism: Lesson 1
Part I
What Happened on 9/11?
Things I know Things I want to know
Things I think I know
The real version = the truth about this attack.
There was an attack on the Twin Towers. Was Bush responsible?
Two hijacked planes crashed against them.
The towers caught fire/ were on fire and a Was it only Bin Laden?
few hours later they collapsed.
New York
A terrorist attack in 2001
Watch this short film and make a note of anything that confirms or conflicts with the list you
have just made. Check out some important words first.
[Link]
911-part-i
Vocabulary
al-Qaeda: an Islamist extremist network, responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Al-Qaeda is
responsible for multiple terrorist attacks since its founding in the 1980s by Osama bin Laden
and others who were involved in the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Their aim
has been to overthrow governments in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the Muslim world,
which do not strictly enforce a narrow, fundamentalist version of Islam.
Hijack: This means to take control by force.
Kidnap: secuestrar (a person)
Hijacker: a person who illegally seizes an aircraft, ship, or vehicle while in transit and forces it
to go to a different destination or uses it for their own purposes.
"negotiators began talks with the hijackers of the plane"
Cockpit
First responder: a person whose job entails being the first on the scene of an emergency, such
as a firefighter or police officer.
"the lifeguards are trained as first responders"
FDNY: the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is a department of the government
of New York City that provides fire protection, technical rescue services, primary response to
biological, chemical, and radioactive hazards, and emergency medical services.
Part II
We will use first-person accounts to investigate the experiences of different groups of people
on 9/11. As you listen, collect information to help answer the following questions (Note: Each
speaker will share different amounts of information in each category. Some may not address
every category.):
1. What is the speaker’s name?
2. Where was the speaker on 9/11? What
were they doing?
3. Did they face any obstacles or challenges
that day?
4. How did they respond to 9/11, both
immediately and over time?
Return to the list of questions you made at the beginning of the first lesson and add additional
things you learned about 9/11 after listening to first-person accounts.
Homework
1) Explore other people’s experiences (interviews). Choose two and prepare a mini oral
presentation for next class. Check out some key words first.
[Link]
911-part-ii
1. What is the speaker’s name?
2. Where was the speaker on 9/11? What
were they doing?
3. Did they face any obstacles or challenges
that day?
4. How did they respond to 9/11, both
immediately and over time?
1. What is the speaker’s name?
2. Where was the speaker on 9/11? What
were they doing?
3. Did they face any obstacles or challenges
that day?
4. How did they respond to 9/11, both
immediately and over time?
Vocabulary
Advocacy: This is when a person or group of people pushes for the support of a specific cause
or policy.
Change of tours: This is the time of day when one group of firefighters finishes a shift at the
firehouse and prepares to go home, while a new group of firefighters arrives to begin working.
Firefighters sometimes refer to their work shifts as tours.
Dean Witter Reynolds: This large financial firm had offices at the World Trade Center.
Equities trader: This is someone who buys and sells stocks (acciones) through one of the major
stock exchanges (bolsa de valores).
Ground Zero: The World Trade Center site and surrounding area were called this after the
collapse of the Twin Towers. The area was filled with 1.8 million tons of debris.
Sky Lobby: This was a transfer area located on the 44th and 78th floors in the North and South
Towers. It allowed workers in the building to switch between express and local elevators.
StuyHealth: This advocacy group and health program represents young adults who were
affected by 9/11 and the clean-up at the site.
Stuyvesant High School: This high school is located a few blocks away from the World Trade
Center.
2) Explore a timeline from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum Interactive Attack Timeline. Make
some notes to complete your chart.
[Link]