Veterans Day Ceremony Unit
Middle School grades 6-8
Josiah Bartlett Elementary School
Author: Jimi Emery
This unit was done entirely by our National Junior Honor Society as a part of our Bartlett project, Community Connections. We did a yearlong, all- school focus on our local town.
Knowledge of the influence of a positive self-concept
Skills to interact positively with others
Skills to make decisions
1.Basic operations and concepts
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation of technology systems.
Students are proficient in the use of technology.
2.Social, ethical, and human issues
Students understand the ethical, cultural, and societal issues related to technology.
Students practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software.
Students develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
3.Technology productivity tools
Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.
4.Technology communications tools
Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.
Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.
5.Technology research tools
Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
Students use technology tools to process data and report results.
Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for specific tasks.
6.Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools
Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions.
Students employ technology in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real world.
Students were given various project themes and they selected what they would like to be a part of. The choices were: reception, slide show, poetry contest, name collecting, program and script for MC.
The reception committee coordinated all activities relating to the food and decorations. They decided what would be served, coordinated with the food service provider, spoke with the principal for the funds, and talked with the art club to define their vision for the centerpieces. The day of the event they greeted our veterans, ensured the food was ready and they made everyone feel welcome, as this was the first stop for the day’s activities.
Individuals who created the slide show scanned numerous old pictures of our veterans when they were serving our country. These were input into the Slide and Sound software program. They also had back up music that was played through the sound system in our gym. The day of the event they set up all the computer equipment, made sure they had the sound system and correct CD’s ready and that they were in place when the presentation began.
As a part of the ceremony we wanted poetry about Veterans and Veterans Day from our students. Several of the students wrote scripts for the morning announcements and made flyers. They gathered all the poetry and determined which pieces would be read.
Name collecting was another all-school activity. We asked students to give us names of the people they knew and would like announced at the presentation. The students in charge of this sent out flyers and also had morning announcements. They provided the names to the MC.
A couple of the students coordinated with the band, chorus, and all the other National Junior Honor Society students to make the program for the ceremony. They put events in order and then created, printed and made copies of the program.
And finally, one member wrote the script and was the MC for the ceremony. She had to coordinate with everyone and make sure everything was in order and ready to go.
It was with great pride we presented this ceremony to our veterans. They were very pleased as one veteran was seen leaving the gym with a tear in her eye. They had seen pictures of themselves and their friends, had heard names of people they knew and listened to patriotic songs that brought back memories of joy or sorrow and they saw a patriotic dance that was awe inspiring.
These students independently ran the whole show and we were extremely proud of them. They received many thank you notes. The local television station was invited to film the event, which was shown on Veterans Day.