6 Ways to Help Students Make Sense of the Capitol Siege Subscribe 15 min read
Corrected: This story has been updated to accurately reflect electives teacher Jessica Rucker’s quote.
In the days immediately following the assault on the U.S. Capitol, teachers were in crisis mode
, scrambling to respond to students’ fears, answer their questions, and help classes get the facts straight about what happened. A far-right mob had assaulted a beacon of American democracy in the name of President Donald Trump an unparalleled event in modern American history. Five people died.
Now, with a few more days of distance from the events of Jan. 6, and with the House poised to impeach Trump for a second time and threats of armed protests the week of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration looming, teachers are faced with the next daunting challenge: Helping students analyze how the country got to this point, and what it means about how we tell the American st