Your students (deep down inside) are wondering what the difference is between Veterans Day and Memorial Day. And those truly inquisitive students are wondering why Veterans Day doesn’t have an apostrophe. Meanwhile, you teachers want them to do some interesting informational text reading that compares and contrasts. That’s why I created this post! AND A FREE 1-PAGE INFORMATIONAL TEXT & WRITING COMPARING AND CONTRASTING MEMORIAL DAY AND VETERANS DAY. I hope it sparks some discussion or writing, or, at the very least, adds meaning to this special holiday. Please let me know in the comments or link up if you have some great ideas too. (I FINALLY got Instagram @lovingela — I’d love to connect there too.)

There are 3 Main Differences:

1) The main difference is that Memorial Day is a holiday honoring men and women who have died while serving in the military whereas Veterans Day honors all American veterans, living or dead, who have honorably served in the military.

2) They both evolved from different days of observance. Memorial Day was originally known as “Decoration Day,” which originated in the years following the Civil War. The term “Decoration Day” has to do with the fact that after the Civil War, which ended in 1865, and had claimed more lives than any other conflict in U.S. History up until that point, Americans were decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and other items of tribute.

Like Memorial Day, Veterans Day grew out of a movement to honor those who had served in a major war as it was coming to a close. During World War I, on the 11th hour or the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 (thus the significance of November 11), there was an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities between the Allied Nations and Germany. This became known as Armistice Day. In 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day (without an apostrophe which I will tell you about soon).

3) One can be observed any day of the week whereas the other can only be observed on a Monday. Whereas Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday in May, Veterans Day is observed on November 11 each year, even if that happens to be midweek.

Check Out The 1-Page High-Interest Text and Writing Connections That Explains The Differences to Students To Get Them Reading & Writing. NOW WITH A DISTANCE LEARNING VERSION (Google Slides) YET STILL FREE! 

P.S. Veterans day does not have an apostrophe because the United States Department of Veterans Affairs states that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling. They say on their website that it’s “because it is not a day that ‘belongs’ to Veterans; it is a day for honoring all Veterans.” Well, alrighty then! 

I HOPE YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS HAVE A GREAT VETERANS DAY AND A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY IN ELA!

You know what else students LOVE? These high-interest informational texts and tasks. I went out of my way to make the articles super interesting to upper elementary and middle schoolers by writing about things that interest them. And, guess what? It worked. I keep hearing from teachers how kids get so into these passages. They actually want to answer the questions. They even want to discuss the articles as a group. 

Volume I was so popular with students in grades 6-8 that I just HAD to create Volume II. Kids love them both!

And now ones for HIGH SCHOOL TOO! YAY!

Would you like to try a FREE one first?