Teacher Resources: Lesson Plan
Women's Voting Rights: The History of Women's Suffrage in the United States
Overview
The United States has declared "liberty and justice for all" since its birth. However, this has not meant equality for all. Students will examine the limitations on women's rights throughout U.S. history. As a culminating project, student will work in cooperative groups to research the women's suffrage movement, including its important leaders and court rulings on women's suffrage.
National Curriculum Standards met by this lesson
For a list of standards that this unit addresses, click here.
Time Required
1-2 50-minute class periods, plus time in or out of class for research
Materials
- Class set of The Court and Gender Essay
- Chalkboard or Overhead
- Research Materials
The Lesson
Anticipatory Set
1. Write on the board:
What did the Founding Fathers mean by the phrase "liberty and justice for all"?
Have students respond to the question in a journal or as an opening activity.
2. After giving students time, to respond, ask for volunteers to read their entry. Make a list on the board of the students' responses (key points or phrases).
Procedures
- Ask students to brainstorm the rights that people were given in the Constitution. Write their answers on the board in a separate list.
- Pass out the essay, The Court and Gender, and read it together.
- Ask students to reread the narrative and mark/highlight the women's rights mentioned. When they are finished, go over the rights (or restrictions) on American women in history.
- Compare the rights mentioned in the narrative to the list of Constitutional rights the students' brainstormed. Point out that the Constitutional rights were applied differently to women than men.
- One example of unequal rights is the lack of women's suffrage in the 1700 and 1800s. As a class, students will research the Women's Suffrage Movement in the United States.
- In cooperative groups, students will select a topic related to the movement and work together to complete the research, report, presentation, and visual aid.
- Possible topics to use from the Revolutionary time period through the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment are listed below.
- Abigail Adams, including Remember the Ladies
- Lucretia Mott
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Susan B. Anthony
- Sojourner Truth
- Association for the Advancement of Women/ Maria Mitchell
- National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
- Voting Rights in Individual States (Certain state governments gave women the right to vote before the federal government)
- Seneca Falls Convention, 1848
- Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment
- Suffrage in Other Countries (Comparison of Women's Rights--pick from countries on a variety of continents)
- Depending upon the size of the class, some or all of the topics may be used. Cooperative groups of 2-4 students are suggested.
- As topics range from people to organizations to events, research information will vary depending upon the topic. Therefore, students will be expected to find information in broad categories:
- Background information on the topic
- Importance/relation to the Women's Suffrage Movement
- Impact on the suffrage movement (student analysis/opinion)
- Projects will also be graded on grammar and spelling. The final research report should be 2-3 pages, double-spaced and typed.
- Groups will present their research in an oral presentation. Each group will be expected to create visuals that coordinate with their presentation, including a timeline. Depending upon the teacher and the time available, the presentations can be done in a variety of ways:
- As a short presentation to classmates
- As presentations to another class
- Presented in a museum format, inviting other classes and parents
Assessment
Name: ______________________
Date: ______________________
Women's Suffrage Movement Research Project Rubric
|
Poor |
Fair |
Okay |
Good |
Excellent |
|
|
Background Information |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
|
Relation to the Suffrage Movement |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
|
Impact on the Movement |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
|
Grammar |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
Spelling |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
Bibliography |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
Oral Presentation |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
|
Visual Aid |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
Total: (out of 100) ____________
Comments:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Related Works
- History of the Supreme Court--this is an interactive timeline, featuring major court cases affecting women:
The Court and Gender Timeline - Library of Congress--this is the Library's collection of photographs of the suffrage movement. There are links to the photographs, as well as portraits, political cartoons, and a timeline of events:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/vfwhtml/vfwhome.html - The Susan B Anthony Center for Women's Leadership--the website contains extensive information on the women's suffrage movement. It features biographies of suffragists, information on the Seneca Falls Convention, and timelines of the movement:
http://www.rochester.edu/SBA/history.html - Women in Politics--this is a chronology of women's participation in politics, including when countries granted women the right to vote:
http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/suffrage.htm - Surfing the Net with Kids--this site provides links and ratings to other websites related to suffrage. Some of the reviews include the National Women's Hall of Fame and National Museum of Women's History:
http://www.surfnetkids.com/suffrage.htm
Interdisciplinary Works
Language Arts: Students could use their research to create a book on the history of the suffrage movement.
Technology: As an enrichment activity, students could create and film informative news bulletins to be shown over the school news program.