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Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Methods of Reform: The Lowell Mill Girls

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Although the girls and women who worked in the Lowell Mills are not often seen this way, they are the forbearers of the American labor movement. Pupils examine primary sources, including testimony about life at Lowell and labor laws, as...
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Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

How Did the Public View Women’s Contributions to the Revolutionary War Effort?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Calling upon the legacies of Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, and Catherine the Great, Esther Reed rallied Southern women to support the American Revolution. Using a broadside by Reed and other primary sources, such as poetry, young historians...
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Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

The Non-Importation Movement

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Boycott for free trade! An eye-opening lesson explores the non-importation movement created by American colonists in response to the Stamp and Sugar Acts. Scholars specifically look at the impact the boycott had on colonial women who had...
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Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Native American Gender Roles in Maryland

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Toss gender roles out the window—some societies lived in a world where women not only possessed the family wealth but also were the farmers and butchers. Many Native American societies had more gender equity than European societies....
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PPT
National Woman's History Museum

Women's Suffrage Movement

For Students 9th - 12th
The National Women's History Museum offers a 20-slide presentation that details the history of the Women's Suffrage Movement from its creation in the 1830s through the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Extending Suffrage to Women

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Votes for women! The activity highlights the push for the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. High school scholars learn how the Fifteenth Amendment giving African American men the right to vote helped to spark the...
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PPT
National Woman's History Museum

The Women of NASA

For Students 9th - 12th
Human computers? Although it may sound like science fiction, the term was used to describe the women who made the NASA calculations before the advent of electronic computers. A 21-slide presentation introduces viewers to the women who...
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Unit Plan
Vaquera Films

Wonder Women - The Untold Story of American Superheroines: High School Curriculum Guide

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A 41-page curriculum guide tells the story of the untold stories of American Superheroines! Divided into three modules, the guide is designed to be used before, during, and after viewing the 2012 documentary Wonder Women! The Untold...
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Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

Landmark Supreme Court Case: Roe v Wade

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Perhaps no issue is as controversial than abortion in the American landscape. Go beyond the rhetoric by examining the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States. A guided note-taking activity unpacks the arguments...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Breaking Through Gender Roles: The Women of NASA

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Whether recognized or not, extraordinary women were integral to breaking gender barriers and putting Americans into space. For Women's History Month, explore a series of video clips and biographical information that profile these...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Breaking Barriers: Women’s Basketball Documents

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Is basketball ladylike? A pressing debate in the nineteenth century explored the issue in the sports world. Using images, news reports, and the rules of the game, young scholars decide whether the sport helped advance the cause of women...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

The Supreme Court and the Lives of American Women 1908-2005

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
While Roe v. Wade and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment often get top billing in women's history, other lesser-known laws impact their daily lives. Pupils research cases such as Planned Parenthood v. Casey and use a jigsaw model to...
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Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

Women's Suffrage and the 19th Amendment

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
The right to vote was hard-won after decades of organizing by women and their allies. Using a series of video clips featuring women's historians, class members consider the efforts behind the Nineteenth Amendment. Possible extension...
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Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

Choice Board - Conversations with Suffragists

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage by planning a re-enactment of famous women discussing their fight. After learners view a series of interviews with famous women played by actors, including Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Fannie Lou Hamer and the Civil Rights Movement in Rural Mississippi

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Good primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Around the World with First Lady Pat Nixon

For Teachers 3rd - 9th
Travel the world with the First Lady!  Academics study images from Pat Nixon's travels as First Lady to discover her role in Richard Nixon's presidency. Historians match images to world locations, complete a worksheet, and participate in...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Analyzing a Photograph of Sally Ride

For Teachers K - 2nd
Sometimes, a picture really does say it all. The activity uses a picture of astronaut Sally Ride to help elementary academics make observations and form conclusions. Young historians study the picture, complete short written prompts, and...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Eleanor Roosevelt: An Agent of Social Change

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
First ladies often take a back seat to their husbands' policies, but Eleanor Roosevelt broke that mold. Interested historians examine primary sources written by Roosevelt, including a speech and articles. Completing a round-robin of...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Defying Expectations: Unsung Hero: Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Riots

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The 1960s were a turbulent time, but the charismatic figure of Marshal P. Johnson is often left out of the provocative stories of the era. With primary sources that talk about Johnson and her role in the Stonewall Riots, scholars unpack...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Helen Keller--Citizen and Socialist

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Do history books tell the full story of Helen Keller? The sanitized version of Helen Keller found in most textbooks leaves out her most provocative ideas. She was a socialist, fought for workers' rights, and advocated for the use of...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Unsung Voices: Black Women and Their Role in Women's Suffrage

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Reclaim perspectives often left out of the narrative about the suffrage movement with an activity that lifts up the voices of African American women. Using primary sources and biographical details of Fannie Barrier Williams' life, young...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Red Power Prevails : The Activism, Spirit, and Resistance of Native American Women

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Native American women powered the American Indian Movement and other social changes, but they are often forgotten by history books. Examining a series of resources, including a documentary film, photographs, secondary sources, and social...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin has generated controversy since its publication in 1852. Here is a set of 12 primary sources that capture the controversies of the times while adding dimension and depth to any study of the novel.