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Lesson Plan

Women's Rights in the American Century

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Women's Rights in the American Century lesson plan also includes:

Today, many young people find it hard to understand why it took over 150 years for women in the United  States to get the right to vote—why there was even a need for the suffrage movement. As they read a series of primary source documents, young historians come to understand how the attitudes and prejudices toward women revealed in the documents have slowly changed over time. The activity concludes with individuals crafting a written reflection on what they think will be the "next great accomplishment for women."

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Concepts
suffrage, women's suffrage, the suffrage movement, bias, gender bias, prejudice, women's movements, women's rights, women's history, women's history month, primary source analysis, primary sources, the voting rights act, voting rights
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Instructional Ideas
  • Use the resource in March during Women's History Month
  • Conduct a read-aloud of the background essay to provide a context for the activity
  • Have groups investigate arguments for and against the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment
  • Bind the packets of documents to permit reuse
Classroom Considerations
  • A protocol must be in place to permit a safe, respectful discussion of controversial issues
  • Presumes middle schoolers have experience analyzing primary source documents
  • Part of a series of eight lessons
  • Requires additional prep time to copy and bind the primary source documents
Pros
  • The documents show the very gradual change in sentiments
Cons
  • None