women's history lesson

W O M E N ‘ S H I S T O R Y L E S S O N L E S S O N

In three

days “Ain’t I a Woman?”

How have women in U.S. History

impacted rights for all Americans?

Overview

Students analyze primary source material surrounding ten

women in U.S. history.

Preview Project three clues for students as they attempt

to determine the identity of the person based on the clues.

Activity In Response Groups, students analyze clues

related to a woman in U.S. history, use web searches or

other resources, and try to identify these influential

women in history.

Processing Students pick a woman in U.S. history and

create three clues similar to the ones used in the class

activity. Students bring in their clues and participate in

one last round as a class.

Objectives In the course of this lesson and participating in the

classroom activity, students will

• discover the life and accomplishments of ten women in

U.S. history.

• analyze primary source materials.

• use the web and other research materials.

• support a hypothesis regarding the impact of women on

rights for Americans.

Materials

• Student Notebook Guide – 1

copy per student

• Clues for ten women in U.S.

history from Historical

Women Figures Handout cut

apart and assembled in

envelopes (1 envelope per

historical person per group)

• Access to the internet and

recommended search sites

Wikipedia, Google, Library

of Congress, About.com,

http://besthistorysites.net, http://teachergenius.teachtci.com/category/biography-bank/

© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute www.teachtci.com [email protected]

1

http://besthistorysites.net/

http://teachergenius.teachtci.com/category/biography-bank/




P r o c e d u r e s

Preview Suggested time: 5 minutes

1. Greet students at the door. Distribute Student

Notebook Guide to students as they enter the room.

2. Project image of clues for Sojourner Truth from

the Historical Women Figures Handouts. Challenge

students to study the primary source clues and write

the name of who they think this person is in their

notebooks. Tell students to explain the clues that

tipped them off to the answer.

3. Reveal and debrief. After two minutes, ask the

students:

• Who is this famous woman?

• What clues helped you make the connection?

• How many famous women in U.S. history can

you name?

• How have women in U.S. history paved the way

for all Americans?

Response Group Suggested time: 90 minutes (broken into three sessions

over three weeks: 30m + 30m + 30m)

Session One

1. Place students into triads. Group students

heterogeneously into triads.

2. Explain the purpose of the activity. Explain to

students that they will study ten women in U.S.

history over the course of three days. They will

discover the impact these ten women have on the

lives of Americans today. Tell students they will

work as a group competing against other groups to

use clues to discover the identity of the featured

women. (Important: You will need to prepare an

envelope for each historical woman per group.

Each envelope should contain the three clues cut

apart. Also make sure your students have access to

either the web or other research materials.)

2

Projected image of clues

related to Sojourner

Truth.


Famous for saying, “Ain’t I

a woman?”

P r o c e d u r e s

3

3. Explain the procedures of the activity. Tell the

students that each group will receive an envelope.

When the teacher says “Begin,” groups should put the

contents of their envelope on the table. Using

research tools such as Wikipedia, Google, the Library

of Congress website or others, groups will quickly try

to figure out who the historical woman is and what

impact she has had on rights for all Americans. For

example: A group responding to the identity of

Sojourner Truth might say, “Although Sojourner

Truth was a runaway slave, she risked her life and

was instrumental in bringing about awareness of civil

rights for blacks and women through her speeches.”

4. Reveal the historical woman. At the end of five

minutes, challenge groups to share who they think the

historical woman is. Groups that have a correct

response earn one point.

• Groups will select a spokesperson. The

spokesperson will begin by saying: “We think the

historical figure is _______, because we discovered

______ of the clue _______.”

• After several of the groups have responded, reveal

the real identity and award points to groups that

were correct. Have groups rotate the role of

spokesperson for the next round.

5. Debrief historical figure. As students debrief, have

them fill out their matrix on the Student Notebook

Guide. At the completion of each revelation ask

students to respond to the following questions:

• Which clues helped your group discover the

identity of the historical figure?

• What do the clues reveal about the nature of

accomplishments of this person?

• How do you think this woman’s accomplishments

have impacted all Americans?

Want to know more

about Response Groups? To learn more about this lesson

strategy and how to get the

most out of it, visit

TeacherGenius and view

submissions:

http://teachergenius.teachtci.co

m/response-group/


Student Notebook Guide

Matrix

http://teachergenius.teachtci.com/response-group/




P r o c e d u r e s

4

Quicker Coverage

Instead of the groups all

competing to determine the

identity of the same figure one

round at a time, have each

group receive a different

figure’s clues. After groups

work on their historical figure,

conduct a class debrief by

jigsaw and reveal the true

identity and accomplishments

using the same debrief. In this

way you could conduct each

session in 15 minutes over

three different days.

Session Three – Third Week

1. Reform groups and repeat session 1 procedures.

Pass out envelopes that you have created from the

students processing assignments.


6. Repeat the process four more times. After the

debrief for the first figure, repeat the same process

with the groups four more times before discussing the

processing assignment for students.

7. Assign processing to be completed outside class.

Have students refer to their Student Notebook Guide:

Processing. Tell students that they will study five

more women in their next session (next week). Until

then, you would like them to research a woman of

their own choosing in U.S. history, put together three

clues similar to those in the activity, and be prepared

to turn in this assignment next week. Explain that you

will use a selection of student-created clues to play a

third round of the game in class.

Session Two –Second Week

1. Students turn in their processing assignment. Have

students turn in their historical figure processing

assignment. Prior to the third session, pick three to

five women from these homework assignments that

have not been featured. You will need to create

envelopes similar to rounds1 and 2.

2. Place students into triads and repeat session 1

procedures. Assemble the groups from the previous

week and follow the same procedures from session 1

as groups study the remaining five women.


Processing

P r o c e d u r e s

5

Challenged Reader

Suggestion

Pick the historical woman

ahead of time for the

immerging reader. Give them

the name and the sites where

they can work with a parent or

guardian to collect the

information they need for

their processing assignment.

Provide a template of the clue

card and have them fill it in.

Processing To be completed outside class after session 1 and turned

in before session 2.

1. Have students create three clues for a woman not

yet covered in class. Challenge students to

brainstorm a list of three to four women from U.S.

history that haven’t been covered in class yet. From

that list, tell students to research one and find three

clues that can be made into clue cards for session 3.

2. Have students create three clues. Students should be

prepared to turn in a single sheet of paper (or

electronic page) that contains three clues. The three

clues must represent one each of the following:

• An image of the woman.

• An image related to the accomplishments or events

in their life of their chosen figure.

• An excerpt or quote from the person or something

said of the person (that doesn’t use the name).



6

Preview: Who do you think these clues are about? Be prepared to support your answer

by citing at least one of the clues and how you made your connection to the identity of

the person.


Famous for saying, “Ain’t I a woman?”

I believe the identity of the person is ________________ because I noticed

______________________________________(cite clue) and it made me think about

______________________________________________________________________.

Activity Matrix Directions: As your group discovers the identity of each featured

woman from U.S. history, use this matrix to capture the accomplishments and lasting

impact on rights for all Americans.

Name of Historical

Figure

Connection of Clues

to Figure

Impact of

Accomplishments


7


Name of Historical

Figure

Connection of Clues

to Figure

Impact of

Accomplishments


8


Processing Directions: Brainstorm, research, and create three clues related to a

woman in history that your class has not featured. Be prepared to turn in your

processing assignment prior to session 2. Your teacher will select two to three from

your class to conduct a third session of the activity in class. To prepare your

processing assignment, do the following:

1. Brainstorm three to four women in U.S. history that have not been featured

yet in class.

•

•

•

•

•

2. Use the web to research one of the women from your list.

• When did the woman live?

• Can you locate an image of her?

• What is she known for?

• What kind of artifact might you use on a clue card that would be associated with

her accomplishments?

• Did she give a famous speech or was something said of her that might be

famous?

2. Prepare three clues to go with your selected historical figure. Arrange the

clues so they can all three fit on one 8 ½ x 11 page. Make sure to include:

• An image of the person.

• An image related to the accomplishments or events in their life of the person

• An excerpt or quote from the person or something said of the person (that

doesn’t use her name).

Name of Woman

Sojourner Truth

Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and

place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“Ain’t I a woman?”

Abigail Adams Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.”

Dear John,

“Tokyo Rose”

Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“A tiger does not change its stripes.”

Betty Friedan Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“…she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question — ‘Is this all?’"

Calamity Jane Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“By the time we reached Virginia City I was considered a remarkable good shot and a fearless rider for a girl of my age.”

Christa McAuliffe Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“I touch the future. I teach.”

Pocahontas Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“Let the white man's country be my

country, and his kindred my kindred.”

Oprah Winfrey Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“Though I am grateful for the blessings of wealth, it hasn’t changed who I am. My feet are still on the ground. I’m just wearing better shoes.”

Elizabeth Blackwell Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“If society will not admit of woman's

free development, then society must be remodeled.”

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Directions: Copy enough of each historical figure for each group of three students. Cut along the dotted lines and place the clues in an envelope. Number the envelopes by round, one round per historical figure, and create a key.

“I don't think being an athlete is unfeminine.

I think of it as a kind of grace.”

women's history lesson

Documents