Women's Suffrage Lesson Plan: Hewit Summer Institute Title

Women’s Suffrage Lesson Plan: Hewit Summer Institute

Title: Women’s Suffrage

Duration: One 75 minute class period

Grade level: 8th Grade United States History: Beginnings through Reconstruction

Objectives:

● Students will be able to analyze primary and secondary sources to identify and describe what led to the

women’s suffrage movement and impact of the women’s suffrage movement on the United States and

American society.

● Students will be able to answer the essential questions through the “sticky note” activity after the analysis of

multiple primary and secondary sources.

● Students will be able to discuss the impact of the women’s suffrage movement with their peers.

Essential Questions:

● What were the motives of the women’s suffrage movement? What was the impact?

● What strategies did women use to win their right to vote?

● Why did so many states deny women the right to vote and why was women’s suffrage legal in some states?

8th Grade Colorado State Standards Addressed:

History

1. a. Use and interpret documents and other relevant primary and secondary sources pertaining to United

States history from multiple perspectives.

b. Analyze evidence from multiple sources including those with conflicting accounts about specific events in

United States history.

2. d. Evaluate the impact of gender, age, ethnicity and class during this time period and the impact of these

demographic groups on the events of the time period

Geography

1. a. Interpret maps and other geographic tools as a primary source to analyze a historic issue

Civics

1. b. Analyze the changing definition of citizenship and give examples of the expansion of rights.

c. Describe examples of citizens and groups who have influenced change in United States government and

politics. For example: Women, American Indians, African Americans, and people in the unsettled territories.

f. Examine ways members of society may effectively voice opinions, monitor government, and bring about

change nationally.

Lesson content and procedures:

Day/time/duration

Title/content

Step by step

instructions

Materials needed/notes

5 minutes

Warm Up/Bell Ringer

On the board (either

written or on a slide),

write the following:

Throughout history, there have

many instances where certain

groups of people have not had

the right to vote. Do you think

this is fair since the

Declaration of Independence

Students need paper to

write their answers on.

states that “all men are created

equal”?

7 minutes

Hook: Cast Your Ballot!

Voting Simulation

It’s time to vote! Please choose

one from each of the following

to mark on your ballot.

Hand out Classroom

Ballot to each student.

When they are done, have

the boys turn their ballot

into one box, and the girls

into another. Only tally up

the boys votes. Announce

the winners (be sure to act

excited when you do so).

The girls will most likely

want to know why their

votes did not get tallied.

Explain that women

didn’t have the right to

vote for a long time. Tally

up the numbers of all the

votes now to show how

the votes may change.

Classroom Ballot - page 6

(enough for each student)

10 minutes

Reading: Why Women

Couldn’t Vote

Today, we are specifically going

to look at women’s suffrage.

We are going to read this short

article first, and move on to a

source analysis.

Hand out “Why Women

Couldn’t Vote” reading

from Teaching Tolerance.

Read it together as a class.

Have a short discussion

over the reading.

Ask the following

questions: Why couldn’t

women vote? Who actually

could vote in the United

States?

“Why Women Couldn’t

Vote” from

https://www.tolerance.or

g/sites/default/files/gene

ral/women_couldnt_vote[

1].pdf - page 7

(have a class set - You

could also project the

reading onto the board.)

33 minutes

Stations Activity:

Analyzing Primary

Sources on Women’s

Suffrage

Prep: I made 3-4 copies of

each document

(depending on how many

students I have and how

many are in each group)

and put them in a manila

folder. For this activity,

students could either

move to each station, or

Stations on Women’s

Suffrage - page 8-9

(enough for each student)

Manila Folders for each

station (these hold copies

of each primary source)

3-4 copies of each primary

source - pages 10-16

they can pass the folders

around the room.

Hand out Analyzing

Women’s Suffrage

questions. Put manila

folders with sources at

each station.

Today, we are going to look at

primary and secondary sources

about women’s suffrage to

figure out the motives and

impact of the movement. You

will be working in small

groups, and you will be moving

from station to station. You

will have 5 minutes at each

station, and there are 6

stations. During that time, you

need to read and/or look over

the document and answer the

questions that go along with

that document. Work together

with your group to do this

activity! Are there any

questions?

Put students into groups

of 3-4. Assign each group

to a station so they can get

started.

Sources 1 & 2 are at one

station.

Sources 4 & 5 are also at

one station.

Sources 3-5, 8 from

https://www.whiteplainsp

ublicschools.org/cms/lib/

NY01000029/Centricity/

Domain/353/DBQ%20A

bolitionist%20Labor%20a

nd%20Suffrage%20Move

ment.pdf

15 minutes

Sticky Notes &

Discussion

When students are

working on their stations

activity, write the

following questions on the

board (you could also do

this on butcher paper,

etc.):

(1) What were the motives of

the women’s suffrage

movement? What was the

impact?

(2) What strategies did women

use to win their right to vote?

(3) Why did so many states

deny women the right to vote

and why do you think women's

suffrage was legal in some

states?

3 Sticky Notes for each

student

Put 3 sticky notes on each

student's desk while they

are working as well.

After the stations’ activity

is complete, have students

get back in their seats.

Explain the following

activity.

There are three questions on

the board and three sticky

notes on your desk. You are

going to use the sticky notes to

write down your answers to the

questions. Answer one question

on one sticky note, and another

answer on the second sticky

note. When you are done

answering the questions, you

are going to come up and put

the sticky notes on the board

around the question that it

answers. Make sure your name

is somewhere on the sticky note

as well! Does this make sense?

Are there any questions?

Give students time to

answer the questions and

put their sticky notes on

the board.

When everyone has put

their sticky notes on the

board, have students read

through their peers

answers. (I have multiple

boards on different walls

in my room, so I write a

question on each board).

Discuss the questions and

answers.

When discussing student

answers: Students may

bring up their background

knowledge, like the Civil

War (North v. South &

their differing opinions) as

an answer to number 3,

specifics from the sources,

etc.

5 minutes

Closure: Was this Fair?

Wrap up the discussion by

circling back to the Warm

Up/Bell Ringer question.

Ask students the

following questions:

Was the fight for women’s

suffrage fair to women? Do you

think all groups of people

should have already had the

right to vote since the

Declaration of Independence

states that “all men are created

equal”? Has your opinion

changed throughout class

today?

Classroom Ballot

Directions: Please choose one for each question.

Who is your favorite president?

❏ Abraham Lincoln

❏ George Washington

What is your favorite color?

❏ Red

❏ Blue

❏ Pink

❏ Yellow

What is your favorite subject?

❏ Social Studies

❏ Science

❏ Math

❏ Literature/Writing

What is your favorite soda?

❏ Coke

❏ Mountain Dew

❏ Root Beer

❏ Orange Fanta

Classroom Ballot

Directions: Please choose one for each question.

Who is your favorite president?

❏ Abraham Lincoln

❏ George Washington

What is your favorite color?

❏ Red

❏ Blue

❏ Pink

❏ Yellow

What is your favorite subject?

❏ Social Studies

❏ Science

❏ Math

❏ Literature/Writing

What is your favorite soda?

❏ Coke

❏ Mountain Dew

❏ Root Beer

❏ Orange Fanta

Classroom Ballot

Directions: Please choose one for each question.

Who is your favorite president?

❏ Abraham Lincoln

❏ George Washington

What is your favorite color?

❏ Red

❏ Blue

❏ Pink

❏ Yellow

What is your favorite subject?

❏ Social Studies

❏ Science

❏ Math

❏ Literature/Writing

What is your favorite soda?

❏ Coke

❏ Mountain Dew

❏ Root Beer

❏ Orange Fanta

From https://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/women_couldnt_vote[1].pdf

Name __________________________________________ Class Period ________

Date ___________

Analyzing Women’s Suffrage

Source #1 & #2

1. Where are the majority of the states that granted women full suffrage? What about no suffrage at all?

2. Why do you think there is a trend of full suffrage in the west/midwest, partial suffrage in the middle of the

country, and no suffrage in the south?

3. What do you think Source #2 is trying to portray? (Take notice of the woman in yellow, the black and white

states, etc.)

Source #3

4. Who is the author of this source and when was it published?

5. What was the Seneca Falls Convention?

6. According to the author, what did women experience that contributed to the push for equality?

Source #4 & #5

7. How did women’s rights groups try to influence American’s opinions? Please list multiple ways based on the

documents.

8. What were some of the consequences of fighting for women’s suffrage?

Source #6

9. What are some of the reasons given as to why women should vote? Please list 2-3.

10. Do you think these reasons give justification as to why women should vote? Discuss this with your group

and please explain your answer below.

Source #7

11. What is the meaning of the 14th Amendment?

12. What is the meaning of the 19th Amendment?

13. Do you think the 14th Amendment should have been interpreted as granting women the right to vote? Why

or why not?

Source #8

14. Who is the author of this source and when was it written?

15. According to the author, what were some of the effects of women’s suffrage on American society? Please

list at least 3.

Source #1

Source: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/1920s-america/a/the-

nineteenth-amendment

Source #2

The humor magazine Puck—a pre-TV version of “The Daily Show”—published this illustration in 1915, five years

before the ratification of the 19th Amendment. (Courtesy Cornell University - The PJ Mode Collections of

Persuasive Cartography)

From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-battle-womens-suffrage-180971637/

Source #3

Source #4

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a32338/

Source #5

Source #6

From https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/womens-suffrage/votes-women-womans-reason

Source #7

Amendment XIV (1789):

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,

are citizens of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which

shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State

deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any

person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Amendment XIX (1920):

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the

United States or by any State on account of sex.

From https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992

Source #8

Teacher Name: Emily Breckbill

School: Peyton Junior-Senior High School

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]o.us