Primary Type: Lesson Plan
Status: Published
This is a resource from CPALMS (www.cpalms.org) where all educators go for bright ideas!
Resource ID#: 44951
Civil Rights for All: Women and the Fight for Voting
Rights
In this lesson, students will learn about the history of the women's suffrage movement and what it took for women in America to get the right to
vote. Throughout the lesson, the teacher and students will look at primary sources such as pictures and original documents, as well as videos about
the movement and a PowerPoint to help build students' background knowledge. Then students and the teacher will work through a Reader's
Theatre script called "Failure is Impossible" that describes the evolution of the Women's Suffrage Movement. Text-dependent questions for the
script have been included. At the end of the lesson, students will work in groups to complete a timeline (an answer key is included) and then
individually write an opinion piece on this topic. A rubric is provided to help teachers assess students' writing.
Subject(s): English Language Arts
Grade Level(s): 4
Intended Audience: Educators
Suggested Technology: Document Camera,
Computer for Presenter, Internet Connection, LCD
Projector, Speakers/Headphones, Microsoft Office
Instructional Time: 8 Hour(s)
Resource supports reading in content area: Yes
Freely Available: Yes
Keywords: opinion writing, informational text, reader's theatre, 4th grade, women's rights, civil rights, women's
suffrage, women's suffrage movement
Resource Collection: CPALMS Lesson Plan Development Initiative
ATTACHMENTS
20100818_womenssuffrageparade_33.jpg
bellinghamsuffragists.jpg
Champions.jpg
declaration of sentiments 1.png
march for womens rights.jpg
Newspaper clipping of Seneca Falls.jpg
Woman suffrage. At Capitol 1917.jpg
Lesson1linkideas.docx
AndreaWomen Suffrage Brain Pop Video Vocab worksheet.docx
Opinion Writing Rubric .doc
Comprehension Questions for Readers Theatre Play.docx
WomensSuffageMovementTimelineChart.docx
Womens Suffage Movement Timeline Chart Answer Key.doc
Women’s Rights in America.ppt
LESSON CONTENT
Lesson Plan Template: General Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?
Students will be able to write an opinion piece on the Women's Suffrage Movement and support their point of view using details from a variety of sources examined
page 1 of 5 during the lesson.
In the opinion piece students will be able to introduce the topic, clearly express their opinion, support their opinion with appropriate evidence from sources
examined during the lesson, use appropriate transitions to link their ideas together, and provide a concluding statement or section to wrap up their essay.
Students will be able to use multiple texts to integrate information in a timeline, as well as a written piece, where they will express their opinion and support it with
evidence from multiple texts.
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?
Students should have basic knowledge of what the Constitution is and how it affects the laws we live by today.
Women didn't always have the same opportunities as men in American society, such as quality of schooling, or the belief that they could make something of
themselves, but women have the mental capacity or "smarts" to change the world.
Men had the right to vote before women.
Students should understand what a petition is and understand what the terms suffrage and suffragists mean.
Students should have knowledge about writing an essay containing their own opinion, including how to organize it and how to express their opinion clearly while
using evidence from texts to support it.
Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?
What did women in the suffrage movement want for all women in America? What are some of the reasons they wanted this?
Who were some of the key leaders in the Women's Suffrage Movement?
What are some of the important events that took place between 1848 and 1917 during the Women's Suffrage Movement?
Who outside the suffrage movement supported women's right to vote?
Why did some people in society not want women to acquire the right to vote?
Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?
The "Hook" and Activation of Prior Knowledge:
Introduce the subject by having a vote on what game to play at recess today. Once you say that, then tell the girls that they don't have a say and can't vote, only the
boys will be able to vote. Ask the students how that makes them feel. Discuss the following questions with students:
1. When did men in America first get the right to vote?
2. When did women in America first get the right to vote?
3. Why do you think it took 132 years for women to get the right to vote?
It is okay if students do not know the answers to the questions above. Information on this will be provided in the activities in the next section. If students do not have
knowledge on these answers and teachers still want to have a class discussion alternate questions could include:
1. What does being able to vote mean?
2. Why is important that people vote in elections?
3. Why is it important that all people in a country be able to vote in elections? What potential problems might result if only certain people in a country or place can
vote?
Introducing/Modeling the Concept or Skill:
First, give students the worksheet with the vocabulary words on it. You can either give students each their own copy, give each group a copy, or display the words on
the board and have students write them down themselves. Preview the words, seeing what words the students think they already know. Don't go over the definitions
yet. Second, show the Brain Pop video on Women's suffrage. Go to www.brainpop.com. If your school has a log-in, go ahead and use it. If not, there is a free trial if
you sign up. There is a quiz after the Brain Pop video. Teachers can go over this with the students as a whole group to check their understanding of the material. If
they get any questions wrong, discuss those questions with the class to clear up any misconceptions. The teacher should also go over the answers that students wrote
down about the vocabulary words and provide corrective feedback where needed.
If teachers do not want to sign up for a free trial to use the Brain Pop video, here are two other video links that can be used instead (although teachers will need to
revise the worksheet with vocabulary words to adapt to these videos):
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7419326n (this video is just over 2 minutes long)
This video is from School House Rock and incorporates music, photos, and cartoons and is 3 minutes in length: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjafumP1dbU
Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?
Part One:
Teacher Actions during the activity
1. The teacher should go over the PowerPoint information with the students. The teacher should stop after each slide and ask the class what the main idea and the
most important information was on each slide. The teacher may want to print the PowerPoint slides out for students in notes form so students can take a few notes
during the presentation. They can also circle/highlight/underline key points on the slides and write the main idea(s) on the slides as well.
2. If available, the teacher should also use the book The Women Suffrage Movement, 1848-1920 written by Kristin Thoennes Keller (ATOS 5.9) to add any additional
information that would be pertinent to their class. This would be a good place to differentiate the information based on the students in their class and their familiarity
with this subject. The teacher can guide students in taking a few notes about this text as the teacher reads it aloud or the class can work together to create a class
chart of key information from this text and post the information in the classroom so all students can refer to the information when they go to complete the timeline and
write their essay at the end of the lesson.
3. The teacher will pass out copies of some original documents provided by the National Archives website. The teacher and students will go over the documents
together to understand a few significant events in the Women's Suffrage Movement leading up to women receiving the right to vote. Teachers should review the
documents whole group, as some are quite complex and the old language can be difficult to understand. Here are the links to the specific documents:
A Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution December 7, 1868
Petition from Susan B. Anthony to U.S. Congress January 12, 1874
Petition for Woman Suffrage Signed by Frederick Douglass, Jr. 1877
Ratification of 19th Amendment, Tennessee August 24, 1920
This link provides some interesting background information on Harry Burn and the role of his mother in regards to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in
Tennessee.
page 2 of 5 Student Actions during the activity
Students will need to take a few notes during the presentation of the information. These notes can help students with the timeline and when they write their essay at
the end of the lesson. The students need to work together and with teacher support to answer these questions for each document in their notes:
1. What is this document? When was it written?
2. What key words or phrases stood out to you in this document?
3. What is the main idea of this document? Give a brief summary stating what this document was about.
4. How did this document (or the event/action this document is describing) play a role in helping women get the right to vote?
Teacher Actions: Go over students' answers to the questions about the documents. Make sure there are no lingering questions as students transition to the next
activity. Show students slide 14 in the attached PowerPoint again to remind students that all women received the right to vote with the 19th Amendment.
Part Two:
The teacher and students will work together to read aloud the Reader's Theater script for "Failure is Impossible." This script has a Lexile of 1250 so it is important for
the class to work together in reading the play aloud over multiple class periods to stop and discuss the events in the play. The part of the narrator should be given to a
very strong reader(s). I recommend breaking the "Reader" part into separate parts by the historical figures names. This will allow more students to read and be
engaged, and will decrease some of the complexity.
Text-dependent questions have been provided to help the class work together with teacher support to understand the play as they read it. The answers to the textdependent questions will help students in completing the timeline activity in the independent practice as well as the summative assessment opinion essay. Students
should work in partners or small groups to answer the questions with teacher support at different stopping points (left for the teacher to determine) in the play and
report out their answers. The teacher can provide corrective feedback and students can amend their answers before the class continues on with reading the next
section in the play. The class could also work together as a whole group with teacher support to answer these questions at different stopping points.
Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the
lesson?
1. Students will complete the timeline worksheet in groups. Students should reference the notes they completed throughout the lesson and the answers to the textdependent questions from the Reader's Theater to assist them with filling out the timeline worksheet. The teacher should collect their worksheets and provide written
feedback, or have the students report out and provide verbal feedback (so students can correct or add to their work) before students begin to work on their
summative assessment opinion essay. A suggested answer key has been provided. (Note: the answer key does not include information from the three videos
referenced in the teaching phase as teachers will individually select which ones they want to use with their students.)
2. The teacher should go over with students the prompt for the opinion essay and the rubric for how they will be scored. Students can use their notes from throughout
the lesson, the answers to the text-dependent questions from the Reader's Theater, and their timeline worksheet as they write their opinion paper. Please see the
summative assessment section for further information and the writing prompt.
Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?
Print or display on an overhead or using a projector 4-5 of the Women's Rights pictures provided in the attachments with the lesson (you can also use any in the
attached PowerPoint) and have students do the following: Students will write an "Exit Ticket" on a sticky note to answer the following questions:
1. What is the one fact that really "stuck" with you from this unit on women's suffrage?
2. Select one of the images and write about your impression or reaction to this picture.
3. Why is it important that we talk about the work that the suffragists did?
Students will then stick their sticky note underneath the picture they chose to write about.
When all students are done with their sticky notes, have a quick discussion about why they picked the image that they did and have them share some of their thoughts
to the other questions.
Summative Assessment
Students will be required to write an opinion piece about the Women's Suffrage Movement. Students can use their notes, timeline, and all materials from the lesson to
help them draft their essay.
Student directions:
You will need to write an opinion piece on the Women's Suffrage Movement. What were a few of the most significant events in this movement? Why was it such a
long and hard fight? Do you think it was fair that women had to wait so long to gain the right to vote? Why or why not? Explain your thinking through a clear and well
stated response. Your essay must clearly show your opinion but must be supported with evidence/facts/details/quotes from documents, videos, and text examined
throughout this unit. Your essay must be well-organized with a clear beginning, middle and end, include transitions to connect your ideas together, and follow
standard conventions.
A rubric has been provided for teachers to use to assess student writing. Please print and review the rubric with students prior to them starting the assignment. This
will help students understand what is expected of them and will keep them focused.
Formative Assessment
Teaching Phase:
The teacher will be able to assess students' initial understandings of the Women's Suffrage Movement through the opening class discussion, through use of the
vocabulary worksheet and the BrainPop quiz (if teachers elect to show that particular video) and through class discussion after any videos that are shown.
Guided Practice - Part One:
1. The teacher will be able to asses students' understanding of material covered in the PowerPoint as students and teacher stop and discuss the main ideas for each
slide.
2. The teacher will be able to assess students' comprehension of the read-aloud text as the teacher stops and asks whole group questions to check student
understanding of the material.
3. The teacher will be able to assess students' analysis of the primary source documents as students report out their answers to the four questions they must address
page 3 of 5 for each document. The teacher can then provide corrective feedback as needed before moving on to the next document.
Guided Practice - Part Two:
The teacher will be able to assess students' comprehension of the Reader's Theater script "Failure is Impossible" as students stop and work together with teacher
support to answer text-dependent questions about the play. As students report out their answers the teacher can provide corrective feedback to help students with any
misunderstandings before the class moves on to the next section in the play.
Independent Practice:
The teacher will be able to assess students' understandings of the Women's Suffrage Movement based on their work on the timeline chart. The teacher can provide
corrective feedback before students individually write their opinion essay for the summative assessment.
Feedback to Students
Teaching Phase: The teacher will provide verbal feedback based on students' discussion of the video(s) and supporting materials before moving to the guided
practice.
Guided Practice:
The teacher will provide verbal feedback throughout the discussion of the PowerPoint slides.
The teacher will provide verbal feedback throughout the read-aloud and discussion of the text by Kristen Thoennes Keller.
The teacher will provide verbal feedback on students' examination of the primary source documents and students will be able to correct their work so they can use
these notes in the independent practice activities.
The teacher will provide verbal feedback on students' answers to the text-dependent questions for the Reader's Theater script so students can apply their corrected
understandings to the next section of the play to increase their overall comprehension of the play. The students can use their answers to assist them with the
timeline and essay in the independent practice.
Independent Practice: The teacher will provide written feedback on students' timelines. The students can then use their timelines to help them with the summative
assessment essay.
ACCOMMODATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Accommodations:
Prior to the lesson, look at the amendments examined in the lesson and simplify the language. This will help students understand the basis of the lesson, and should
clarify concepts as the discussion unfolds.
Generate a list of opinion words with your entire class to help students set up their opinion piece. Teachers might also wish to generate a list of transition (linking)
words and phrases for students to use as they write their essay.
For students who struggle with writing, provide a writing frame to help them organize their thoughts. For example:
Some of the most significant events of the Women's Suffrage Movement were ______________ and _____________. To begin, _____________ was an important
event in this movement because _____________. It was also important since _____________. Another important event was _______________. This was important
since it ______________. Looking back at this movement, the fight for women to receive the right to vote was long and hard. It was so tough because
___________. I believe it was/was not fair that it took so long for women to receive the right to vote. I feel this way because _____________ and ____________. I
also feel _____________. In closing, the Women's Suffrage Movement was important as it helped women finally receive the right to vote with the passage of the
19th Amendment. The key events of _____________ and ___________ were just some of the many events that helped the suffragists accomplish their goal.
Extensions:
Students can conduct further research on the topic by finding out the history of women's rights, including the right to vote, in other cultures.
Current events can be introduced by looking at the situation on women's rights, including the right to vote, in regions such as the Middle East.
Students can conduct research on one of the historical figures featured in the Reader's Theater script "Failure is Impossible" and write a report on what they learned.
Suggested Technology: Document Camera, Computer for Presenter, Internet Connection, LCD Projector, Speakers/Headphones, Microsoft Office
Special Materials Needed:
Handouts provided in the attachments section and as hyperlinks throughout the lesson
Pictures provided in the attachments section
The Women Suffrage Movement, 1848-1920 (Let Freedom Ring Series) by Kristin Thoennes Keller
Note: The images, Declaration of Sentiments, and the newspaper clippings were found on the Library of Congress website.
Further Recommendations:
The uploaded files for the newspaper clipping and Declaration of Sentiments are extra attachments. There is no specific place to use them in the lesson. Teachers
can use them as they see fit.
Preview all materials and have them up and ready to go before the lesson starts. This will help keep the students focused and the lesson moving smoothly.
I strongly recommend that teachers preview the websites and find the information beforehand, and possibly print out articles or documents so students can
highlight, and the teacher can make decisions on what to use or not use for their students if something is too challenging for their ability level.
Link ideas are provided in this handout if teachers want to search for additional resources.
Teachers may want to check out these free materials on women's rights and women's suffrage to use with students to differentiate instruction as needed:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/suffrage/
page 4 of 5 http://www.timeforkids.com/news/womens-history-milestones/9731
Additional Information/Instructions
By Author/Submitter
I recommend breaking the lesson up into multiple days with lessons being only 40-45 minutes each.
SOURCE AND ACCESS INFORMATION
Contributed by: Andrea Akers
Name of Author/Source: Andrea Akers
District/Organization of Contributor(s): Seminole
Is this Resource freely Available? Yes
Access Privileges: Public
License: CPALMS License - no distribution - non commercial
Related Standards
Name
LAFS.4.RI.1.1:
LAFS.4.RI.3.9:
LAFS.4.W.1.1:
LAFS.4.W.3.9:
Description
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from
the text.
Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
a. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which related ideas are
grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
b. Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details.
c. Link opinion and reasons using words and phrases (e.g., for instance, in order to, in addition).
d. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 4 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or
drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions].”).
b. Apply grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., “Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to
support particular points in a text”).
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