LESSON PLAN 4: PAIRING A PRIMARY & SECONDARY SOURCE
TIMES PAST PAGES 18-21
Lexile level: 1130L
From the
Vote... to the
White House?
In 1920, women gained the right to vote
with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
Times Past explores the long road to
women’s suffrage—and how far women
have come in the 95 years since it was won.
Additional Resources
upfrontmagazine.com
Before Reading
1
List Vocabulary: Share with students
the challenging general and domain-specific
vocabulary for this article. Encourage them to use
context to infer meanings as they read and to later
verify those inferences by consulting a dictionary.
If desired, distribute or project the Word Watch
activity to guide students through this process.
2
Print or project:
abridged
culminated
grievances
menial
sentiments
suffrage
• Word Watch (infer word meanings)
• Article Quiz (p. 10 of this Teacher’s Guide)
• ‘All Men and Women Are Created Equal’
(primary source, also on p. 13 of this
Teacher’s Guide)
Videos: Women’s Rights; Clinton & Fiorina
Engage: Challenge students to name
the year women won the right to vote and
share their ideas about why it took so long.
Analyze the Article
3
Read and Discuss: Ask students to read the Upfront article about the women’s suffrage movement. Review
why the article is considered a secondary source. (It was written in contemporary times by someone who did not
personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose critical-thinking questions:
u Why do you think many Americans feared women’s
6 •
u Why do you think the author calls ratification
suffrage in the 19th century and early 20th century?
of the 19th Amendment a “first step in a larger quest
(Many Americans worried that giving women the vote
for women’s equality”? (After the 19th Amendment was
would change the nation and lead to “petticoat rule,” or a
ratified, women gradually stopped being seen as second-
government run by women. Additional responses will vary
class citizens. Their presence in the workforce expanded,
but should be supported with evidence from the text and
and more women started to attend college. Over time,
solid reasoning.)
women began getting elected to public office.)
UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM
S E P T E M B E R 7, 2 0 1 5 • u p f r o n tm a g a z i n e . c o m • pa g e 1 o f 2
u How did World War I aid the women’s suffrage
u Do you think American women have achieved full
movement? (As men went off to fight in the war, women
equality? Explain, using evidence from the text.
took over jobs they had left behind. In these new roles,
(Responses will vary. Some may see women’s voting in
women contributed greatly to the war effort. President
great numbers and representing half of the workforce as
Woodrow Wilson took note, and by 1918, he was speaking
signs of equality. Others may say that women’s earning less
out in support of giving women the right to vote.)
than men is a sign that equality hasn’t yet been achieved.)
4
Integrate the Primary Source: Project or distribute the PDF
‘All Men and Women Are Created Equal’ (p. 13 of this Teacher’s Guide),
which features an excerpt from the Declaration of Sentiments drafted at the 1848
women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, N.Y. Discuss what makes it a primary
source. (It was written in 1848 about issues of that time.) Have students read it
and answer these questions (which appear on the PDF without answers). Discuss.
u From what historic document did the authors borrow
u How do you think this document was received by the
language? Why do you think they did so? (The authors
general public in 1848? Explain. (Students’ responses
used language from the Declaration of Independence. They
will vary. The Declaration of Sentiments was forceful in
may have wished to emphasize that just as America’s
its call for women’s equality, so it took many Americans
colonists felt constrained by Britain, women of 1848 felt
by surprise. Many feared that giving women equal rights
constrained by men.)
would change the country too much.)
u How would you describe the tone of the Declaration?
u Based on this primary-source text and the Upfront
(The tone of the Declaration might be described as
article, why do you think the Seneca Falls convention
assertive, forceful, ardent, or persuasive. Students may use
is considered such a milestone? (The article notes
other descriptors.)
that although women’s role in the U.S. had been quietly
debated since the nation’s earliest days, it was the Seneca
u What evidence of men’s “tyranny” is offered?
Falls convention that forced the issue out into the open.
(The authors note that men have not permitted women
The Declaration of Sentiments, a product of the convention,
to vote or participate in the “elective franchise.” As a result,
shows that the participants in the convention were
women must obey laws that they had no hand in creating.
committed to the cause of women’s equality and suggests
The authors also note that men have kept women from
that the convention gave them an opportunity to voice
owning property.)
their demands.)
Extend & Assess
5
Writing Prompt
Identify a central idea of the
6
Classroom Debate
Could a female candidate from
8
Paired Texts
Try pairing the article with
Upfront article about the women’s
either party win the 2016 presidential
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s early
suffrage movement. Write an essay
election?
20th-century poem “Boys Will Be
analyzing how the author supports
that central idea. What important
details does she include? What
nonfiction text features does she use?
7
Boys” (widely available online). Discuss
Quiz
the poet’s view of women in society
Use the quiz on page 10 of this
and evaluate how Gilman would
Teacher’s Guide.
probably feel about women voting.
Find all activity sheets and other support materials at upfrontmagazine.com
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