WOMENS HISTORY LESSON

LESSON

Aint I a Woman?
How have women in U.S. History impacted rights for all Americans?

In three days

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.

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.teachtc i.com/category/biographybank/

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.

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Procedures

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?

Famous for saying, Aint I a woman?

Projected image of clues related to Sojourner Truth.

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
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Procedures

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 womans 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

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Procedures

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.
Student Notebook Guide Processing

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 figures 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.

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Procedures

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 havent 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.

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.

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 doesnt use the name).

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Student Notebook Guide

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, Aint 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

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Student Notebook Guide

Name of Historical Figure

Connection of Clues to Figure

Impact of Accomplishments

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Student Notebook Guide

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 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 doesnt use her name).

Name of Woman

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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.

Aint 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 hasnt changed who I am. My feet are still on the ground. Im 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.