Women’s Suffrage Class Lesson
It is about that time during eighth grade American History classes where the U.S. amendments to the Consitution are being discussed. I found a way to not only drive the importance of the amendments home to the students but to also add in a women’s suffrage component that really has gotten not only my class but the entire school buzzing.
Before we began our discussions on the amendments I separated the class by asking all women, and those men with African American and native American backgrounds to stand by the wall. They were then seated on one side of the room with the other side representing white men.
First we came up with at teen bill of rights where the entire class gave ideas of what rights they as teens do not have but would like. I casually made two columns on the board one with the ideas of the “white men” and the other with the rest. When it came time to vote on the rights I erased all but the ideas from the white men. Then when the students asked why I did thatâÂ?¦I told them to tell me. They slowly realized that the one side had no say in what was going on just as the people in their situation had no rights to decided which amendments would be ratified or not.
As we went through the amendments the students were told that as soon as they got rights according to the amendment we were on they could move to the other side and start voicing their opinions.
On their own the girls began a women’s rights movement on campus, passing out flyers, hanging up posters, secret ballots drawn up for girls only and they even talked their way onto the morning school news. My school administrators got into the act as wellâÂ?¦the men telling the girls that they had no rights and even going as far as asking why they were walking around unescorted and the women allowing them to put up the posters.
Because of the response to this I sort of dragged getting to the 19th amendment and watched the girls as the men formally kept from voting and rights were granted those rights and moved to the other side of the room. To drive the point of what women went through home I had them watch The Susan B. Anthony Story-the women’s suffrage movement. I also went through some of the situations of women throughout the world which shocked these eighth grade students.
To make the impact of this hit the boys after the girls gained their rights I flipped the situation and gave the girls all the control. Boys were not to leave the room until all girls were dismissed. They could not sit until every girl had chosen her seat and they had to get the girls to grant them their rights.
This lesson, which began just as a simple lesson of dividing the class, has grown into something much more. Other teachers are beginning to play roles, students are discussing rights all around campus and the most important piece�.the students have learned how it feels to have no rights.
Give it a try…you will be pleased with the results.
