National Women’s History Month is a time to recognize the achievements of women and girls in America. Women’s History Month has been observed every March since 1987, though it began as a single week in 1980. The goal is education about women who have made significant contributions to society. It’s also a month to speak openly about the struggles and experiences of women and girls who continue to forge their way to equity.
National Women’s History Month resources can help your family and classroom celebrate women and take part in conversations about the strides that have been made as well as the obstacles we still face. These resources will help you create an engaging lecture plan that, when paired with your interactive whiteboard, will thoroughly engage students.
What is National Women’s History Month and when is it?
National Women’s History Month is an annual observance in the United States that focuses attention on the contributions of women and girls to events in history and society. It is observed during March to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8th.
Originally called “Women’s History Week,” the week was started by the National Women’s History Project in 1980 to promote awareness of women’s contributions to historical events. It has now grown to be a month-long celebration of female empowerment.
Why you should include women’s history in your lesson plans
Sharing the accomplishments of fearless women and girls is motivating and can have a lasting impact on your students. These contributions are often left out of textbooks and classrooms due to the lack of representation in history books.
Including women’s history in lesson plans can help to correct this bias. You might be wondering where to start with National Women’s History Month lesson planning.
Check out some great resources below that can serve as a starting point for you.
Best digital resources for National Women’s History Month
BackStory: Making the Team
Women have long been excluded from sports. This interesting audio tells the story of America’s history of women in sports. The audio transcript intersects feminism off the field and on the field, as women have struggled to gain equality in all aspects of their lives.
It comes with engaging questions to create discussions around this topic.
Women’s Studies App
If you’re looking for a comprehensive way to teach your students about gender studies, and the history of women’s disenfranchisement, this app will be perfect for you.
Women’s Studies is a complete guide to all topics relating to the study of women’s experiences in America and their desire for equality. This app works best when used with a Promethean interactive display for maximum student engagement.
Use the app as a jumping-off point for group work, letter-writing activities, or quizzes on historical feminism.
50 of The Most Powerful Women in History
Inspire your classroom with these short stories about the 50 most powerful women in history.
These women range from historical figures like Joan of Arc to modern mavens like Hillary Clinton. Your students will learn about famous scientists, athletes, religious figures, lawyers, great thinkers, and more! Some of these figures may even be new to you.
These stories can inspire students to create projects on historical women who have contributed to society, reenact the stories in plays, or create their own illustrated stories.
My Hero
My Hero is a powerful National Women’s History Month resource. This well-curated website features powerful women from all walks of life. Some are famous women of power, like Condoleezza Rice, while others are more unknown figures who have continued to pave the way for women’s rights in America.
Your students can scroll through the list of women to find someone they relate to, or you can assign them a figure from the list. Use this as inspiration for a scrapbook project, a play, an essay, or an oral presentation on this figure to help teach your students about the variety of empowering women in the world.
He Said/She Said
This free lesson plan provided by ReadWriteThink encourages discussions on gender stereotypes in the classroom.
Students are encouraged to interact with their texts to find ways that stereotypes and gendered language are ever-present in our society. Then the teachers help students rework this idea of gender by subverting these texts.
Your students will come away with a better understanding of equality and the ways that gender has been used to oppress people.
Using your Promethean interactive display, you can easily display texts and circle areas using gendered pronouns and stereotypical depictions of gender. Then, you can change them on the screen with your class.
Using interactive displays for National Women’s History Month projects
These resources provide a starting point for discussion and learning about women who have fought for equality and those who are continuing the fight today.
By combining your lesson plan with an interactive whiteboard, you can easily display important text, create interactive learning activities, and involve your entire class in the lesson.
Inspire your students’ own projects and lessons related to National Women’s History Month and open the door for the girls in your classroom to become powerful women themselves.
If you have an interactive display or whiteboard and are looking for more tips and tricks, check out our blog.
If you’re interested in learning about the Promethean ActivPanel interactive display and all it can bring to your classroom, speak with one of our experts and request your FREE demo today!
