Alas, March! It has finally arrived and with it, the ushering of warmer weather, new greenery, flowers, and just the renewed hope of spring. As we celebrate the newness of March, it’s also time to celebrate Women’s History Month and engage our students in learning about the remarkable women who shaped our world. To help your students dive in, here are 5 Women’s History Month Activities,
Beginning in 1980, when President Jimmy Carter issued the Presidential Proclamation, Women’s History was first celebrated as just one week. Later, due to some congressional revisions, in 1987, Women’s History Month took its place. According to the National Women’s History Project, “These proclamations celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made throughout American history in a variety of fields.”
#1 Women’s History: Timeline Crafts
Visit your library and check out historical women’s biographies and nonfiction books. Have students pick an important woman they can read all about. Students could also choose a woman from a pre-made list and peruse the internet for significant events and accomplishments from this person’s life.
Next, students craft a timeline on large paper or by gluing 2-3 sheets of copy paper into a line. Ask students to include 10-15 important life events from the woman’s life, including her major accomplishments that helped her make history. Ask students to write in complete sentences, include full dates, and include at least 5 pictures that are drawn or printed to bring the timeline to life. This simple timeline craft can be completed over a week and creates student engagement and provides autonomy. I love how students choose women who are interested in the same fields they are. From my science lovers choosing Marie Curie or NASA’s Mary Jackson to my sports lovers choosing Simone Biles or Maria Sharapova, there is a plethora of women to learn about.
#2 Women’s History Month Artwork
With so many wonderful women artists out there, merge history and art with this fun idea. Every week in March, designate a Woman Artist of the Week to learn about. Read an article or book about a famous woman artist and carve out one afternoon to replicate one of her art pieces. Here is a simple and quick list of some famous women artists and their remarkable work.
Frida Kahlo and her self-portraits and works inspired by Mexican culture and nature.
Georgia O’Keefe-Known for her large flower paintings and desert landscapes.
Berthe Marisot-A French artist known for feminine flower bouquet paintings.
Laurel Burch-Known for her colorful cat drawings.
Mary Blair-She was the original artist for the pumpkin sequence in Disney’s Cinderella. Have students create their own Disney castle in tribute to Mary Blair.
For more on Mary Blair, please visit.
#3 Women’s History: Guest Speakers
Invite women guest speakers into your classroom to talk to your students about their achievements, insights, and perspectives. Send out an email to your families to see if a mother would come in to talk or if they know of a community leader, entrepreneur, local author, or historian who could come in to give authentic knowledge and unique experiences to your students. Honoring Women’s History Month not only involves national and global heroines, but local ones too.
#4 Women’s History Research Report Resource
Looking for a way to incorporate research report writing into your class? Accomplish two tasks in one go with the Women’s Research Report Project Resource. Students pick between 18 historical women to complete basic research on. In this resource, there are 18 passages, one for each provided famous woman. Students can read and peruse the passages to pick the woman they want to write a report on.
This resource comes with a research outline graphic organizer, as well as a rubric for final grading. It also comes with a worksheet with 18 questions, in which students complete after reading all 18 passages. This could be an activity that takes place in which you read 3-4 passages a day together before ending the unit with the questions.
The above passages match this full bulletin board. This bulletin board has a set of 18 historical women posters with direct inspirational quotes to easily spark interest and for your students to want to learn and research more. Combined with the above passages, this bulletin board becomes even more informative and interactive.
Additionally, you could use the above passages and posters to create a Woman of the Day bulletin board. Display a poster, along with its informative passage. Read all about the Woman of the Day together as a class, and make it interactive by posting a question on the whiteboard for morning work or as an opener for Social Studies. For example, for Amelia Earhart, you could ask, “Would you want to fly around the world by yourself?”
If you like, you can purchase both together as a bundle and save. Check it out below!
#5 Women’s History Biography Book Club
For the month of March, students can read a biography of a famous woman from the Who Was? collection or any other book. Next, they can complete a Chip/Coffee Can Biography Research Report.
Students use the graphic organizers to complete self-guided research and then turn their research into an index card report. These index cards are placed inside a chip or coffee can that is created to look like that famous woman. These biography cans make for great presentations and an informative classroom display.
Conclusion
Women’s History Month provides ample opportunity to educate students about the contributions of remarkable and influential women throughout history. With these five activities, you can help students gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the impact women make in society and inspire them to make a difference in the world.