5 Lesson Plans for Women’s History Month

As March rolls around each year, teachers start creating lesson plans for Women’s History Month that help to emphasize the importance of women throughout history. These lesson plan ideas can help teachers integrate the importance of the role of women in society into many different school subjects.

Painting like great women

Many people think of Picasso, Monet and van Gogh when they think of great artisan. Janet Fish, a famous still life painter could be added to that list. In this lesson, students will learn about Janet Fish and her technique, and then complete the lesson by painting a still life of their own. It’s a hands-on plan that allows students to learn history while creating their own piece of art.

Women’s suffrage history lesson

In this lesson, the teacher divides the students up and gives them each a role in the time before women had the right to vote. All of the girls in the class must sit down, they cannot vote in the classroom election. When students realize the fact that a minority group made the majority of decisions, they will have a better grasp of why women were so passionate about the suffrage movement.

Women and the music industry

This lesson allows students to show a bit of creativity and personal involvement in their class project. For this assignment, students choose a song by a female artist that they enjoy. They should bring a video or mp3 of this song to class (and all music should be appropriate for the classroom). After they play the song, students should explain why they chose it and provide a few facts about the female musician who performed it.

Great women in the world

In this report, students choose an influential female figure to write a report about. Think historical figures like Betsy Ross or Mary Todd Lincoln or current figures like Michelle Obama or Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. In addition to writing their report, students should give an oral report and includes visual aids to help explain the subject. The idea is that everyone in class will learn a bit about some of the most influential women in the world, whether they lived 1,000 years ago or are still living today.

Creative writing about women

This lesson plan is perfect for the language arts classroom. Teachers should ask students to craft a creative writing piece about a woman who means a lot to them. Students can choose any format they would like for this project, as the goal is for students to take ownership of it. Teachers should also inform students that if they are interested and wish to talk about their piece, they can share it with the class. This helps to promote positive conversation about women and shows that not every woman who is influential is necessarily famous.

Women’s History Month should be celebrated in many different ways throughout the month of March. Using art, visual aids, technology and the written word, students will come to better appreciate just how influential women have been to the world.