Proudly produced by our partners, iCivics
For those in places like the United States, Europe, the UK, and Australiasia, the month of March is dedicated to Women’s History Month; a time to celebrate women and their often undervalued and overlooked achievements throughout history.
After a push to recognize women’s history and achievements from activists and historians, Women’s History Month was born – now an annual celebration around the world!
Since the 1980s, the US has used the month of March to draw focus to famous women and how they championed things like civil rights, women’s rights, women’s suffrage (voting rights), and more.
Thinking of U.S. history alone, influential women you might want to teach about include
- Judith Sargent Murray: American writer who wrote an early feminist essay
- Margaret Fuller: Transcendentalist writer
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Women’s rights and woman suffrage theorist and activist
- Susan B. Anthony: Women’s rights and woman suffrage spokesperson and leader
- Lucy Stone: Abolitionist, women’s rights advocate
- Carrie Chapman Catt: a longtime organizer for woman suffrage, organized international suffrage leaders
- Betty Friedan: A powerful feminist whose book helped launch feminisms “second wave”
- Sally Ride: A NASA astronaut and the first American woman in space
- Harriet Tubman: An American abolitionist and political activist known for her contribution to the civil rights movement
- Rosa Parks: A civil rights activist best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott
Women’s History Month Lesson plans
This year, our partners at iCivics created Women’s History Month resources with these weekly planners focused on women’s history with flexibility and choice in mind!
Each lesson plan focuses on a civic theme that places influential women at the forefront: important women in the courts, women in journalism, women in the executive branch, women in protest, and women in the office.
The planners also offer fun and unique Women’s History Month activities! Some ask students to conduct research, while others call for watching a video or completing an iCivics’ DBQuest. Heaps of these lessons can be assigned using Kami, like The Role of the Media lesson, which lets teachers provide feedback and assess student understanding as students learn.
You can download the planners to incorporate the activity suggestions for the week, or, pick and choose the learning moments that fit best with your schedule. Share the activities as do-nows, in-class activities, discussion starters, homework assignments, extra credit, and more!
Find all of the planners and more resources on the iCivics website.
More fun ideas and classroom activities
Aside from structuring your lessons with an iCivics planner, here are some more fun classroom activity ideas for your students…
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Arts and crafts
Hold an art session to celebrate women in science, where students create spaceships or astronaut helmets out of paper, tin foil, and other craft materials! As they get creative, teach the history of Sally Ride and other significant female scientists like Katherine Johnson, Marie Curie, and Ada Lovelace. -
Virtual scavenger hunts
Get your students engaged while you teach them about the history, accomplishments, and contributions of 20 different famous women in history with this virtual scavenger hunt. A fun way to kick off a mini assignment or quiz. -
Recite poetry
Get a head start on April’s National Poetry Month by exploring different pieces of poetry written by famous female poets. -
Guess Who games
Whether you do it with a PowerPoint presentation, worksheets, or an actual game board, playing Guess Who with your students is an awesome way to test their knowledge while having a heap of fun! -
Virtual field trips
What better way to kick off a National Women’s history project than immersing your students into the lives of the women they’re learning about by taking them through the National Women’s History Museum’s online exhibits.
No matter how you choose to celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day with your students, it’s important they understand the full impact historic women have had on the world they live in today. Sometimes, when learning about history, the fastest way for students to make connections to the past is by understanding how it continues to shape the present. This could also mean finding modern-day examples to weave into your world history or social studies plans.
Teacher Teacher Podcast
Stay tuned for our special Women’s Day podcast episode on Teacher Teacher – coming soon!
About iCivics
iCivics is the nation’s largest provider of civic education curriculum, with its resources used by more than 145,000 educators and nine million students each year nationwide. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor founded iCivics in 2009 to transform the field through innovative, free educational video games and lessons that teach students to be knowledgeable, curious, and engaged in civic life.
Learn more about our partnership with iCivics.
