Have students try these activities to expand their knowledge and interest in Suffragists.
Social Studies/Geography
Have students make a map of the United States. Ask them to research information about when each state ratified the 19th Amendment. Ask them to record the dates on their maps.
Art/Social Studies
Have students identify present-day women’s rights issues that interest them. Choose an issue, and as a class prepare a campaign that supports the issue. Campaign materials might include placards for a peaceful march, advertisements for magazines, and videotaped commercials. Plan an “issues day” and have students present the materials they prepared.
Language Arts
Ask small groups of students to write a short biography of one of the suffragists. They might choose Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Julia Ward Howe, Victoria Woodhull, or Alice Paul. Suggest that they supplement their research on Kids Discover Online with other reliable sources for more information or pictures they can use in their biographies.
Social Studies/Study Skills
Remind students that the Declaration of Sentiments was modeled on the Declaration of Independence. Have students find copies of the documents and compare them. Suggest that students use a graphic organizer, such as a Venn diagram or a comparison chart, to illustrate the similarities and differences in the documents.
Social Studies
Remind students that American women were granted the vote in 1920; yet many women around the world still do not have the right to vote. Ask students to do research to find out where women still do not have the vote. Suggest that students color-code a map to show countries where men can vote but women cannot vote.
Mathematics/Social Studies
Remind students that women struggled for many years to gain the vote. Have students research information about the percentage of women who voted in the major presidential elections from 1920 to 2004. Ask students to make a line graph showing the percentage of women voters. Suggest that students write commentary that explains the trends seen on their graphs.
Language Arts/Drama
Have individuals prepare a dramatic presentation of the excerpt from the “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech in Susan B. Anthony and Other Leaders. Suggest that students use gestures to emphasize the points made in the speech.
Language Arts/Social Studies
Suggest that students prepare a debate about suffrage from the perspective of people in the early 1900s. Tell students that they should prepare pro and con arguments for extending the vote to women. Advise them to do research to identify the arguments used by both the suffragist and the anti-suffragist organizations during the early 1900s. Allow time for students to debate the issue. Nonparticipants may determine the winners of the debate.
