Women’s History Month in March provides an opportunity to discuss and reflect on the role women have played in shaping the United States. The resources below will help you teach about the many contributions of women to our nation’s shared history.
Elementary teachers! Be sure to check out our More to Explore section to find resource for your students.
Weekly Planners with Bite-Sized Activities
We made our Women’s History Month weekly planners with flexibility and choice in mind! Each planner focuses on a civic theme that places women at the forefront.
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.
Below is a preview of the first week of activities!
An easy way to work in lessons about women in U.S. history is with our short videos! All of our animated videos are two minutes or less in length and include a Teacher’s Guide with resources to support discussion and further learning. These videos were made in partnership with Makematic.
Ethel Payne: First Lady of the Black Press
As the second Black woman to be a member of the White House Press Corps, Ethel Payne asked the questions others didn’t and brought civil rights issues to a national audience. Her coverage brought Black people’s experiences to the front page.
Patsy Mink: Changing the Rules
Perhaps Patsy Takemoto Mink’s greatest legacy as the first woman of color elected to Congress was co-authoring Title IX, the landmark legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal money.
Rachel Carson’s Fight for the Environment
A writer and marine biologist, Rachel Carson educated people about nature’s ecosystems and warned against the overuse of chemical pesticides. She urged society to consider its impact on nature and called on the government to protect the environment.
Breaking Barriers: Constance Baker Motley
As the first African American woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court, be elected to the New York state senate, and be appointed a federal judge, Constance Baker Motley broke racial and gender barriers throughout her career while fighting for the civil rights of all Americans.
Barbara Johns: The Struggle for School Integration
In 1951, Barbara Johns organized more than 400 students to protest in support of better conditions at their segregated high school. Their actions would lead to a lawsuit that became one of the five cases represented in the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.
Autherine Lucy and Pollie Ann Myers: The Fight for College Integration
When Autherine Lucy and Pollie Ann Myers were denied admission to the University of Alabama because of the color of their skin, they fought back. Their actions were important steps toward the racial integration of colleges in the United States.
Barrier-Breaking Justices
At iCivics, we have had the honor of working with pioneering women on our Board of Directors. Here are resources to share their stories with your students this month.
Sandra Day O’Connor
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES (RETIRED)
CHAIR EMERITUS & ICIVICS FOUNDER
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (ret.) was born in El Paso, Texas, on March 26, 1930. Given her lifetime of public service, President Ronald Reagan nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. After being unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate, Justice O’Connor was sworn in on September 25, 1981. Justice O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court on January 31, 2006. In 2009, President Obama awarded Justice O’Connor America’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. After stepping down from the bench, Justice O’Connor dedicated her time and energy to civic education in the United States, serving as Chair and on the iCivics Board of Directors until 2015.
Sonia Sotomayor
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER
Justice Sonia Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, New York, on June 25, 1954. President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and she served in that role from 1992–1998. She then served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998–2009. President Barack Obama nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2009, and she assumed this role on August 8, 2009, becoming the first woman of color to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor still sits on the Supreme Court and recently released a new children’s book, “Just Help! How to Build a Better World.”
Looking for more ways to highlight women’s contributions in your classroom? Here are more resources we recommend.
- Private i History Detectives – Grade 3, Unit 3: How Did Women Influence the American Revolutionary War?
- Private i History Detectives – Grade 1, Unit 2, Mystery 3: How Do Leaders Fight For Something Important?
- WebQuest: Women’s Suffrage A Movement in the Right Direction
- Infographic: A Movement in the Right Direction
- DBQuest: Woman Suffrage and World War I
- Mini-Lesson: Founding Mothers