March is Women’s History Month, and the theme for 2019 is “Visionary Women: Champions of Peace & Nonviolence.”  

No matter your grade level or subject area–women are involved, both in the past and present.  In thinking about how you will approach Women’s History Month in your classroom, we recommend you first read through this document from the Anti-Defamation League, “Seven Ideas for Teaching Women’s History Month”.  This provides an excellent perspective with which to approach the following resources and your lesson planning.

And here are six more sites and resources for teachers of all grade levels and subjects:

1. Facing History and Ourselves has many resources on female-focused topics, including primary source documents on topics from the Armenian genocide to activism in the black community today.  
2. At WomensHistoryMonth.gov you will find historical documents, poems, art, and lesson plans for creating dynamic, rich lessons.
3. This New York Times article from 2018 includes five great lessons of women’s topics.
4. Find lesson plans and activities divided by elementary, middle school, and high school ages from the National Education Association.
5. We Are Teachers has 14 ideas for students to explore and create for Women’s History Month.
6. Help your students understand gender roles and stereotypes:

Click here for middle school students

Click here for K-5 students

Finally, it’s important when celebrating (and we do want to celebrate!) women’s history, that we don’t give the impression that all the work is done.  Discussing persistent issues like gender stereotypes and wage gaps helps bring students into the conversation of how we as a community, nation, and world must continue to uplift women and strive toward equality.

If this starts getting into some uncomfortable territory for you as a teacher, or you think your students are too young, Liz Kleinrock’s TED Talk, “How to Talk to Kids about Taboo Topics” explains the why and how of talking to kids about difficult, but important topics like race, gender, and equity.

Do you have a favorite lesson, story, or resource on women’s history? Share it in the comments!