Voices for Votes - Suffrage Strategies

Teacher's Guide

Procedure

• Preparation - Create classroom displays using items from American Memory.
• Lesson One - Hold a mock election and learn campaign related vocabulary.
• Lesson Two - Learn how to analyze photographs, documents and ephemera.
• Lesson Three - Investigate primary sources and discuss the importance of women's suffrage.
• Lesson Four - Create a document or piece of ephemera to influence public opinion.

Evaluation

1. Students complete a teacher-created rubric to assess their understanding of the ways to influence and effect change, the importance of voting, and their contributions to the group.
2. As part of the rubric, students summarize their learning in a "learning statement."
3. After students complete the rubric, comment on their participation and progress for this unit.

Extension

1. Search the web for additional past and present examples of campaign and suffrage documents and ephemera. The following links provide helpful information:

America Votes
Project Vote Smart

2. Complete a voter registration form. Forms for each state can be found at Let Freedom Ring. Vote.
3. Write a persuasive letter to the local paper encouraging citizens to vote.
4. Hold a post-election party.
5. Invite a local candidate or a speaker from the League of Women Voters to discuss elections and voting with students.
6. As a class, collect items for and create an election ephemera scrapbook or display.
7. Using the American Memory suffrage timeline, create a suffrage timeline museum to depict major events in the struggle for womens' suffrage. Divide students into research groups based on the time periods and categories listed below. Gather documents and create displays in chronological order. Encourage students to be creative. Invite other classes to visit the museum.

1800 - 1849
1850 - 1874
1875 - 1899
1900 - 1920
Current elections

Divide each time period above into the following categories:

Firsts
Historical context
People
Publications

Tip: For current candidates, focus on their issues, education and personal information (family, hobbies, etc.)

8. Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast past and present strategies used to win elections.
Overview | Teacher's Guide | Preparation | Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | Lesson 4