Women's Suffrage Graphic Novel

I tend to be a little vocal about my feminism in my classroom. My students see my "Women Belong in the House and the Senate" shirt very often. So it's no surprise to them that one of my favorite lessons of the entire year is about women's suffrage. I love to teach them about Susan B Anthony, Seneca Falls, the hunger strike in jail, all of it! My favorite video of the year is this really well made video to the tune of Bad Romance, a Lady Gaga song.

I found this lesson on Teachers Pay Teachers and it is one of my favorite finds from that website. It is a lesson that "History with Mr. E" created and it's amazing, worth $5.00 and then some!

It starts with a great primary source activity that introduces key concepts from the struggle for suffrage. I put students in groups and they analyze the source using questions that are provided in the lesson. Afterwards we discuss the sources as a class and I give background. The students are usually so entranced that I don't make them take notes. We watch a few videos, one from the clip above, another from the Suffragette movie that recently came out. Then they are give the second part of the lesson, the graphic novel.

Students are required to create a graphic novel that tells the story of how women came to get the vote through the major events that were discussed in the primary sources. Students LOVE this activity because it allows them to be creative. One student did the whole story with bees being the women "Susan BEE Anthony" and ants being the men. It was amazing. It really makes the whole journey solidify in their minds.

I would highly recommend this engaging lesson using primary sources to educate your students about women and the right to vote! Thanks to Mr. E for letting me steal this lesson. You can purchase it here.