17 Women’s History Month Lesson Plans for ELA
This Women’s History Month, help your students celebrate the variety of lived experiences of influential women in the arts, politics, sports, and other walks of life. Their inspiring stories can help you share diverse perspectives in your classroom. With our ELA Women’s History Month lesson plans, students can:
Meet inspiring women in the arts
Introduce students to some of the most influential women writers of the past and present.
Discover how and why these literary women forged their paths
Women authors are making news (and good books and poetry!) all the time. Have students explore news and nonfiction articles to provide background information about some of the most famous—and their most favorite—women authors:
Learn how Toni Morrison’s short story “Recitatif” went from a rare manuscript to a full-fledged published book.
Read about women authors like Mary Ann Evans, better known as George Eliot, who finally receive credit for their works under their own names rather than male pseudonyms.
Discover how two teenage sisters from Michigan started a nonprofit organization to put more books with women Muslim main characters in their schools and libraries.
Watch video interviews and profiles of some of the world’s most famous women authors
Don’t just read about famous women authors; watch them in action! Students can explore video interviews and profiles about popular authors like:
Sandra Cisneros
Angie Thomas
Jane Austen
Lois Lowry
Elizabeth Acevedo
See how women writers of today shape society and culture
Women’s History Month lessons don’t have to be about authors who were alive centuries before your students were born. Explore how poets, authors, and lyricists of today are leaving their marks on the world:
Learn about Denise Lajimodiere, an Ojibwe woman and North Dakota’s first Indigenous poet laureate.
Discover how singer and songwriter Taylor Swift’s knack for including literary references in her lyrics led one Belgian university to launch a brand new literature course.
Explore how author and poet Jacqueline Woodson’s stories are coming to life on the stage and how she makes her works reflective of the communities she’s lived in.
Spotlight women’s viewpoints through poetry
Combine your poetry and Women’s History Month lessons by focusing on the viewpoints and contributions of women writers and their work:
Share poems from women of all backgrounds and cultures
Explore poems on a variety of topics and subjects written by well-known and little-known poets. Share selections like:
“I’m Nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson
“Navajo Mountain” by Norla Chee
“No Worries” by Jane Morris Udovic
“The Conditional” by Ada Limón
“Poem for South African Women” by June Jordan
Dive into the world of Black women poets
Explore powerful poems from Black women and girls that deal with issues they face every day, like:
“won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton
“Absolute” by Jacqueline Woodson
“Calling all Silent Minorities” by June Jordan
“The Bronze Legacy” by Effie Lee Newsome
“darkskin” by Maren Lovey Wright-Kerr
Compare women poets of the past and present
Compare the lives, experiences, and works of modern-day poet Amanda Gorman and historical poet Phillis Wheatley and how their art affected the worlds they lived in.
Share a biography of colonial poet Phillis Wheatley.
Learn how Amanda Gorman earned the national honor of reading at a presidential inauguration.
Browse samples of both Amanda’s and Phillis’s poems.
See how women have fought for change in government and the workplace
Your students have always lived in a world where women are represented in the workplace, government, and many other aspects of life. But that wasn’t always the case. Show them how women have worked to claim the spaces they occupy by spotlighting the fight for equal rights:
Teach students about the Women’s Suffrage Movement
Before the 1920s, women didn’t have the right to vote in U.S. elections. Teach students about how women fought for this right with resources like:
An article on the history of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
Profiles on the suffragettes who fought for the right to vote.
An opinion article about unearthing Black women’s suffragette stories.
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Explore feminism and the female empowerment movement
After earning the right to vote, women entered other public and civic life areas. This led to what became known as the female empowerment movement. Students can explore issues related to the movement, like:
Modern feminism.
The link between humor and empowerment.
The disconnect between opportunities for women and true gender equality.
Discover what life was like for women in factories during the Industrial Revolution
In the early 1800s, many young women worked in textile factories to make their living. These “mill girls” fought to improve conditions and wages while they worked these jobs. Students can compare two texts to learn more about life for these early women workers.
Assign the fictional story, “Dear Mama: Letters from a Mill Girl” by Cynthia Overbeck Bix.
Share a nonfiction article about the Lowell mill girls who went on strike in the 1800s to get better pay.
Have students use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two texts, focusing on the guiding question, “What is the structure of each text, and how are the structures and author’s purposes connected?”
Meet the women of color who have changed politics
Though they didn’t always have a seat at the table, women are changing the face of American politics. Introduce students to some of the Black, Latina, Indigenous, and multi-racial women politicians who changed history.
Meet California Senator Laphonza Butler, who replaced Senator Dianne Feinstein in 2023.
Discover the details of Shirley Chisholm’s historic presidential campaign.
Learn about the historic 2018 mid-term elections, which welcomed the first two Indigenous women to Congress.
Learn more about out-of-this-world women astronauts
Some women trailblazers think even bigger than the world around them! Students can learn more about pioneering women of space with resources like:
A video biography of Ellen Ochoa, the first female Hispanic astronaut.
An article about how LEGO created unique building sets to celebrate NASA’s female figures.
An article about how teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe’s lessons made their way to space over 30 years after the Challenger disaster.
Discover women’s influence on sports
Women don’t just work hard; they play hard, too! Teach students about the impact women have had on sports over the years.
See how women created their own Olympic Games
Students might not know that women were banned from competing in the inaugural Olympic games. Use this paired text activity to look at feminine culture in Greece through different lenses with content and activities like:
A fictional story set in Athens in the fourth century B.C. about how women and child enslavement was a common practice during that period.
The true story of how Greek women created the Heraean Games—an Olympic-style competition for women—after they were banned from Greece’s earliest athletic competitions.
A paired text analysis graphic organizer to help students compare and contrast details that help them answer the focus question, “What was life like for women in Ancient Greece?”
Discover the ways women have impacted the NFL
Do your students know that some women athletes are pushing for their shot to play in the NFL? Use these resources as starting research for a debate on whether women should join the NFL:
Share an article about Carli Lloyd, a U.S. soccer player who can kick a 55-yard field goal.
Read about Toni Harris, a Detroit teenager who became the first female football skill player to earn a college scholarship.
Have students complete a Venn Diagram comparing Carli and Toni’s football experiences.
Learn how women are changing professional hockey
Women aren’t just changing U.S. sports. They’re impacting the sports world on a global scale. Teach students about how women’s hockey players are changing all levels of professional hockey with articles on topics like:
How USA Hockey and the US Women’s hockey team successfully negotiated a contract for better wages and benefits.
How more women are accepting roles in NHL coaching, leadership, and broadcasting.
How women’s sports leagues are joining forces to increase resources, viewership, and attendance.
Research interesting women in history
Turn your Women’s History Month lessons into a research opportunity with one of these women-centric topics:
Women in history
Have students explore the lives and accomplishments of famous women using resources like:
A video about world-changing women and their impact on history.
Profiles of civil rights activists, first ladies, explorers, inventors, and other women leaders.
An explainer video that details how to write a strong research question.
Gender inequality
Dive into how and why women and their allies fight gender inequality in the United States. Use text sets on three main gender-focused topics, including:
Go further with your Women’s History Month lessons
We hope these resources make it easier to help you develop relevant, engaging lessons about women’s history in your class this March. For access to even more great content, sign up for Newsela Lite and start your free 45-day trial of all our premium differentiated content.