Touch of HERstory

Lesson Plan

• Essential Questions 

  • ​How have social movements used fashion as protest?

  • Who were the key players and events of the women’s suffrage movement?

  • How did various movements for equality build upon each other?

• Learning Goals

  • Students will understand how social and political movements throughout history have made use of fashion as a form of protest.​

  • Students will understand what the Women’s Suffrage Movement was, and who the key figures of this movement were. Additionally students will understand how fashion was used as a form of protest within this movement.

  • Students will understand Lesbian identity and the difference between “butch” and “femme.” Students will also understand the rolls that Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon played in starting the Lesbian Rights Movement, as well as how Queer social movements have used clothing as protest.

• Common Core Standards ​

  • 11.10 Students analyze the development of federal civil rights and voting rights.

    • 7. Analyze the women’s rights movement from the era of Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the movement launched in the 1960s, including differing perspectives on the roles of women.

  • 11.11 Students analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.

    • 3. Describe the changing roles of women in society as reflected in the entry of more women into the labor force and the changing family structure.

  • Curriculum Frameworks: 

    • Industrialization, Urbanization, Immigration, and Progressive Reform

      • Why did women want the right to vote, and how did they convince men to grant it to them? (Chap 16/pg. 381)

    • Movements for Equality

      • How did various movements for equality build upon one another? (Chap 16/pg. 414)

• Activities​

• Day 1

  • The lesson will begin with an introduction of our Essential Questions for the week, and this will be repeated each day at the start of class. Once the essential questions have been introduced, I will give a brief introduction about the power that clothes have in communicating things about the people who wear them. This will be the basis of our week long Touch of Herstory unit, as we look at the women’s social movements and the way they have made use of clothing as a way to amplify the message of their protest. 

  • Following the introduction I will play the students a video that shows 100 years of banned fashion in the United States. This will provide the students with examples of the power that clothing has on society and the way people respond to what others are wearing. It will also provide me with an opportunity to introduce the students to the idea of “protest fashion.”

  • Following the video I will lead the students through a Think-Pair-Share, during which they will construct a definition for “protest fashion.” They will first have time to create their own definition and write it on their white board desk. Then, students will form small groups of 2-4 with the people at their table to share their definitions, and co-construct a working definition. Their chosen spokesperson will then share that definition with the class. As the students share what they came up with I will capture them on the board for the whole class to see, and be able to refer back to. 

  • After each group has shared their definitions, I will introduce the students to the Word Wall that we will be constructing over the course of the week. I will use “protest fashion” to model how this will be done over the course of the unit. I will provide the students with the definition for “protest fashion,” highlighting key words or phrases that are present in the actual definition and the student created definitions. As we go through the lessons in this unit I will ask for students to volunteer to create our Word Wall tiles for the key terms, people, and events we encounter in this unit.​​​

• Day 2 ​

  • To introduce the focus of this second lesson in this unit I will show students a video called “Women’s Suffrage - Bad Romance,” a lighthearted fun way to introduce the topics. Before playing the video I will ask the students to pay attention to what they notice, wonder, and feel while watching the video, and write a few things down on their white board desks. After the video I will go around the room and ask students to share one thing they noticed, wondered, or felt after seeing the video. 

  • Following this activity, I will introduce the Fill-In Notes document that students will use while following along with this lesson’s lecture portion. Throughout the slides I have highlighted the key terms, people, and events to make them easier for students to identify. These will also be the words that students will make Word Wall tiles for over the course of the week. 

  • Following the completion of the lecture portion of the lesson, we will close out class with a Jigsaw Activity. I will introduce students to the Getting to Know the Suffragettes worksheet, and provide them with the links to the biographies for the five suffragist leaders we focused on in the lecture. Students will form groups three groups of 5 and two groups of 4. Each student will read the biography of one of the suffragist leaders and complete their section on the activity document. Then each student will have 1 minute to summarize what they read for their peers.

• Day 3

  • The lesson will begin with a recap of our Intro slide, including our essential questions and weekly reminders. We will also do a brief recap of the topics we discussed the day before and link those events to the ones that will be discussed in this Queer History Spotlight. 

  • After our recap, I will reintroduce students to the Queer History Vocabulary List document. We will review how to complete this document, and I will provide students with the key terms we will be learning in this lesson. 

  • Throughout the Queer History Spotlight lessons I have made use of a series of YouTube videos produced by them.; a queer focused publication. These videos explore the history and origins of different queer identities, and in this lesson we will explore the lesbian identity through two videos on the “femme” and “butch” identities.  

  • I will instruct students to pay attention to what they notice, wonder, and feel while watching the first video on the “femme” identity, and have them capture these notes on their Queer History Vocabulary List document. 

  • After the video I will open it up for people to share the things they noted, and to ask any clarifying questions they may have. Before moving on to the next video I will return to the slides and highlight the key things from the video that are important for students to include in their definition. This exact protocol will be repeated for the “butch” identity as well. 

  • After we have reviewed the terms lesbian, femme, and butch I will begin the lecture portion of this lesson. This section will highlight the story of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin; two of the founding members of the Lesbian Rights Movement and outspoken advocates for LGBTQ+ Rights. Additionally, I will provide students with links to the primary resources related to the lesbian rights movement that are included on the lecture. This will allow them to further explore these archives if they would like to further expand their funds of knowledge. 

  • To close out this portion of the lesson we will discuss the role that color has played in communicating messages during different social movements and protests. After this brief discussion I will show the students a video on the Pride Flag, and how we got to the modern version of the flag. 

  • Once the Queer History Spotlight is over and students return from their break between class periods we will begin the review time for the quiz that will be taken in the last 30 minutes of class. As a class we will review the Getting to Know the Suffragettes documents that we did the day before. This will serve as a review, and will ensure that every student got all of the essential information needed to complete this document. 

  • Before we begin the quiz I will break down the structure of the quiz and answer any clarifying questions students may have before starting. I will also remind students of our classroom norms and proper quiz etiquette to ensure we create the most beneficial environment for all students to succeed.