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WHO RUNS THE WORLD? GIRLS
Women as Changemakers

Introduction | Background Knowledge | Activities | Extensions | Standards

Introduction

Doing something to improve a community is an admirable task. Inspiring others to join a movement is making change. Women have had to fight for their places in a patriarchal society. Many women were content to run households, care for their families, and allow the men around them to make decisions on their behalf. But many were not. Some women started revolutions in their homes, communities, and the world, making each a better place. Women have rallied their friends and communities to make a difference. Women have followed their passions and visions to be changemakers in the world around them.

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Background Knowledge

A changemaker is a person who creatively solves a social problem. Changemakers have good intentions but must act on those intentions to make a change. These empathetic people identify a societal need and work tenaciously to solve it. These changes are addressed for the greater good, not for the changemaker alone. Changemakers work to solve problems in their communities, living and working among the people they encourage to support the cause.

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ACTIVITIES

• Malala Yousafzai - As a young girl in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai understood the value of education and wanted to go to school. When she begins to attend her father’s school, the Taliban takes over the school and brutally attacks her. She is not deterred and continues speaking about education and women’s rights. She is the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
  • READ
    • Malala’s Magic Pencil by Yousafzai Malala (ISBN 978-0241322574)
    • Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls’ Rights by Yousafzai Malala (ISBN 978-1526361592)
    • I am Malala Yousafzai by Brad Meltzer (ISBN 978-0593405888)
  • DO
    • Check out lesson ideas from the Nobel Peace Center.
    • Draw a self-portrait using words with this lesson from the National Portrait Gallery.
    • Learn more about Malala with the United Nations’s resources.
    • Watch this Today Show interview with Malala to learn more about her work to protect women’s rights to a safe education in Afghanistan.
• Greta Thunberg - Greta began to protest outside the Swedish Parliament every Friday when she was 15. At first, she protested alone, holding a sign that read “School Strike for Climate.” Slowly, more and more people began to join her protest. She became a leader in the global fight against climate change.
  • READ
    • Who Is Greta Thunberg? by Jill Leonard (IBN 978-0593225677)
    • Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker (ISBN 978-0711253773)
    • Our House is On Fire: Greta Thurnberg’s Call to Save the Planet by Jeanette Winter (ISBN 978-1534467781)
  • DO
    • Learn more about Climate Change from these TeachersFirst Resources:
      • There’s No Planet B - Climate Change and Its Impact on the Earth
      • Climate Change Resources
      • Curriconnects Book List: Weather, Climate and Earth’s Atmosphere
      • Join the British National History Museum to learn more about Greta Thunberg and biodiversity.
    • Analyze Greta’s life and words with these resources from Britannica Education.
• Jane Goodall - In living among the chimpanzees, Jane Goodall taught the world about species conservation. She expanded conservation to include the habitat and the local people.
  • READ
    • The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter (ISBN 978-0375867743)
    • With Love by Jane Goodall (ISBN 978-9888240906)
    • Pangolina by Jane Goodall (ISBN 978-1662650406)
  • DO
    • Compare a biography of Jane Goodall with this article, where she shares her story of being a changemaker. Use a Venn Diagram creation tool like the ones found at ClassTools (TeachersFirst review) to compare and contrast the information from the different sources.
    • Research other animals that need protection at the World Wildlife Fund.
    • Celebrate World Wildlife Day on March 3.
• Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez - Elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2019 as the youngest sitting Congresswoman, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has ignited young voters in New York and across the county. She has led a caucus of young Congresswomen of color and has championed bills such as the Green New Deal, the Loan Shark Prevention Act, and “Just Society.”
  • READ
    • Phenomenal AOC: The Roots and Rise of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez by Anika Aldamuy Denise (ISBN 978-0063113749)
    • ABCs of AOC: Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez from A to Z by Jamia Wilson (ISBN 978-0316495141)
  • DO
    • Explore AOC’s platform. Look for examples of social, racial, economic, and environmental change.
    • Create a Turbo Timeline (TeachersFirst review) of AOC’s life and compare it to other prominent figures. Discuss what she accomplished early in her life.
    • Find grade-level appropriate discussion topics here.
• Other Changemakers
  • Alice Paul - Alice Paul impacted America's suffrage and equal rights movements. She led the “Silent Sentinels” who protested outside Woodrow Wilson’s White House.
    • Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote by Barb Rosenstock (ISBN 978-1629799087)
    • Check out the Alice Paul Institute for a lesson plan called “Meet Alice” to learn why Alice wanted change and how she got others to join her.
  • Golda Meir - Golda Meir was the first female prime minister of Israel. She worked to try to establish peace in the Middle Eastern region and set up a coalition government after her country went to war.
    • Goldie Takes a Stand: Golda Meir’s First Crusade by Barbara Krasner, (ISBN 978-1467712019)
  • Wilma Mankiller - Wilma Mankiller was the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation she worked to improve.
    • Wilma’s Way Home: The Life of Wilma Mankiller by Doreen Rappoport (ISBN 978-1484747186)
    • Learn more about Wilma Mankiller with this lesson plan from the National Native American Hall of Fame.
  • Nellie Bly - News Reporter Nellie Bly is best known for her investigative reporting on the treatment of the mentally ill in New York City. She also circumnavigated the globe in 72 days.
    • A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland by Caroline Starr Rose, (ISBN 978-0807500101)
    • Learn more about Nellie Bly here.
  • Judith Heumann - Judith Heumann made a change for people with disabilities for her entire life. She began with a fight to attend elementary school, continued with a battle to get a teaching license that was denied because of her disability, and staged a sit-in for equal rights at the San Francisco Federal Building.
    • Fighting for YES!: The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann By Maryann Cocca-Leffler (ISBN 978-1419755606)
    • Learn more and find lesson plans here.

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EXTENSIONS

• Being a Changemaker
  • Learn more about being a changemaker and helping our world at Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots initiative.
  • Take the Changemaker Quiz to see where you and your students fall on the changemaker journey and what changemaker skills you have.
  • Find suggestions for defining the term changemaker and exploring the characteristics of changemakers in this recent TeachersFirst blog.
• You Be the Biographer
  • Students read about a female change maker and create a biographical presentation about the person. Consider giving students a choice of how to share about their subject. They can write a paper or share information through a Timeline (TeachersFirst review). Try a Free Template to make a brochure or newspaper article (TeachersFirst review).
• Compare Women Who Made Change
  • From the New York Historical Society: Compare Elizabeth Cochrane’s life story with the life stories of Ida B. Wells, Jovita Idar, and Edith Maude Eaton, all of whom used a career in journalism to advocate for social reform. Use a Venn Diagram creation tool like the ones found at ClassTools (TeachersFirst review) to compare the lives and contributions of each woman.
• Learn About Good Trouble
  • Discover a topic at Flip (TeachersFirst review) that encourages students to think about how individuals can change the world. Sign in to Flip using Google or Microsoft and use the search box to search for topics related to women leaders.
  • Assign Lessons in Good Trouble that incorporate Minecraft to engage students in learning about social justice leaders.

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CORRELATION TO STANDARDS

• AASL National School Library Standards
• Inquire Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners display curiosity and initiative by: 1. Formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic. 2. Recalling prior and background knowledge as context for new meaning.
• Inquire Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners adapt, communicate, and exchange learning products with others in a cycle that includes: 1. Interacting with content presented by others. 2. Providing constructive feedback. 3. Acting on feedback to improve. 4. Sharing products with an authentic audience.
• Include Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners exhibit empathy with and tolerance for diverse ideas by: 1. Engaging in informed conversation and active debate. 2. Contributing to discussions in which multiple viewpoints on a topic are expressed.
• Include Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners demonstrate empathy and equity in knowledge building within the global learning community by: 1. Seeking interactions with a range of learners.
• Collaborate Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners identify collaborative opportunities by: 1. Demonstrating their desire to broaden and deepen understandings. 2. Developing new understandings through engagement in a learning group. 3. Deciding to solve problems informed by group interaction.
• Collaborate Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners participate in personal, social, and intellectual networks by: 1. Using a variety of communication tools and resources. 2. Establishing connections with other learners to build on their own prior knowledge and create new knowledge.
• Collaborate Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners actively participate with others in learning situations by: 2. Recognizing learning as a social responsibility.
• Explore Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners develop and satisfy personal curiosity by: 1. Reading widely and deeply in multiple formats and writing and creating for a variety of purposes.
• Explore Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners construct new knowledge by: 1. Problem solving through cycles of design, implementation, and reflection.
• Explore Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners engage with the learning community by: 3. Collaboratively identifying innovative solutions to a challenge or problem.
• Explore Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners develop through experience and reflection by: 1. Iteratively responding to challenges. 2. Recognizing capabilities and skills that can be developed, improved, and expanded. 3. Open-mindedly accepting feedback for positive and constructive growth.
• ISTE Standards for Students
  • Empowered Learner - 1b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process. 1c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
  • Knowledge Constructor - 3d. Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories, and pursuing answers and solutions.
  • Innovative Designer - 4d. Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance, and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
  • Global Collaborator - 7c. Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.

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