TeachersFirst's Change Makers - Pioneering Women
Women have blazed trails and opened doors for future generations through their pioneering achievements in science and medicine, politics, civil rights, media, sports, and countless other areas. Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for her pioneering work on radioactivity. Computer scientist Grace Hopper developed the first compiler, helping make coding languages more accessible. Aviator Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Physician Virginia Apgar established the standardized health assessment for newborns that bears her name. Wilma Mankiller was the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, revitalizing the tribe's language and community. Civil rights giants like Rosa Parks and Mary McLeod Bethune fought racial injustice and advanced equality at significant personal risk. From the frontlines of scientific exploration to the vanguard of human rights movements, these tenacious women defied societal conventions, overcame steep obstacles, and profoundly expanded opportunities for those who followed in their pioneering footsteps. Skim this collection of reviewed resources to find appropriate pioneers to share with your students. Don’t miss the “In The Classroom” section for lesson stems and ideas to integrate the resources with your lessons.
You can also learn about additional women change-makers in our collections:
Change Makers - Young Women Who Changed the World
Change Makers - Women for Freedom
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Ida B. Wells and the Activism of Investigative Journalism - Library of Congress
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): black history (130), civil rights (200), journalism (72), womenchangemaker (28)
In the Classroom
Using a podcasting tool like Podcast Generator, reviewed here have students produce a podcast episode that discusses Wells' life. Have students pretend to interview Wells for the podcast. Create stories using Book Creator, reviewed here that highlights Wells' major achievements, the challenges she overcame, and her impact on civil rights and journalism. Share those those stories with another classroom or post them on your class webpage. Create a timeline of important events from Wells' life. Choose a timeline creation tool located here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Becoming a Changemaker - Shiloh Devadas/Tedx Talks
Grades
K to 12tag(s): womenchangemaker (28)
In the Classroom
Introduce the concept of changemakers to students using this video. It will help them understand that even small actions can make a difference. Use Figjam, reviewed here to share and curate ideas during your discussion of changemakers. For example, use the Frayer Model template to organize and clarify the meaning of the term changemaker, add charts such as "See, Think, and Wonder," and add students' questions and comments using sticky notes and stickers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Belva Lockwood: Suffragist, Lawyer, and Presidential Candidate - Library of Congress
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): primary sources (119), womenchangemaker (28), womens suffrage (46)
In the Classroom
Using a platform like Padlet, reviewed here have students create a virtual museum exhibit that showcases artifacts, photographs, and documents related to Lockwood's life, including her campaigns for women's suffrage and her presidential runs. With a tool like Snappa, reviewed here have students design infographics that highlight Lockwood's major accomplishments, the challenges she faced, and her contributions to women's rights. These infographics can be shared on social media or displayed around the school to educate others about Lockwood's contributions to women's history. Use the newspaper primary resources to introduce students to Lockwood. Have students download the newspaper PDFs and annotate the article, highlighting items they find interesting. Use the tools found at SmallPDF, reviewed here for the annotating.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Florence Nightingale - The National Archives
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): 1800s (75), biographies (95), heroes (25), women (140), womenchangemaker (28)
In the Classroom
Include this site with your other resources when teaching about women as changemakers or after reading a biography of Florence Nightingale. Introduce Florence Nightingale to students by creating a timeline of her life using MyLens, reviewed here or by having an online "chat" with Florence Nightingale using Character.ai, reviewed here . This lesson includes seven tasks that explore a different primary source document; divide students into seven groups to each complete a task, then share their discoveries through class presentations. For example, use Google Slides, reviewed here to create a collaborative presentation by adding each task to a different slide. Ask each group to use their slide to respond to the exploration questions provided in their task and share their responses with the class. As a final assessment, use the Choice Board Creation tool found at MagicSchool.ai, reviewed here to find suggestions to include in choice board activities, such as creating a travel brochure from Florence's hometown, writing a news article about Florence, or designing an infographic that presents key facts on Florence Nightingale's life.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Patsy Mink - My Hero
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): biographies (95), heroes (25), politics (114), women (140)
In the Classroom
Include this biography of Patsy Mink in lessons on heroes, women in history, famous politicians, the 1900s, or influential Hawaiians. Use a curation tool such as Symbaloo, reviewed here or 3x3 links, reviewed here to share articles, videos, and activities easily with students. Use Timelinely, reviewed here to engage students and extend learning by adding information to the YouTube video included on this site. For example, use the 20th Century America (1945-2000) TeachersFirst Special Topics Page, reviewed here to find additional historical context to learn about women's political roles during the 1970s, then include a link to those resources on the video using Timelinely. As an alternative to a book report or written research project, provide students with different opportunities for sharing what they know at the end of your unit using Choice Boards. Activities to include might be creating interactive timelines with Canva Timeline Infographic Templates, reviewed here, a web site created with Google Sites, reviewed here, or an explainer video made with Animaker, reviewed here. Learn more about incorporating choice boards into any classroom by watching the archive of OK2Ask: Engage & Inspire: Choice Boards for Differentiation (Part 1), reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Women Aviators in World War II: Fly Girls - Edsitement
Grades
5 to 8tag(s): aviation (38), women (140), world war 2 (161)
In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Once the class has gone through however many lessons you choose, enhance learning by having small groups of students investigate one or more extension activities and share their learning by developing a multimedia presentation. Students can choose multimedia presentation formats using Genially, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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iCivics- Patsy Mink - iCivics
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (200), congress (38), politics (114), women (140)
In the Classroom
The video "Patsy Mink: Changing the Rules" can promote your student's critical thinking and civic engagement and teach students the contributions of women and people of color to American politics and society. Use the video as a launching pad to discuss women's history and representation in different fields, such as STEM or sports. Have students research prominent women in science, engineering, or athletics and compare their experiences to Patsy Mink's using a digital graphic organizer tool such as mindmaps, reviewed here. Assess student understanding by creating an interactive quiz game with Quizlet Live, reviewed here, or Kahoot, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sally Ride Lesson Plan - ShareMyLesson
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): nasa (30), scientists (63), STEM (279), women (140)
In the Classroom
The downloadable lesson plan includes four ways to approach teaching about Sally Ride; contributions, additive, transformational, and social action. In addition, the plan consists of links to websites and videos to enhance your instruction. After researching Sally Ride, students can apply their knowledge by creating multimedia presentations using tools such as Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, Canva for Education, reviewed here, or Microsoft Sway, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Judy Huemann - Life and Legacy of the Mother of the Disability Rights Movement - The Huemann Perspective
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bias (27), character education (77), disabilities (31), women (140)
In the Classroom
Include this site with other resources featuring women role models, biographical topics, and career exploration information. Since this website has extensive information from around the web, consider using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, as a resource to share information and sources with students. While "Patient No More" is for high school and beyond, there are parts that can be pulled out for your elementary students. For instance, there are videos you can use with Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add comments and discussion questions for younger students. In addition, there is an observation chart where students wander around their environment, recording where there are examples of accessibility or a lack of accessibility.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Women Advancing Equality - Patsy Mink - The Asian America Education Project
Grades
1 to 8tag(s): bias (27), character education (77), racism (79), women (140)
In the Classroom
Use this lesson in your American history units or studies about famous women. Create a reading guide for your younger students and struggling readers using Read Ahead, reviewed here, then introduce this lesson on your interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Extend student learning by having them participate in a Screenpal, reviewed here video discussion to record their discussion with peers. Ask them to explain what they learned about Patsy Mink and women in general, then have them listen to and comment on their classmates' impressions. Use this Screenpal tool throughout the year to add students' thoughts about other famous people you study during the school year.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Amelia Earhart - History.com
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1900s (74), aviation (38), careers (140), flight (31), transformations (12), women (140)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students when learning about famous women, aviation pioneers, or important events from the 1900s. Share your resources using Symbaloo, reviewed here, and organize information on your Symbaloo by color. For example, add biographies as one color and important events as another. Enhance learning by creating an interactive map together with your students using Google My Maps, reviewed here, to follow Earhart's travels around the world along with other famous aviators. Add stops to your map that share the story of events in the location, including images and links to additional information. As a final project, ask students or student groups to create an interactive timeline of Amelia Earhart's life using one of the timeline creation tools located here. A good suggestion is Timeline Infographic Templates.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Annie Jump Cannon: Biographical Digital Resources - Project PHaEDRA
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): biographies (95), scientists (63), stars (70), STEM (279), women (140)
In the Classroom
Include this collection with your other resources when teaching lessons about astronomers, famous women, or scientists. Use Wakelet, reviewed here, to curate resources and videos (Youtube videos) to share with students. As you provide time for students to explore this collection, use edpuzzle, reviewed here, with the videos to enhance learning. Add questions or comments to the videos that encourage students to focus on the importance of Cannon's work in the field of astronomy. When sharing articles that contain difficult reading selections, use Read Ahead, reviewed here, to transform the text into a Guided Reading activity that includes a focus on keywords and vocabulary found in the text.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and the Components of Stars - Project PHaEDRA
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): biographies (95), elements (34), scientists (63), stars (70), STEM (279), women (140)
In the Classroom
Share this collection with students to explore when learning about famous Women in History, scientific advancements, or during an astronomy unit. Ask collaborative groups to work together and share information found in the collection. Use a collaborative note-taking tool such as Notejoy, reviewed here, to have students share ideas and information using checklists, adding images and links, and documenting individual contributions to the project. You may also want to show a few videos, or provide a list for students to watch using Youtube videos. Ask groups or individuals to share their learning using a simple video creation tool like CapCut, reviewed here with voice overs and templates. Ask students to include images and require they include proper citations along with their original work.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teachers Righting History - Rosie Rios
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): biographies (95), currency (14), women (140)
In the Classroom
Download and share the database provided on the site as a starting point for many different history projects. Enhance student learning and begin your project by having students choose a famous woman and personalizing a dollar bill with her image using Festisite Money, reviewed here. As students continue researching famous women, share our TeachersFirst Women's History Month Resources located here, as a starting point for finding information. Instead of just creating a list of online resources for student research, engage students by creating interactive learning activities using a tool like FigJam, reviewed here. Google Jamboard allows you to highlight, add comments, and add sticky notes including video to any web page. Students reply directly within the page and add their own notes. As a final project, enhance learning by asking students to use a timeline tool like Time Graphics Timeline Maker, reviewed here, to share information about their research and add context with other historical events of the time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Women with Altitude - NetFlights
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): aviation (38), biographies (95), flight (31), pioneers (9), women (140)
In the Classroom
Share this timeline when studying pioneers in different fields or include in Women's History Month lessons. Each entry provides a short introduction to the featured woman. Challenge students to use the entry as a starting point to research the aviator more fully. Have students save their resources using a bookmarking tool like Papaly, reviewed here, and include a link to their resources with the final project. Papaly allows you to collaborate and add notes to bookmarks making this a useful tool for use with group projects. Replace paper and pen timelines by asking students to create their own timelines exploring the life of a famous pioneer using Turbo Timeline Generator, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Florence Nightingale Museum - The Florence Nightingale Museum
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): biographies (95), character education (77), heroes (25), medicine (56)
In the Classroom
Florence Nightingale is a favorite subject for biographies, particularly during Women's History Month. The biography and digital artifacts from her life will be useful to students who are researching the impact she made on modern medicine and nursing. Use this research information to create a simple infographic about Nightingale, using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, or Venngage, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Amelia Earhart - The Official Website - Family of Amelia Earhart
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): aviation (38), careers (140), famous people (20), flight (31), women (140)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students when researching famous Americans, women, flight, or careers. Enhance learning by having students use a mapping tool such as Google Earth, reviewed here, to create an audio (and visual) tour of Amelia Earhart's journeys. Her story could also offer a powerful writing prompt for an essay about people who take on formidable challenges/adventures. Substitute a blog tool such as edublog, reviewed here, for paper and pen.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Not For Ourselves Alone - PBS
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): biographies (95), women (140), womens suffrage (46)
In the Classroom
If you're looking for one site on the early women's movement or the women's suffrage movement, this one may do it. Take advantage of the lesson plans and resources therein. Once students know the history of the early women's movement, brainstorm more current information about women's rights and the women involved that could be included on this page. Have students or groups collect ideas and findings using Dotstorming, reviewed here. Dotstorming will allow students to include video, images, text, audio, voting & a chat box.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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