Exploring Women’s Rights: The 1908 Textile Strike in a 1st-grade Class
Teaching Activity PDF. By Dale Weiss. 3 pages.
A teacher’s reflections about a curriculum unit on women’s rights contextualizes the history of the feminist movement within the broader struggle of people working for greater equality in the United States.
Download PDF.
While teaching 1st graders in a small working-class town north of Seattle, I always emphasized issues of fairness—both helping students recognize when something is unfair, and teaching that one can always do something to make a situation more fair.
Through many discussions on gender-related stereotypes and giving girls and boys the same opportunities, my students had a fairly basic understanding of gender equity. However, it was also important to me that they understand sexism within the context of the history of the feminist movement and this country’s long tradition of people working for greater equality.
Thus I used the opportunity of International Women’s Day to develop a curriculum unit that brought these issues to the fore. The unit took several days, and culminated in a book created by the students.
Published by Rethinking Schools.
Keywords: working-class, sexism, feminist movement, garment workers, factories, strike, March 8, 1908, New York City, child labor, “Bread and Roses”, Socialist International, United Nations, “storybook page”
Post a comment
Explore by Time Period
- Colonization
- Revolution & Constitution
- Early 19th Century
- Civil War Era
- Reconstruction Period
- Industrial Revolution
- Turn of the Century
- World War I
- Prosperity, Depression, & World War II
- Cold War
- People’s Movement
- 1975 – 2000
- 2001 – Present
- 18th Century
- 19th Century
- 20th Century
- All US History
- 21st Century
Explore by Theme
- African American
- Art & Music
- Asian American
- Civil Rights Movements
- Criminal Justice
- Democracy & Citizenship
- Disability
- Economics
- Education
- Environment & Food
- Immigration
- Imperialism
- Individuals in US History
- Labor
- Language Arts
- Latino
- Laws & Citizen Rights
- LGBT
- Media
- Native American
- Organizing
- Pacific Islander
- Racism & Racial Identity
- Science
- Slavery
- Social Class
- Sports
- US Foreign Policy
- Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
- Women's History
- World History/Global Studies
List of Resources
- Articles
- Audio
- Books: Fiction
- Books: Non-Fiction
- Films
- Picture Books
- Posters
- Profiles
- Songs and Poems
- Spanish/Bilingual
- Teaching Activity PDFs
- Teaching Guides
- Websites
Reading Level
Facebook Status
Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 13:46 Happy birthday Alice Walker. Author and activist.
History in Pictures - February
Alice Walker, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, author, and activist, was born in Eatonton, Georgia, on Feb. 9, 1944.
See Walker's website for photos, essays, poems, books, and conversations: http://alicewalkersgarden.com/
Also, see:
Undaunted By The Fight: Spelman College And The Civil Rights Movement, 1957-1967: http://zinnedproject.org/posts/5544
"Saying goodbye to my friend @[151141887957:274:Howard Zinn]" in @[5637143257:274:The Boston Globe]: http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2010/01/31/alice_walker_says_goodbye_to_her_friend_howard_zinn/
Interviews on @[17414523278:274:Democracy Now!]: http://www.democracynow.org/appearances/alice_walker
Image from Architects of Peace: http://www.architectsofpeace.org/architects-of-peace/alice-walker
History in Pictures features just a few of the many stories that are often left out of the textbooks. The sources for these stories include: This Week in History from Peace Buttons (http://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/thisweek.htm), Planning to Change the World: A Social Justice Plan Book for Teachers (http://www.justiceplanbook.com/), This Day in Civil Rights History (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/13684), History.com (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history), 50 American Revolutions You Are Not Supposed to Know (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/11632), A People's History of the United States (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/67), Black Facts Online (http://www.blackfacts.com), Today in Labor History (http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history), and many more.
Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 13:07 The National Museum of the American Indian is in the early planning stages for an exhibit on the Native people of New York State and the surrounding regions. They seek insights into how teachers are covering historic and contemporary issues around Native Americans in their classrooms so that they can best integrate the needs of students and teachers into the exhibition. If you are currently teaching, or have recently taught content related to Native Americans from the Northeast, they would appreciate hearing your input on the survey at the link below. As a thank you, you will automatically be entered in a raffle to win one of three books.
Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 7:31 On this day in 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Dep't. The speech grabbed national headlines and launched the paranoia and persecution now known as “McCarthyism.”
Here are classroom resources, including a young adult novel, on McCarthyism:http://zinnedproject.org/posts/tag/mccarthyism
Are there other books, films, lessons you recommend to teach about McCarthyism?
History in Pictures - February
On Feb 9, 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech at the McLure Hotel during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Department. The speech grabbed national headlines and launched the paranoia and persecution now known as “McCarthyism.”
Here are classroom resources, including a young adult novel, on McCarthyism: http://zinnedproject.org/posts/tag/mccarthyism
History in Pictures features just a few of the many stories that are often left out of the textbooks. The sources for these stories include: This Week in History from Peace Buttons (http://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/thisweek.htm), Planning to Change the World: A Social Justice Plan Book for Teachers (http://www.justiceplanbook.com/), This Day in Civil Rights History (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/13684), History.com (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history), 50 American Revolutions You Are Not Supposed to Know (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/11632), A People's History of the United States (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/67), Black Facts Online (http://www.blackfacts.com), Today in Labor History (http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history), and many more.
You must login to comment.