Women in History: A Fifth Grade Text Set

Rationale

This is a text set designed for 5th grade students, but could easily be adapted to fit most grades with the exception of a few texts. Women in history is an important topic to study in order to covey to all students, regardless of gender, that they can accomplish any dream they have if they set their mind to it. Young women, especially in adolescence, need role models that have defied stereotypes in order to achieve their goals to show them that they, too, can beat the odds. Young men need to learn at a young age that women should be seen as equals, and it is okay for boys to have women as role models, too. Many of the items in this text set are multi-cultural, which provides an unbiased and universal account of history from the perspectives of women around the globe, not just Americans. This text set can be used to enhance the learning of the six areas of language arts, but also meets cross-curricular standards such as history.

Summary

Three brilliant African-American women at NASA — Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson — serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation's confidence, turned around the Space Race and galvanized the world.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Vocabulary and Comprehension

Six Areas of Language Arts: Viewing and Writing

Standard: W.5.3 – Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Objective: Students will be able to construct an alternate ending to a film using specific vocabulary terms. (Bloom's Level - Create)

I would use this film to meet the standard listed above by asking students to write an alternate ending following the film. This would give students the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the content of the film, including relevant vocabulary, and offer practice in writing a narrative.

She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Don Tate, Balzer & Bray, ISBN 0061349208, 32 pages, Children's Literature/Biographies/Sports & Outdoors

Summary

Effa always loved baseball. As a young woman, she would go to Yankee Stadium just to see Babe Ruth’s mighty swing. But she never dreamed she would someday own a baseball team. Or be the first — and only — woman ever inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. From her childhood in Philadelphia to her groundbreaking role as business manager and owner of the Newark Eagles, Effa Manley always fought for what was right. And she always swung for the fences. From author Audrey Vernick and illustrator Don Tate comes the remarkable story of an all-star of a woman.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Comprehension

Six Areas of Language Arts: Critical thinking and Reading

Standard: RL.5.6 – Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

Objective: Students will be able to interpret how a narrator's perspective influences the way events are described. (Bloom's Level - Apply)

I would use this book to meet the standard listed above by asking students to critically think about the way the story might be different if it were told from the perspective of a man, rather than a woman. Students will consider how the events in the story are unique to this narrator's perspective.

Me, Frida by Amy Novesky, illustrated by David Diaz, Harry N. Abrams, ISBN 141971516X, 32 pages, Children's Literature/Biographies/Art/Geographies & Cultures

Summary

Like a tiny bird in a big city, Frida Kahlo feels lost and lonely when she arrives in San Francisco with her husband, the famous artist Diego Rivera. But as Frida begins to explore San Francisco on her own, she discovers the inspiration she needs to become one of the most celebrated artists of all time. Me, Frida is an exhilarating true story that encourages children to believe in themselves so they can make their own dreams soar.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Vocabulary and Comprehension

Six Areas of Language Arts: Visually Representing

Standard: RL.5.7 – Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

Objective: Students will be able to compose a story using drawings as visual elements. (Bloom's Level - Create)

I would use this book to meet the standard listed above by asking students to consider how the telling of this story is enhanced through visual elements. Students will create a story about a trial of their own they have faced using solely visual images and drawings.

For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai's Story by Rebecca Langston-George, illustrated by Janna Bock, Capstone Press, ISBN 1491465565, 40 pages, Children's Literature/Biographies/Geographies & Cultures

Summary

She grew up in a world where women were supposed to be quiet. But Malala Yousafzai refused to be silent. She defied the Taliban's rules, spoke out for education for every girl, and was almost killed for her beliefs. This powerful true story of how one brave girl named Malala changed the world proves that one person really can make a difference.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Fluency and Comprehension

Six Areas of Language Arts: Reading, Speaking, and Critical Thinking

Standard: RL.5.2 – Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

Objective: Students will be able to identify the theme of a story. (Bloom's Level - Understand)

I would use this book to meet the standard listed above by asking students to identify the theme of this story: anyone can make the smallest difference in this world if they stand for what they believe in. This piece of literature would give students practice in identifying theme while delivering a meaningful and important message for young readers.

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier, Square Fish, ISBN 0312376022, 40 pages, Children's Literature/Biographies/Education & Reference

Summary

Fifty years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important figures in the American civil rights movement. This tribute to Mrs. Parks is a celebration of her courageous action and the events that followed. Award-winning poet, writer, and activist Nikki Giovanni's evocative text combines with Bryan Collier's striking cut-paper images to retell the story of this historic event from a wholly unique and original perspective.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Vocabulary and Comprehension

Six Areas of Language Arts: Writing and Critical Thinking

Standard: W.5.1 – Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

Objective: Students will be able to defend what it means to break the law. (Bloom's Level - Evaluate)

I would use this book to meet the standard listed above by asking students to develop a written argument about what they think it means to break the law. Students will consider whether it is okay to break a rule or law for a good cause, taking the story of Rosa Parks into account.

Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank, Bantam, ISBN 9780553296983, 283 pages, History/Biographies & Memoirs

Summary

Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic — a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Vocabulary and Spelling

Six Areas of Language Arts: Writing, Reading, and Critical Thinking

Standard: W.5.3d – Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.

Objective: Students will be able to record feelings and emotions they experience while reading a text. (Bloom's Level - Apply)

I would use this book to meet the standard listed above by asking students to keep a journal throughout this story, continually logging questions, emotions, predictions, new vocabulary, chapter summaries, etc. Students will get practice conveying events from the story, much like Anne Frank recorded her own life events in her diary.

Susan B. Anthony: Fighter for Freedom and Equality by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Craig Orback, Picture Window Books, ISBN 1404831045, 24 pages, Children's Literature/Biographies

Summary

When Susan B. Anthony was born, not all Americans had the same freedoms. Find out how she fought to win equal rights for all women and men.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Fluency

Six Areas of Language Arts: Speaking

Standard: SL.5.4 – Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

Objective: Students will be able to recreate the written thoughts of others through vocal delivery. (Bloom's Level - Create)

I would use this book to meet the standard listed above by asking students to teach students about suffrage. Students will research suffragettes and retell the stories and experiences from the suffragette of their choice's perspective.

Summary

Travel through the timeline and meet some amazing women who helped shape our country's history.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Reading and Viewing

Six Areas of Language Arts: Comprehension

Standard: W.5.7 – Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

Objective: Students will be able to investigate the history of Women's History Month. (Bloom's Level - Create)

I would use this website to meet the standard listed above by asking students to research different events and women who have impacted history. Students will explain why we celebrate Women's History and present their findings to the class. This will give students practice in conducting short research projects while informing them about historical women figures.

Unidentified Photographer

Summary

Aviator Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. In 1923, Earhart, fondly known as "Lady Lindy," became the 16th woman to be issued a pilot's license. She had several notable flights, becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928, as well as the first person to fly over both the Atlantic and Pacific. In 1937, she mysteriously disappeared while trying to circumnavigate the globe from the equator.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Fluency

Six Areas of Language Arts: Speaking

Standard: SL.5.4 – Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace

Objective: Students will be able to produce a news account of an American hero based on biographical information. (Bloom's Level - Create)

I would use this image to meet the standard listed above by asking students to research this image, along with other images and scholarly articles about Amelia Earhart. Students will write and speak a news report about the disappearance and accomplishments of Amelia. This will give students an opportunity to practice reporting on a topic while learning about a very influential women in United States history.

J. Howard Miller, 1942

Summary

American women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers during World War II, as widespread male enlistment left gaping holes in the industrial labor force. Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home. “Rosie the Riveter,” star of a government campaign aimed at recruiting female workers for the munitions industry, became perhaps the most iconic image of working women during the war.

Teaching Points

5 Reading First Components: Vocabulary

Six Areas of Language Arts: Visually Representing

Standard: W.5.2d – Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

Objective: Students will be able to create a poster to demonstrate knowledge of women in the American workforce during World War II. (Bloom's Level - Create)

I would use this image to meet the standard listed above by teaching students about propaganda posters, specifically in regards to women in the American workforce, used during World War II. Students will create a poster of their own using vocabulary terms they have learned about this topic.

"It's important for young women to have a constant reminder that there are amazing female role models, and that they can do anything. Anything at all." - Ellen DeGeneres

The end

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