Kids are never too young to learn about the amazing women who have shaped history. Women’s History Month is the perfect time to highlight incredible women in your homeschool reading and writing program. Check out these four easy ways to make it happen.
1. Inspirational Copywork
Elementary kids often need all the penmanship practice they can get. Instead of asking them to practice lists of letters or random words, give them a more meaningful handwriting assignment.
- Pick a biography from LightSail’s collection.
- Flip through the pages to find a sentence or two that describes the woman’s life.
- Rewrite the sentence on a sheet of handwriting paper. Leave space beneath each line so that your young learner can copy the text.
- If space allows, encourage your child to illustrate the sentence after copying it.
For example, open the book Sojourner Truth: Fighting for Freedom. Turn to page 20, which offers a quick summary of this woman’s life: “Sojourner Truth worked to end slavery and to get equal rights for women. She believed all people should be equal and free.”
If you’d like, pair that passage with the video “Who Was Sojourner Truth?” It includes photos of Sojourner that could help with the illustration portion of the assignment.
(Image credit: womenshistory.org)
2. Biographical Timeline
Older elementary kids may be ready to venture into the world of research reports, but the thought of writing a five-paragraph essay might fill them with dread. Why not make the project more fun by encouraging your students to create a timeline of a famous person’s life? They’ll still engage in research and demonstrate what they’ve learned, but it will be more fun — for them and for you!
Kids can make a multimedia timeline in LightSail. To get started, navigate to the World Book section in the Reading tab. Click on “Timelines,” and then tap “Create a Timeline.”
Amelia Earhart would be a great woman to feature in this way. For research, your students can read Famous Americans: Amelia Earhart, scan the “Amelia Earhart” entry in the Biography Center, and watch the video “Women’s History Activator: Amelia Earhart.”
Then, as they enter events into their timelines, be sure to let them know about the “Add Media” tab. World Book comes preloaded with several images of Earhart that they can insert into their timelines. They can upload their own photos to use, too.
(Image credit: britannica.com)
3. Poem Writing
As you’re looking for women’s biographies, don’t miss the audio picture book Rise! It’s a breathtaking retelling of Maya Angelou’s life. There’s a poetic grace to this book, and that’s a fitting tribute to Angelou’s own artistry.
Kids who learn about Angelou and her poems might enjoy writing a few poems of their own.
Acrostics are an easy style for new poets. Writers match each letter of a name or a word to a phrase about the subject matter. Give your students the assignment to make an acrostic poem using “MAYA ANGELOU” as the starting letters.
(Need help getting started with acrostic poetry? Don’t miss the guide Bow-Tie Pasta: Acrostic Poems, which will walk kids through what to do.)
(Image credit: glamourmagazine.co.uk)
4. My Own TED Talk
Have your kids watched any of LightSail’s TED-Ed videos? If so, they might be ready to prepare an educational talk of their own. To make it easy, writing a TED Talk is one of the Authentic Writing prompts included in many LightSail books.
You can assign your students a biography of a famous woman to read. Then, have them write a TED Talk script to go along with the book. Their goal should be to inform listeners about the woman and her contributions.
Encourage your kids to include compelling facts that illustrate the difference she’s made in the world. For example, if you assign An American Icon: Oprah Winfrey, your kids could mention that she was Nashville’s first Black news anchor and that her talk show has been seen by millions of people.
(Image credit: biography.com)
How will you use women’s biographies in your homeschool this Women’s History Month? Whatever your approach, be sure to include LightSail in your plans. Your students can explore great women through nonfiction texts, classic books, videos, encyclopedia entries, TED-Ed Talks, and more.
Posted on 3.Mar.22 in Book Recommendations
