There are so many amendments, acts, and actions taken to progress voting rights that it may seem overwhelming to students. The goal of this activity is to have them dig deep into one specific moment, whether it be women petitioning for the right to vote or the Nationality Act. Students will examine what measures were in place, how they lead to the moment in question, and the impact of that moment.
As an extension activity, students may want to create a biography poster that highlights a significant figure in the progression of voting rights. For this, students will provide a brief overview of their person, as well as the actions they took and the impact of those actions on voting rights and history.
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Due Date:
Objective: Create a 5 cell storyboard that outlines a major milestone in voting rights.
Student Instructions:
Requirements:
Encourage teamwork and deeper understanding by having students work together to build a shared timeline of voting rights milestones. This activity helps students see connections and enhances engagement.
Divide your class so each group is responsible for one or two key events in voting history. This allows every student to become an expert and fosters ownership over their part of the timeline.
Share books, websites, and primary sources so students can gather accurate information. Give them a checklist of what to include, like the date, people involved, and the impact of the event.
Ask students to draw, print, or digitally design images and write a brief narrative that explains their assigned milestone. Visuals help make the timeline engaging and memorable.
Put the events in order on a wall, bulletin board, or digital platform. Let each group share their research. Discuss connections between milestones to reinforce historical progression and cause/effect relationships.
Facilitate a class discussion or have students write about what surprised them and how each event influenced voting rights today. Reflection helps students internalize and personalize their learning.
A voting rights research project is an assignment where students explore key events, amendments, and figures that shaped voting rights in history. Students focus on a specific moment or individual, analyze its causes and impact, and often present their findings through creative formats like storyboards or posters.
To guide students, instruct them to select a major voting rights milestone, break it into five narrative steps, and illustrate each step visually. Encourage them to use the description boxes for storytelling and include relevant scenes, people, and actions to explain how the event unfolded and its impact.
Examples include the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 15th Amendment prohibiting racial discrimination, and the Nationality Act. Each represents a significant step toward expanding democratic participation in the United States.
Students should research influential activists or leaders like Susan B. Anthony, John Lewis, or Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They should select someone whose actions had a major impact on voting rights, then summarize their contributions and explain their historical significance in the poster.
The best way is through project-based learning, where students connect events to real-world outcomes. Encourage them to analyze the before and after effects of each milestone and discuss how these changes shaped society, using visuals and storytelling to reinforce understanding.