Wondering How to Celebrate Women's History Month?

 Women's History Month is upon us! 

How do you celebrate in the classroom?

I love to start with books! I read books by women and about women.  I read books about women's stereotypes, and books about women's struggles. We explore biographies about famous women.

And we talk. A lot! We talk about the women they know, and the women they've heard of. We talk about what it means to be a woman and what makes women powerful!

Claudio from Two Boys and a Dad has many suggestions, for books about women in this post:  Inspiring Women Children's Books

 Brenda from Enjoy Teaching has a great post with great strategies to help empower our girls: Three Ways to Empower Girls in the Classroom

 

  

Michelle from Teaching Ideas for Those Who Love Teaching has some delightful ideas for celebrating women, including book ideas and integrating history with this post:  Celebrating Women's Accomplishments

 

Here is one of my own posts, with several book ideas, and inspirational quotes by several famous women.

Inspire your girls (and boys, too!)

 Here's another one of my posts, reminding teachers (and students) that we are all unique individuals, and that needs to be celebrated: Diversity Matters! Celebrate Our Differences!

Here's a fun resource to help celebrate Women's History Month:

  

How do you celebrate Women's History Month?

Inspire Your Girls (and Boys, Too!)

March is Women's History Month! 

There just aren't enough role models in our lives for girls. But they need encouragement and inspiration just as much as the boys do!

March is a great time to explore ways to inspire your girls, since it's Women's History Month! Here are some books to share with your girls (and boys, of course!)

• A is for Awesome: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World
• Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World
• She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World
• Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World
• Bold and Brave: Ten Heroes Who Wom Women the Right to Vote
• The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience

The right words at the right time can really inspire many to improve their lives and become successful.  Here are some of my favorite quotes from women, appropriate for children.

 These are great words for girls (and boys) to think about, aren't they? 

Yes, we're expected to spend time teaching reading, writing, and math, but getting kids to think about their future and their own impact on the future is pretty important, isn't it? 

Kids need to learn about the power of their own voice, don't they?

I love to have the kiddos talk (or write) about what they think some of these quotes mean. They make great Morning Meeting prompt!

These discussions are a great way to start the day. Perfect for morning meetings!

Seriously, don't you want your students to think about this?

I have a set of 50 of these quotes, available here:

Inspirational Quotes by Women to Read and Discuss 

How you inspire your students to be the best they can be?

Diversity Matters: Celebrating Our Differences

We are all different. We are all the same.

It's tough for a lot of people to understand this!  

Right now, there are a whole lot of angry people out there bullying each other... and it isn't just kids. 

But the kids are watching, and learning from what they see around them.

How can we help children learn to appreciate the differences in others? 

The most important thing we can do is be role models: show them to appreciate and celebrate the good in others. 

Talk to them. 

Let them see you talking to others... all kinds of people!

Read to them. Read books about different kinds of people!

Whether it's Black History Month (February) Women's History Month (March) Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (May) or National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15) or even National Disability Employment Awareness Month (October), there's plenty of books to share with children that show the importance of different kinds of people. Here are a few to help you with Black History Month: (These books are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get credit for sending you to Amazon, but it doesn't cost you a cent!)

• Black Icons - An Illustrated Children's Book: Celebrating 20 Leaders & Unsung Heroes of Black History
• Things Kids Should Know About Black History: Educational Children's Book for Black History Month

• The ABCs of Black History 

• Black Heroes: A Black History Book for Kids: 51 Inspiring People from Ancient Africa to Modern-Day U.S.A.

 

A couple of books for Women's History Month:

• A is for Awesome!: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World
• Women Who Dared: 52 Stories of Fearless Daredevils, Adventurers, and Rebels
• We Are Artists: Women Who Made Their Mark on the World

And here are a few books to celebrate the best in everyone!

• All Are Welcome
• This Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World
• It's OK to be Different: A Children's Picture Book About Diversity and Kindness
• Listening with My Heart: A story of kindness and self-compassion
• All People are Beautiful
• All Different and Beautiful
• I am Enough

Here's a little activity that you can use with your students to get their minds thinking about what is fair. It's perfect for sharing about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Black History Month, Women's History Month, or any time you want the children to think about respecting others! Just or Unjust?

You can get this resource for free by signing up for our helpful emails HERE.

More than anything, please model kindness! Here's a great video that touches my heart, that says everything I want to say about modeling kindness. (Plus the children will enjoy singing along!)

Honestly, I firmly believe embracing and modeling diversity is just as important as reading and writing!

These topics are great for research, as you can see from Enjoy Teaching!

Some ideas about celebrating Black History Month from  Those Who Love Teaching.

 

 Here's a great way to combine Dr. King's life with Google maps from Two Boys and a Dad!

 

Here's another blog post I've written about Sharing Kindness: