Let's Teach About Women

Making Waves:

The Women's Movement in Newfoundland and Labrador from 1970-1989

• Home
• Timeline of Events
• Important Issues, Events, and Milestones
• The Women Involved
• Other Important Women
• Status of Women Councils
• Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women
• Other Women's Organizations
• Historic Documents
• Gallery
• For Teachers
• Useful Links and Resources

Project Information

• About This Project
• Use of Website Material
• Contact Us

Financial assistance for this website was provided by the Women's Program, Status of Women Canada. Additional support was provided by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association (Equity Committee); Department of Education (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador); Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Website (Memorial University of Newfoundland); and the Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Any opinions expressed in this website do not necessarily represent the official policy of Status of Women Canada or of our other partners.

Grade 7 Social Studies Lesson Plans

LESSON 1: Who Has the Power?

Time Frame:
One 56-minute period

Specific Curriculum Outcome
Students will be expected to:

• 7.1.1 Explore the general concept of empowerment.

Lesson Objective
To develop an understanding of the concepts of empowerment and disempowerment.

Skills and Processes
In this lesson students will:

• Use a variety of structures to communicate ideas and information
• View and read to locate information from a primary source
• Explore ideas and issues with others

Historical Question
How did Newfoundland and Labrador women bring about change that resulted in their empowerment?

Overview
Students will extend the learning of Unit 1 in their student text Empowerment by exploring the Let’s Teach About Women website to find examples of how Newfoundland and Labrador women fought for change and empowered themselves.

Click here for a printable version of the student handout to go with this lesson

Activity 1

Students will visit the Let’s Teach About Women website to locate and read about three (3) examples of how Newfoundland and Labrador women fought for a particular change and empowered themselves.

Activity 2

Students will discuss the examples they read about on the website in a class discussion. They will also discuss the question: “Are there issues that still need to be addressed so that women are empowered in their lives

Activity 3

Home assignment: Students will design and create a button for ONE of the examples they read about in Activity 1. Students will bring their button to class to display.

Activity 4

Students will answer the historical question.

Assessment Ideas:
Teachers can use RST 8: Participation Observation Sheet in the Teacher’s Guide of the Grade 7 Social Studies course to track students’ developing abilities in group discussion.

LESSON 2: Women In Politics

Time Frame:
Two 56-minute periods

Specific Curriculum Outcome:
Students will be expected to:

• 7.3.4 Explain the political structure of Canada as a result of Confederation.

Lesson Objective:
To develop an understanding of the struggle women face in becoming involved in politics at the different government levels.

Skills and Processes:
In this lesson students will:

• View to locate information
• Organize information
• Analyze data

Historical Question:
Are women represented equally at each level of government today?

Overview:
Students will read the Women and Politics webpage of the Let’s Teach About Women website for background and then use other sources to complete a table on Newfoundland and Labrador women in politics from 1950 to the present day. They will then analyze the data using guided questions. 

Click here for a printable version of the student handout to go with this lesson

Activity 1

Students will read the Women and Politics webpage of the Let’s Teach About Women website for background. Students will then visit government websites at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels to locate information on how many women have been in municipal, provincial, and federal politics from 1950 to the present day.

Activity 2

Students will complete the table provided

LESSON 3: Women In Politics (con’t)

Activity 3

Students will analyze the data in the table using the questions provided on their handout.

Activity 4

Students will answer the historical question.

Assessment Ideas
Teachers can review:

• Students’ ability to locate and use various websites to locate appropriate information.
• Students’ ability to analyze data to draw conclusions.