5 Ways to Use Edpuzzle for Women’s History Month

Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women. — Maya Angelou

Educating your students about the importance of women throughout history is one of our duties as teachers, and Women’s History Month in March is the perfect opportunity to dedicate some time to doing exactly that.

Students of all genders and backgrounds will benefit from learning about women they may not have heard of before, or going more in-depth on historical figures that traditional curriculum only scratches the surface of.

At Edpuzzle, we love coming up with creative ways to use technology to help celebrate Women’s History Month. Check out our ideas that you can use with your elementary, middle and high schoolers, and even with your school staff, because we’re all lifelong learners!

Complete Edpuzzle’s Equal Rights Online Certification

If you’re looking for something your students can work on throughout Women’s History Month, check out Edpuzzle’s Equal Rights online student certification.

Ideal for middle and high schoolers, this online course is made up of interactive video lessons with modules on human rights, inspiring women in history, what role men can play in feminism and more.

As you start off your class discussions on feminism, it’s important to expressly define what the term actually means and clear up any misinterpretations. This course is a great place to start.

Read more about how to incorporate the Equal Rights online certification into your lesson plans and adapt Edpuzzle’s video lessons to fit your students’ needs. They’ll even earn a badge when they complete it!

Assign a Student Project

Giving your students some agency over their learning is a powerful thing. Assigning a project will allow your students to unleash their creativity and do a deep-dive on the topic of their choice, which is fantastic for engagement!

When you assign a student project on Edpuzzle, students will be able to upload YouTube videos from sources like PBS, Crash Course, TED Talks, etc. to the platform. Then they have the option of adding comprehension questions, voiceover, audio notes and hyperlinks to external sources just to name a few options, although the possibilities are endless.

The great thing is that you can do this with any grade level or subject area – think video book reports for ELA, in-depth historical biographies for social studies, experiments inspired by famous women scientists, and the list goes on.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to video project options related to women’s history!

Read a Story About Women’s History on Edpuzzle for Elementary Students

There are also plenty of options for using technology with your younger students for Women’s History Month.

One idea we love is doing storytime with your students using Edpuzzle (and it’s a great chance for teachers to rest their voice!). You can either record a video of yourself reading a story for your students which you can use from year to year, or search from one of the many read-alouds available online.

The KidTimeStoryTime YouTube channel has a whole video playlist dedicated to Women’s History Month, with stories about Ella Fitzgerald, Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo, Susan B. Anthony, Malala Yousafzai and more!

Use Live Mode for Class Discussion

Given the wealth of misinformation and emotional responses surrounding feminism, Women’s History Month is an ideal opportunity for engaging your students in thoughtful, respectful debate.

Spark your students’ interest by kicking off your debate with a video, like this one from CBS News:

Or this TED Talk on the #MeToo movement:

Edit your video, adding reflection questions or comments throughout it, and then use Edpuzzle’s live mode feature to watch together as a class.

Students’ responses to your questions will be displayed anonymously, and you can use these pauses for questions to kick-off a conversation about their answers.

Teaching students how to respectfully engage in a dialogue is a life skill that will benefit them enormously and help you to foster a more inclusive classroom environment.

Create an Open Class for Staff Education

Finally, what about you and your fellow teachers? Why not turn Women’s History Month into a PD opportunity?

Don’t let those initials scare you… when we talk about PD via Edpuzzle, we’re talking about those same interactive video lessons that your students love, but made for you, so that you can work on them whenever is most convenient for you (like while you’re at home in your comfy clothes!).

With an open class, you don’t have to worry about logging in to the platform, and anyone can join with a class code, so it’s perfect for staff training.

Some examples of videos to fit in with the theme of teacher training for Women’s History Month could be this one with teens explaining why pronouns are important:

Or this one from Vox on the gender wage gap (which still exists in education):

Enlighten your teaching staff and engage in some truly worthwhile professional development – what’s not to like about that?

So, we hope you’re feeling inspired to try out some technology this year for Women’s History Month and beyond… remember, celebrating women during the month of March is a great start, but don’t forget to incorporate these topics into your teaching all year round!