Women’s History Month

Lesson Procedure:

Print the reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions. Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt:

Since 1987, March has been Women’s History Month in the United States. The month-long recognition and celebration of women in history can be traced back to the first International Women’s Day, which was celebrated on March 8, 1911. In the United States, the first Women’s History Day had been celebrated two years earlier in 1909. March 8 was chosen for a number of reasons, dating back perhaps as far as March 8, 1857, when legend says that a group of women factory workers in New York City protested poor working conditions. Two years later, in March of 1859, the first women’s labor union was created among these factory workers.

In the years that followed, a number of other protests by women took place on March 8. In 1908, 15,000 women workers chose March 8 to march through New York in a protest. The women were again demanding better working conditions, as well as better wages, shorter hours, and the right to vote.

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