From Hatshepsut ruling Egypt as a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty to Hillary Clinton’s historic run for president of the United States, women have always played an important role in shaping the world we live in. As an elementary school teacher, assigning projects about famous women will teach children the roles women have played throughout world history and help them understand the importance of gender equality. These easy projects can be assigned as individual or group projects, and all of them can be adapted and adjusted to cater to any elementary grade.
Famous Female Poster
Have your students choose a famous woman to study. You can instruct each child to choose a famous woman or you can assign pairs and have two students work together on this project. Students should create an educational poster that combines facts about her life as well as pictures. Facts could include when she was born, where she lived and what she is best known for. Pictures could include portraits of her, pictures of where she lived or pictures of statues that have been made in her honor. Younger students should write and draw their facts and pictures, whereas older students can type the facts and print out pictures from the Internet. Host a presentation day in class where the students share their posters and teach their classmates about the famous woman they studied.
First-Person Character Study
Assign the students a famous woman to study or allow them to choose one on their own. Provide in-class research time for the students to study the life of their famous female by reading books in the library or searching the Internet. Younger students will likely require assistance in researching their famous female. Instruct the children to write a first-person narrative in which they speak as the famous woman they studied. The speech should highlight key facts about her life such as when and where she was born, what she did to become famous and possibly a few “fun facts” that are known about her. Host a presentation day where the students read their first-person narratives to the class.
Portrait
Help students choose a famous woman to do their project on. Famous women can be famous celebrities or historical female figures. Give students time to research and draw a picture of the women they are studying. The drawing should represent her life and what she is famous for. For example, if a student chooses Jane Goodall, they could draw a picture of Jane Goodall with a chimpanzee . Hang the pictures around the classroom to share them with other students.