4th grade, Women’s Suffrage Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Lesson Plan: Why is the Right to Vote Important?
Download a PDF of all the resources and materials in this unit.
Compelling Question
- Why is the right to vote important?
- Why did women fight for and win the right to vote in Washington state? What happened when they did?
Standards and Practices
- C1.4.2 Identify core virtues and democratic principles found in the Washington state constitution and foundational documents.
- C1.4.2 Identify core virtues and democratic principles found in the Washington state constitution and foundational documents.
- H1.4.1 Create timelines to show how historical events are organized into time periods and eras.
Staging the Question
Spend a few moments with your students talking about what voting means to them.
Consider the following points in your discussion: What do we vote for? Who can vote in the United States today? (In Washington state, you must be a citizen, at least 18 years old. If someone committed a serious crime, called a felony, they are allowed to vote once they are not in prison or community custody. However, some other states do not allow people who did these crimes to vote. )
Why would you want to vote? Alternatively, you might wish to ask them why they think people do not vote.