Resources to Teach Women in History for Special Education

The month of March is National Women's History Month. What a great time to teach about some influential women in history. I've compiled some of my favorite resources to use with your special education class to get you started.


Women's History in Special Education - Resources to teach about Influential Women in History

Introduce the month by using this free national day journal activity that introduces the month of March as Women's History month. There are four different levels to help you reach all of your learners. 

National Women's History month started as a day. International Women's Day is March 8th. This short video from PBS is a great introduction on the topic.


Symbol Supported Women's History Biographies


These symbol supported biographies briefly introduce these 10 different women in history: 
  • Susan B Anthony
  • Mother Teresa
  • Amelia Earhart
  • Sacagawea
  • Princess Diana
  • Anne Frank
  • Whitney Houston
  • Helen Keller
  • Sally Ride
  • Eleanor Roosevelt 
  • (also check out Black History biographies for Harriet Tubman, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Rosa Parks)


What I love about the symbol supported biographies is they provide key information without being overwhelming and the symbol support helps even non readers learn to read and understand the symbols and the story. And there is no writing necessary to complete the comprehension activities, students can cut and paste, circle or use a dot marker to answer.


 If you don't need the symbol support for all of your students, the same stories are also available without symbols.

Need it available for your students to complete electronically? These are available with drag and drop features on Google Slides or you can use with any PDF writer such as Kami, SeeSaw, or the TpT Digital Tool.


Grab digital women's history stories HERE!

Online Women's History Resources

The National Women's History Museum has a lot of great digital classroom resources to check out. You can use the search feature to quickly search who you are looking for. I especially like the storytime videos. They also have virtual field trips.


Brain Pop has a lot of Women's History video and Brain Pop Jr  also has a few of them (Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman and a couple others). I usually preferred Brain Pop Jr, as it was a bit easier to understand for my low-incidence sped classes but I have definitely used both. I like the quiz at the end to help assess what your students learned and it's easy to pause the video and check for comprehension during it as well. If you don't have a subscription, you can sign up for a free 30 day trial or try out some of their free videos!

Read Aloud Books

I absolutely love the "I am ..." books by Brad Meltzer. 

He has a read aloud of his book "I am Helen Keller". It is my absolute favorite!!


Here's another read-aloud of another of his books. "I am Amelia Earhart". His picture books can be enjoyed by all ages and always have an encouraging message at the end.


Symbol Supported Women's History Quotes


Helen Keller: "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It's what the sunflowers do." 

What a great reminder to stay focused on the positives.


Harriet Tubman: "Always remember, you have the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."


Eleanor Roosevelt: "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do."



Mother Teresa: "Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."

I especially love this quote to share with students who may not feel like they are physically able to do much to help others. A smile can make a world of a difference and their smiles are a gift!

Just click the images above and print or download these free posters and more!

Ideas and Activities for Women's History Month designed for special education classes



I hope that gives you some ideas to teach Women's History this month. Feel free to leave any other great resources in the comments!

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