Web Exclusive! This lesson is straight from the Internet! Read over the directions to prep students.This would make a great lesson to use in the computer lab as it contains direct links to research. The actual "game" is under the VoteQuest Link!

This interactive game teaches students about the struggle for women's voting rights. (Grades 3-5)

Welcome to the VoteQuest !

This isn’t learning "as usual." Get ready for an interactive, online game to help your students learn about a road trip that helped women gain national voting rights in the U.S. Along the way, students also will explore social causes they care about.

Computer Requirements
VoteQuest requires Flash freeware for viewing. If Flash is not installed on your computer(s), download it for free.

The game is dependent on sound. So, be sure to turn on computer speakers.

If your computer lab doesn't have enough computers to accommodate all students, break students into small groups.

• Ask the student groups to decide on a common cause and a group name before they begin the game.
   
• If a computer projector is available, show a portion of the game to the entire class before they begin group work.

Concepts Review
Concepts to Know
14th and 15th Amendments
Woman Suffrage Amendment
World War I

People to Know
Charles Erskine Scott Wood
Alice Paul
President Woodrow Wilson
Frances Joliffe
Mabel Vernon

Pre-Game Questions

• What does “the right to vote” mean?
  When elections are held to choose our community, state and national leaders, U.S. citizens who are over the age of 17 have the opportunity for their voices to be heard. Each person gets one vote. (Some states prohibit voting by adults who have been convicted of felonies.)
  
  In different periods of our nation's history, some citizens were forbidden to vote. The game we are going to play focuses on the struggle of women to obtain voting rights.
  
   
• What do you think life was like in 1915?
  They didn’t have cell phones, televisions or computers. In 1915, automobiles were a new invention. Roads were rough, and few gas stations, roadside restaurants or rest stops existed.
  
   
• What social causes do you care about?
  The game that we will be playing has to do with the women who drove across country to gain their voting rights.
  
  Everyone would like to change something. What about you? What would you like to see changed? Give some thought to what your cause is for you will be asked to give yours during the game.
  
  (Answers will vary. Students may list such causes as the need to help the homeless, the hungry, those with special needs, children and animals.)

Focus Questions to Use During the Game
Ask students to respond to the following questions during the game. As an extension, students can create and decorate individual journals based on the questions below.

Travel Point: San Francisco, California
 

• Who was the group leader?
  Sara Bard Field
  
   
• How many signatures where on the petition when the women began their cross-country journey?
  Half-million
  
   
• What cause did the petition support?
  Women’s right to vote
  
   
• What is your quest for change?
  Answers will vary.

Travel Point: Reno, Nevada
 

• What happened to the women in the desert?
  They forgot to pack a map; they got lost in the desert, and they worried they would run out of gas.
  
   
• What tools would you need to make your quest successful?
  Answers will vary.
  
   
• What was Sara trying to accomplish by giving a speech?
  Answers will vary. As they traveled through towns, she gave impromptu speeches asking for support.

Travel Point: Salt lake City, Utah
 

• How long had Utah women had the right to vote?
  Forty years
  
   
• Why did the White women exclude African-American women from their efforts for voting rights?
  Answers may vary. The answer to this question is not written in the text of the game, but the game's narrator, Erin, condemns the White suffragists for being exclusionary. Here's a little history to flesh out classroom discussions:
  
  When African-American men gained the vote in 1870 by way of the 15th Amendment, some White suffragists resented the fact that Black men could vote when they couldn't.
  
  In the early 20th century, white Southern women began to join the suffrage movement. Northern suffragists, in order to appease their Southern sisters and to win support for women’s suffrage throughout the South, began espousing racist ideas.
  
  White suffragists argued that giving women the vote would prevent Blacks from gaining too much political power in the South. Even Sara Bard Field used this racist argument.
  
  African-American women remained undaunted, however, and formed their own suffrage organizations.
  
   
• If you were working to fix a social injustice or problem, how would you make sure that a diverse group of people participated?
  Answers will vary.

Travel Point: Kansas City, Kansas
 

• Why did Sara conduct her interview with the newspaper while she was under the bedspread?
  She was so muddy from her trek through the rain that her clothes had to be cleaned, but she had only one change of clothes. She was so determined to get the message out, however, that she spoke with the newspaper from under the bedspread.
  
   
• If the newspaper in your town wrote a story about your cause, what would you want the headline to say?
  Answers will vary.

Travel Point: Chicago, Illinois
 

• In Chicago, Sara gave her speech to a "sea of people." What does this phrase mean?
  Answers will vary.
  
   
• Did the mayor of Chicago agree that women should have the right to vote?
  Yes.
  
   
• Near the end of their trip, Ingeborg becomes very jealous of Sara and threatens to kill her. (Ingeborg thinks Sara is getting too much attention.)
  
  1. What would you do if you were Sara?
  2. How might you resolve the conflict?
  3. What advice would you give to Sara and Ingeborg?
  
  Answers will vary.
  
   
• Did women in Chicago already have the right to vote?
  Yes. (Erin, the narrator, mentions this.)
  
   
• What would you say or do to convince opponents of your cause that you have a good idea?
  Answers will vary. Students will type in their answer in the game as well. As an extension activity,students can debate the issue with each other, switch sides and debate again.

Travel Point: Detroit, Michigan
 

• How many other cars joined them in Detroit?
  Forty
  
   
• How many more signatures did they get for the petition?
  Four thousand
  
   
• Whose hometown was it?
  Sara Bard Field
  
   
• Would your hometown support your quest for change? Why?
  Answers will vary.

Travel Point: New York City, New York
 

• Why did journalists want to disprove that the women drove across the country?
  Many people did not want women to win the right to vote. So, they tried to make the suffragists appear as if they were dishonest.
  
   
• Why did the banner read “On to Congress”?
  The women were on their way to Washington, D.C. They hoped their petition would spur support in Congress for a women's suffrage amendment.

Travel Point: Washington, D. C.
 

• Which president of the United States greeted the women?
  President Woodrow Wilson
  
   
• In 1915, how many states allowed women to vote?
  In 1915, twelve states allowed women to vote.
  
   
• How many more years did it take for women to get the vote?
  Erin, the narrator, tells players that it took five more years. The amendment that gave women the vote became law on August 26, 1920.

Extension Questions
 

• What is the difference between a constitutional amendment and other federal legislation?
  Before an amendment can be added to the Constitution, two-thirds of the Congress and three-quarters of state legislatures must agree to it. Other federal legislation requires only a majority of votes in both houses of Congress. It is very difficult to get amendments ratified; only 27 have been approved in our nation's history.
  
   
• Why do you think it took so long for feminists to get the Woman Suffrage Amendment ratified?
  The suffragists had to overcome social assumptions about women’s abilities. They also had to go through all the steps that it takes to ratify an amendment.
  
   
• In what ways did industrialization and inventions of the times, like the telephone and the automobile, help women gain the right to vote?
  Answers will vary. As the scale of manufacturing increased with industrialization, women were increasingly able to find work in industry. As more and more women began working as laborers, it became harder for men to argue that women were incapable of being good citizens. Improvements in communication and transportation also helped spread new social ideas.
  
   
• In what ways do you think the cross-country road trip helped women gain the right to vote?
  Answers will vary. Field and her fellow travelers helped boost awareness nationwide. Their cross-country journey also demonstrated how resourceful and independent women could be. By 1917, 20 states had grated women the right to vote – many of them states where Field and the others had stopped in during their cross-country trip.

Writing Assignments
 

• Select one of the people mentioned in VoteQuest and retell the events leading up to the passage of the 19th Amendment (Woman Suffrage Amendment) as told from that person’s point of view. Be sure to include that person’s role in the sequence of events.
  
   
• Imagine that Sara Bard Field is able to return and see what things are like today. What would impress her? What would she think about the status of women in America today? What might disappoint her? What social cause would she support in today's America?
  
   
• Suffragists like Sara Bard Field and Alice Paul made many speeches. Imagine you are a suffragist in 1915 who is scheduled to deliver a public address. What do you say?
  
   
• The 1920 election was the first to be covered by radio broadcast. Research what happened during the election. Then, imagine you are a radio commentator; write a script for the election's coverage. You might include commercial breaks and interviews with the candidates, political analysts or others who have a stake in the outcome.

Project Ideas
 

• Starting with the events included in VoteQuest, create a timeline for the history of women's suffrage in the United States. Do some extra research and add additional related events to the sequence.
  
   
• Today, a monument of Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony sits in the rotunda of U.S. Capitol. But for 75 years, it sat in the Capitol’s basement instead.
  
  Research the reasons behind the monument's change in location. Is the monument an appropriate celebration of the women's suffrage movement's successes? Why?
  
  If you think it is, write an essay supporting your opinion. If not, describe in writing or draw a statue that you think would be more appropriate.
  
   
• Prepare your own local celebration for the next Women’s Equality Day (August 26th each year). Stage an original play depicting an important moment in suffrage history -- such as the meeting between Sara Bard Field and President Wilson at the end of the cross-country road trip.
  
   
• Compare women’s clothes in 1915 with the way women dress today. How might changes in style reflect the changing roles of women in society? Prepare a fashion show highlighting the differences -- in style and in roles.
  
   
• It took Sara Bard Field and her fellow travelers almost three months to drive from California to Washington, D.C. Estimate how long that trip would take today -- by car, airplane, train, bicycle and any other forms of transportation you’d like to research. Create a graph showing your results.
  
   
• Everyone would like to change something. What about you? Create a brochure that describes the problem and what you (and others) can do to promote change.

Web Exclusive!

read the story now    http://www.tolerance.org/teach/expand/act/activity.jsp?ar=438

Web Exclusive!

Women's Rights and History
The Anthony Center for Women's Leadership

Center for Women Policy Studies

The League of Women Voters

National Women’s History Project

Not for Ourselves Alone

Sewall-Belmont House

Susan B. Anthony House

The White House Project

Women's eNews

Women’s Rights National Historic Park

Women's Rights National History Trail Study

Youth Activism Resources
Common Cause Youth Action

Global Schoolhouse

Mix It Up

OxFam Guide to Advocacy and Activism

Unicef: Voices of Youth

Voting USA

Youth Vote Coalition