Lesson Plan - History Makers: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Read the Article

Print this Lesson Plan

Get the Answer Key

Learning Objective

Students will read about the major accomplishments of U.S. history maker Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Text Structure

Profile, Sequence

Content-Area Connections

Civics; U.S. History

Standards Correlations

CCSS: RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.3, RI.3.4, RI.3.5, RI.3.6, RI.3.7, RI.3.8, RI.3.10, L.3.4, SL.3.1

NCSS: Civic Ideals and Practices

TEKS: Social Studies 3.11

1. Preparing to Read

Watch a Slideshow: Women Who Made History
Ask: Which woman would you like to learn more about? Why? Who else could be added to this slideshow?

Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.

  • justices 
  • appointed 
  • basis


Set a Purpose for Reading
As students read, have them think about why Ginsburg fought so hard for equality for women.

2. Close-Reading Questions

1. What is the section “A Rough Start” mostly about?
It is about the difficulty Ruth Bader Ginsburg faced trying to find a job and earn equal pay because of her gender.
(RI.3.2 MAIN IDEA)

2. According to the article, what is discrimination? Describe a time when Ginsburg experienced it.
The article notes that discrimination is the unfair treatment of certain groups of people. One time Ginsburg experienced it was when companies wouldn’t hire her because she was a woman.
(RI.3.4 WORD MEANING)

3. Based on the article, why is being a U.S. Supreme Court justice an important job?
The Supreme Court makes decisions about cases and laws that affect all of us.
(RI.3.1 DEMONSTRATE UNDERSTANDING)

3. Skill Building

FEATURED SKILL: Synthesize Information
Use “All About Ruth Bader Ginsburg” to have students find details in the text to describe Ginsburg’s achievements.
(RI.3.1 TEXT EVIDENCE)

Differentiate & Extend

Multilingual Learners
Clarify that when the article says Ginsburg “won the case,” it means she had stronger arguments than the other side did, and that the court decided in her favor.

 

Striving Readers
Use the Spotlight tool available in the online Presentation View to focus students’ attention on one segment of text or image at a time. This tool grays out other sections of the page to reduce distractions.

 

Writing Extension
Have students use information from the article to create a timeline of important events in Ginsburg’s life.

Text-to-Speech