Social Studies Research and Practice
Volume 6, Number 1, Spring 2011
NOTABLE TRADE BOOK LESSON PLAN ~ Jane Addams: Champion of Democracy
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
Jane Addams: Champion of Democracy is a biography incorporating history and social justice. This lesson involves students in grades 5 – 8 exploring social justice issues related to economic equality, racial equality, gender equality, health equality, peace, and justice. Students trace Jane Addams’s public service activities, in these areas of social justice, while simultaneously examining significant, external historical events and people, between 1860 and 1939, through the lens of Addams’s life. Students create a timeline and engage in ongoing discussions related to Addams’s involvement in these historical events and her connections to people, of this period, who, like Addams, were advocates for social change (e.g. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Eleanor Roosevelt). Example activities and scoring rubrics are included in the appendix section. Inspired by descriptions of Jane Addams’s extraordinary life, an extension activity introduces students to social justice issues, within their own community, and provides steps to initiate community involvement.