OBJECTIVE
Students examine the right to vote by comparing suffrage in America to suffrage in South Africa.

MATERIALS
The Day Gogo Went to Vote - Elinor Batezat Sisulu; Venn Diagram handout

PRE-READING ACTIVITY

• Ask your students to share something they were excited to do for the first time: Ride a bike? Fly in a plane? Go to school? Have your students break up into small groups and share what they were excited to do and how it felt when they finally got to do it.
• Tell your students the woman in The Day Gogo Went to Vote waited decades to vote because of the color of her skin. Ask, Can you imagine how she felt? (Take responses) Let's find out.
• Read The Day Gogo Went to Vote.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• Did you come to understand why the right to vote is so important by reading this story? What makes it so important?
• In America, who were some people that used to be denied the right to vote and other rights?
• What did they do to earn the right to vote?
• What is suffrage? What does this word have to do with the story?
• What are the similarities and differences between the United States and South Africa when it comes to the right to vote?
• After having read the story, how do you think Gogo felt the first time she was allowed to vote?

ACTIVITY

• After reading the story, divide your students into groups of two and ask them to compare and contrast suffrage in America versus suffrage in South Africa.
• After brainstorming the similarities and differences between the two countries, tell your students that they will be given a handout where they need to list any conclusions they have come to.
• Explain what a Venn Diagram is and how it is used.
• Pass out the activity handout for the students to complete.
• Create a large Venn Diagram on the board for the entire class. Call on volunteers to come up to the board and fill in the diagram using their completed handouts.
• Ask, What conclusions can we draw from the completed diagram?

DOWNLOAD THIS ACTIVITY WITH HANDOUT