Can a Hashtag Change the World? From Suffragettes to Gen Z · English Seconde (general)

The big question

Is posting enough to change society, or does real change still need people who organise, take risks and act together?

Why this journey?

Every day, millions of people post for a cause. Some campaigns change laws, others disappear in a week. In this journey, you compare movements from 1914 to 2024 to understand what makes a campaign work. At the end, you run your own campaign for a school improvement.

LevelSeconde (general)

TargetCEFR A2 → B1

Sessions6 sessions + a game + a final task

Final taskDesign a campaign poster and give a 2-minute speech for a school cause; the class votes with a secret ballot.

Bridges This journey is part of a path: each journey answers and builds on others.

⟵ Builds on…

Old Stories, New Voices Why Do We Keep Remaking Stories?Seconde (general)New voices retell old stories; here, new voices try to change the rules.

Leads to… ⟶

OK Boomer? Generations Online and on the PlanetSeconde (general)Young people campaigning for the climate face older decision-makers: the next journey explores the gap between generations.
Is It Fair? Ruby Bridges and the Right to the Same SchoolPremière (general)In Première, Ruby Bridges shows what one child and a court decision changed in 1960.
Should 16-Year-Olds Vote? Power, Parliament and YouPremière bac proIn Première bac pro, the question becomes: should 16-year-olds vote?

Threads in this journey: VoicePowerFairness

The hashtag test

Invent a hashtag and ask what it can really do.

What you do

In groups, invent a hashtag for a school cause (more water fountains, a quiet room, longer lunch break…).
Predict: how many people will share it? Who has the power to say yes?
Write two lists: what a hashtag can do / what a hashtag cannot do.

Sentence starters

Our hashtag is… because…
A hashtag can…, but…
The person who can really say yes is…

Speak up

Each group reads its hashtag aloud and gives one reason it could work.

Learn how to learn · Quick Recall

Before you open your notes, write 3 things you remember from last time. Then check. Testing yourself works better than reading again.

Deeds, not words: the suffragettes

Discover how women fought for the vote in Britain.

Documents and facts

Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903. Its motto was “Deeds, not words.”
In 1918, some women over 30 won the right to vote. In 1928, women got the vote on the same terms as men, at 21.

Sources: UK Parliament: Women and the vote · The National Archives: Suffragettes on file

What you do

Look at the photo of the arrest: who is there, what is happening, what can you guess?
Read the timeline and put the events in order: 1903, 1913, 1918, 1928.
Discuss: why did the suffragettes say “deeds, not words”?

Sentence starters

In this photo, I can see…
The suffragettes fought for…
They said “deeds, not words” because…

Speak up

Describe the photo to a partner who cannot see it, in 30 seconds.

Learn how to learn · Explain it to a partner

Explain today’s main idea to a partner in 30 seconds, without notes. If you get stuck, that is the part to review.

Rosa Parks and the bus boycott

See why a movement needs organisation, not only anger.

February 1956: Rosa Parks is fingerprinted after her arrest during the Montgomery bus boycott.Image: Gene Herrick for the Associated Press; restored by Adam Cuerden · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Documents and facts

On 1 December 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger.
Black residents boycotted the buses for 381 days. In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on the buses was illegal.
Rosa Parks later wrote: “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

Sources: National Archives (US): Rosa Parks · Library of Congress: Rosa Parks Papers

What you do

Read the facts and find the three ingredients of the boycott: a trigger, an organisation, a long effort.
In pairs, write a short radio news flash from December 1955.
Compare: what did the boycott have that a hashtag often does not?

Sentence starters

Rosa Parks refused to…
The boycott lasted… because…
To change a law, you need…

Speak up

Read your news flash like a radio journalist, in 30 seconds.

Learn how to learn · Word + picture

Draw a tiny picture next to each new word. Your brain remembers a word and an image better than a word alone.

Gen Z in Kenya: phones as megaphones

Compare an online movement of today with the old ones.

Nairobi, June 2024: young people protest against the Finance Bill.Image: Capital FM Kenya · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Documents and facts

In June 2024, young Kenyans used TikTok and X to organise protests against new taxes in the Finance Bill.
On 26 June 2024, President William Ruto withdrew the bill.

Sources: BBC News: Ruto withdraws Kenya finance bill · BBC News: the power of Gen Z

What you do

Watch or read the BBC report and note: who protested, how they organised, what changed.
Fill in the grid: suffragettes / Montgomery / Kenya: tools, risks, results.
Discuss: is a hashtag a new tool, or a new kind of movement?

Sentence starters

In Kenya, young people used…
Like the suffragettes, they…
Unlike in 1914, today…

Speak up

Each student gives one similarity and one difference with an earlier movement.

Learn how to learn · Homemade flashcards

Write a question on one side and the answer on the other. Test yourself today, in 2 days and in a week.

Create your own game: Campaign!

Invent a strategy card game about building a movement.

What you do

Make Action cards (march, petition, post, boycott, letter to an MP), Ally cards and Obstacle cards.
Decide how many support points each card gives, and write the rules with the rule starters.
Play once with another team and change one rule to make it fairer.

Sentence starters

The aim of the game is to…
If you draw an obstacle card, you…
You win when…

Speak up

Explain your game in one minute; the other team asks one question.

Learn how to learn · Spaced review

Review today’s words tonight for 5 minutes, then again in 3 days. Short and spaced beats long and once.

Final task: our school campaign

Design a campaign and convince the class.

What you do

In teams, choose a realistic school improvement.
Make a poster with a slogan and a hashtag, and prepare a 2-minute speech.
The class votes with a secret ballot. Every team earns badges for effort; the vote only chooses the cause.

Sentence starters

Our campaign wants…
We will not only post, we will also…
Vote for our idea because…

Speak up

2-minute speech with the poster, then one question from the class.

Learn how to learn · What I know / What I don’t know yet

Make two columns. A mistake is information: it tells you exactly what to practise next.

★ Create your own game: Campaign!

A strategy card game: draw Action cards (march, petition, post, boycott), Ally cards and Obstacle cards. Your movement wins when it reaches 10 support points, but each action must be explained in a full sentence.

Rule-writing starters

The aim of the game is to…
Each player must…
If you land on…, you…
You win when…
You miss a turn if…
Before you start, …

Final task

Design a campaign poster and give a 2-minute speech for a school cause; the class votes with a secret ballot.

Effort badges

Badges reward effort and progress, never a ranking. Everyone can earn every badge.

Brave SpeakerI dared to speak in English, even with mistakes.

Team PlayerI helped my group succeed.

Game DesignerI invented or improved a game.

Rule WriterI wrote clear game rules in English.

Comeback BadgeI did better than last time.

✓ Assessment

How will I be assessed?

Printable grid (PDF with QR code)

Two kinds of assessment go with you. The first one helps you improve. The second one checks what you have learnt at the end.

During the sequence: formative assessment	At the end: summative assessment
It helps you improve.	It checks what you have learnt.
You are allowed to make mistakes: a mistake you spot is a mistake you will not make again.	You show what you can do, with criteria you already know.
You check your own work with the checklist.	The teacher uses the same grid as you.
In this sequence: sessions 1 to 5 (the hashtag test, the suffragette timeline, the news flash, the comparison grid, the rules of Campaign!).	In this sequence: your campaign speech (2 minutes) with your poster, marked out of 20.

While I practise, I can say

“I am not sure yet about…”
“Can you check if this fact is right: …?”
“I made a mistake with… Now I know that…”
“The word I want to remember is… because…”

To mark quickly and fairly: what is expected, what earns full or partial points, and the most common mistakes.

Model answer

Our campaign wants water fountains on every floor of the school. Our hashtag is #RefillOurSchool, but we will not only post, we will also act. Firstly, we will write a petition and ask the head teacher and the student council for a meeting. Secondly, we will collect the opinions of the class representatives. Like the suffragettes, who said “deeds, not words” in 1903, we know that a slogan is not enough. And like the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted 381 days in 1955 and 1956, we know that change takes time and organisation. In Kenya, in June 2024, young people used TikTok to organise, and the government withdrew the Finance Bill: online tools can help if people act together. Vote for our idea because water is good for everyone and it is easy to do.

Criterion by criterion

Criterion	Full points	Partial points	0 points
1. Task and message (4)	Clear answer to the question, position stated at the start and at the end.	Position unclear or only at the end.	Off topic or no position.
2. Facts from the journey (5)	At least two accurate facts or quotes from the documents, with names and dates.	One accurate fact, or facts with errors in names or dates.	No fact from the journey.
3. Online and offline action (4)	Done fully and clearly.	Done partly, or not linked to the topic.	Missing.
4. Speaking without reading (3)	Notes are keywords only; voice and eye contact help the audience.	Reads for part of the time.	Reads the whole time.
5. Language (4)	Varied starters and connectors, four or more journey words, meaning always clear.	Few connectors or journey words; meaning sometimes unclear.	Meaning often unclear.

Common mistakes to watch for

Only describing the hashtag, with no offline action.
“Rosa Parks was a suffragette”: she was a civil rights activist in the United States in 1955.
Wrong dates: women got the vote on equal terms in 1928, not 1918.
Reading the speech without looking at the audience.

Answer key for the sequence exercises

Session 2: timeline

1903: WSPU founded
1913: Emily Wilding Davison dies at the Derby
1918: some women over 30 can vote
1928: equal vote at 21

Session 3

Trigger: 1 December 1955
Organisation: the boycott
Long effort: 381 days

⎙ Printable fiche

The one-page fiche sums up the journey: the big question, the sessions, the sentence starters, the final task and the badges. It has a QR code back to this page.

Open the printable fiche Assessment grid (PDF)

Image credits

Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst, Leader of the Women's Suffragette movement, is arrested outside Buckingham Palace while trying to present a petition to King George V in May 1914. Q81486.jpg: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Rosa Parks being fingerprinted by Deputy Sheriff D.H. Lackey after being arrested on February 22, 1956, during the Montgomery bus boycott.jpg: Gene Herrick for the Associated Press; restored by Adam Cuerden · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Kenya 2024 protests (9).jpg: Capital FM Kenya · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Videos, films, songs and protected texts are not copied here: follow the links to the official sources.

Repères pour le professeur (en français)

Niveau : Seconde · CECRL visé : A2 → B1

Ancrage programme : Axe 4 « Défis et transitions » · objet d’étude : les formes de mobilisation populaire (des trade unions au hashtag)

Fil rouge : Voice, Power, Fairness. Les blocs « Bridges » relient ce parcours aux autres parcours de la carte.

Évaluation : formative pendant les séances 1 à 5, sommative avec la tâche finale ; grille de notation et grille de correction dans l’onglet professeur du bloc d’évaluation, et en PDF avec QR code.

À noter : Aucune cause politique partisane : la campagne finale porte sur une amélioration réaliste de l’établissement. Vote à bulletin secret, badges d’effort pour toutes les équipes.