These are a few of my favorite things....

I hope you are having a wonderful break. Perhaps you are spending it skiing or curled up by the wood stove reading the new novel you received from your favorite cousin. If so, wonderful! Refresh yourself. But, if your mind is turning back to school, this post is for you.

Every spring I ask readers to let me know their favorite lesson plans, and every fall, I report back in posts on elementary, middle, and high school teachers' favorites. Now, however, I thought I'd be a little self-indulgent and tell you about some of my favorites. I'm limiting myself to lessons that only take 1-3 class periods instead of longer lessons (though I do love our more in-depth studies, especially those that require authentic research, like "Women and Sports: Tracking Change over Time.") Here's hoping that you find these lessons as appealing as I do--and that your students love them too (and learn lots from them.)

Elementary teachers: "Who Are the Métis?" is a PowerPoint that provides a quick introduction this an important Montana cultural group with roots in the fur trade.

Middle School ELA teachers: Montana and the "Great War" Lesson Plan is a great extension for anyone teaching Hattie Big Sky. After exploring the Story Maps to learn more about individuals' experiences during World War I, students will write a piece of historical fiction (a letter or journal entry) from the perspective of a Montanan--on the home front or serving in the armed forces--during the period.

Middle or high school Montana or US history teachers: It isn't a lesson plan, but it's a great activity. Help your students understand daily life during whatever period you are teaching by having them dive into the digitized newspapers to shop the ads or discover what people did for fun. (If you teach American history, you can find national newspapers here.)

High school US history and government teachers: Montana Women's Legal History Lesson Plan is an engaging way to have students think about the impact laws have on the lives of ordinary people and why laws change.

And here's a lesson that works across many grades: the Women at Work Lesson Plan: Clothesline Timeline encourages students to analyze historic photographs to draw conclusions about women and work from the 1870s through the 2010s.