More on Literacy and Social Studies

 I've been on a bit of a literacy and social studies kick, recently--this will be my third post on the subject. 

Post 1 reviewed research that shows that, in elementary school, "Social studies is the only subject with a clear, positive, and statistically significant effect on reading improvement" and explored some of the reasons why. It also highlighted the strategy of "write your way in/write your way out."

Post 2 focused on "chunking"--breaking longer/harder texts into smaller sections to make them more manageable and less intimidating to read.

This post is going to focus on the hows and whys of activating prior knowledge.

Build and Activating Prior Knowledge...

Why do it? According to education writer Natalie Wexler, information is like Velcro—it sticks to things you already know. It’s really hard to remember facts you learn in a vacuum. It’s much easier to remember things that relate to information you already have. And, importantly, relevant knowledge dramatically improves reading comprehension. So if we want kids to be able to read social studies textbooks in middle or high school, we need to start introducing domain-specific vocabulary, concepts and building background knowledge in elementary school.

...Through Picture Books

Salish Kootenai College professor Tammy Elser, who's taught me almost everything I know about literacy, suggests that every classroom should have a physical world map and a physical Montana map. And EVERY TIME teachers read a picture book, they should help students figure out where the story takes place and how far that place is from Montana.

• Reading a picture book whose main character is a talking lion? Before you start, use the pictures to introduce information and vocabulary about habitat (the savannah) and show students on your maps where the savannah is (southern Africa.) And, of course, have students tell you if they think the story is going to be fiction or non-fiction.
• Choose stories that allow you to introduce science and social studies vocabulary and background knowledge, knowing these topics will be taught in later grades. 

... Through Vocabulary Instruction and Repetition

In Unit 4 of Montana: A History of Our Home we ask students to first listen to, and then read, a homesteading reminiscence. Actually, they listen to the reminiscence twice. The first time, they listen to answer specific questions. (Establishing goals for listening help students pay attention.) The second time, they listen while underlining "treasure words" (vocabulary). 

Then they play a game retired elementary school librarian Ruth Ferris introduced me to, "hot seat."  

• Students are divided into two teams.
• Someone from Team 1 sits in front of the class with their back to the board in the “hot seat.”
• The teacher writes one of the treasure words on the board.
• Team 1 teammates take turns trying to describe the word (which is on a handout with its definition) to their teammate in the hot seat using only one to three words but WITHOUT using the actual word or any of its derivatives.
• After one minute or when the student guesses the word, choose someone from Team 2 to sit in the hot seat.

After all this, students read the reminiscence for themselves, illustrating three paragraphs of their choice. 

Repetition makes students more likely to remember the content--and the new vocabulary they've been introduced to. 

...Through Exit Tickets, Quick Writes, or Other Assignments 

Lots of teachers use exit tickets to quickly assess student understanding so they know what concepts or topics they need to revisit. But any way you require students to reflect will help them cement learning.

Montana: A History of Our Home incorporates lots of exit tickets. It also asks students to "write their way in" and "write their way out." 

"Write Your Way In" activates prior knowledge and curiosity about a subject. It also lets teachers know what students do/don't know about a specific topic. 

"Write Your Way Out" provides an opportunity for students to reflect on what they've learned.

Both are incredibly low stakes ways to get students writing.  

... By Combining Reading, Activities, and Short Lectures

Many lessons in Montana: A History of Our Home ask students to read in their textbooks to find out information they need to answer specific questions--for example, why people emigrated to Montana. In some cases, lessons include brief lectures to introduce new background knowledge and vocabulary. Almost always, these strategies are tied to an activity that introduces the topic or allows students to apply what they learned from the reading to make sense of the activity. By combining reading (and, YES--your students should be reading, rather than you reading to them), listening, and learning activities, students get reading practice and are better able to retain new information and vocabulary.  

... Through K/W/L Charts

Although I don't think we incorporated this in any of our Montana: A History of Our Home lesson plans, you can't go wrong with an old-fashioned K/W/L Chart, where as a class, you record what students know about a topic (K), what they want to know (W), and, at the end of the lesson, what they learned (L). K/W/L was invented by Reading and Language professor Donna Ogle precisely to help students activate background knowledge. Introducing the method, she wrote: “To read well, we must access the knowledge we already have about the topic, or make it available appropriately so that comprehension can occur”.

 

Beyond Montana: A History of Our Home

In most of the examples above, I highlighted lessons from MTHS's fourth-grade curriculum Montana: A History of Our Home because

1. we've done the work of integrating literacy into social studies for teachers 
2. it's the curriculum I know best, 
3. I want teachers to use it, and
4. It's available to download for free. 

But, obviously, you can play hot seat, provide reasons for repeated readings, ask students to write their way in/out, implement exit tickets, and give students a purpose for reading with any topic. I hope you will!

Literacy and Social Studies

 

Social Studies Improves Reading Comprehension

I've been reading about how kids learn to read and it's fascinating! It turns out reading requires two things: 

1. Understanding how letters come together to form words (phonics)
2. Understanding how words come together to create meaning (comprehension).

Traditional literacy instruction is great for #1, but it turns out that social studies is better for #2. It's true! A longitudinal study of K-5 students found that "Social studies is the only subject with a clear, positive, and statistically significant effect on reading improvement."

I was curious why that might be, so I started reading articles by literacy experts and educational psychologists. It turns out that comprehension requires that you know words (vocabulary) and that you have enough background knowledge in a subject to fill in the blanks that every piece of writing leaves. 

There is lots of data that background knowledge (including domain-specific vocabulary) is essential for comprehension. For example, a couple of elegantly designed studies demonstrated that poorer readers who know more about baseball do better at comprehending a reading passage about baseball than students with higher reading scores.

There's probably no subject that can do more for students' general background knowledge (and for the development of vocabulary) than social studies. I suspect that's why spending more time on studying social studies improved reading scores.

Embedding Literacy Strategies into Social Studies Improves Literacy Even More

There's something even better than simply adding more time for social studies (which is tremendously short-changed in elementary school). That's embedding literacy activities/strategies into your social studies instruction. That's what we did with the Montana: A History of Our Home, so if you are teaching Montana history in grades 4-6, you are in luck! The work is done for you. If you teach other topics, there are some simple strategies you can use. I'll feature one below and others in future posts.

Write Your Way In and Write Your Way Out  

Salish Kootenai College education professor Tammy Elser introduced me to this simple but powerful technique, and we use it over and over in our lesson plans.

When you are about to study a new topic:

• Ask students to take out a pencil and their writing journals, or a sheet of paper, and date it.  
• Tell students: You will be thinking hard and writing for the next five minutes. I will run a timer and you will keep writing the whole time, not lifting your pencils until the timer stops. If you get stuck, just write “I’m thinking, I’m thinking” until you get a new idea. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. The goal is to just keep thinking and pouring your thoughts onto the paper. (Let them know they can use their imaginations. Create a sense of excitement/urgency.)
• Read the prompt and start the timer. Here are some sample prompts: 
  • What do you think it would be like to live [Insert Era]? 
  • "Do you think you would have liked to ... [worked as a cowboy/girl on the open range? come to Montana to prospect gold?]
• Have students write for the full five minutes, and then draw a line where they stop writing.
• Study the topic.
• Return the initial "Write Your Way Ins" to your students.
• Under the line they drew on their initial quick rights, have them repeat the process with a new prompt asking, "now what do you know/think?"

Why Write Your Way In/Out?

• It activates background knowledge (important for reading comprehension).
• It provides a reason for reading (also important for reading comprehension).
• It gives you a quick sense of what your students do and don’t know about a topic. 
• It helps students cement what they learned by reflecting on it in writing (in a very low stakes way) at the end of the unit. 
• It provides students an opportunity to use new vocabulary in their "Write You Way Outs." (Again, low stakes practice is good!) 
• It gets students writing. (I've had one teacher tell me she got a page out of a student who had never written more than a sentence previously.)

I'll be featuring some of the other literacy strategies we've integrated into Montana: A History of Our Home and other lesson plans in future posts. If you have a favorite you use, drop me a line.

 

Struggling Readers and Informational Text

We were lucky beyond measure to host a workshop with reading specialist and SKC professor Tammy Elser in June. It had an unwieldy title, "Struggling Readers and Content Area Textbooks: Making Montana: Stories of the Land Accessible to All," but many of the strategies Tammy featured were quick and easy to implement. In fact, several of our resources now incorporate them.

Takeaways

Tammy introduced us to "Takeaway" bookmarks--a tool for teaching students how to summarize (she said that the idea was inspired by SKC graduate Taylor Crawford). Modeled on the one Tammy created for Chapter 8 of Montana: Stories of the Land, we created “Takeaway” bookmarks for every chapter--and posted them on the Educator Resources pages of the Montana: Stories of the Land Companion Website. Before starting a chapter, print and cut out these bookmarks and distribute them to your students. Ask them to use the available space on the Takeaway to summarize the GIST of what they learn from reading each subsection of the chapter. Remind them that they don’t have much room, so they’ll need to think before they write down the most important idea they want to take away from the section. 

Write Your Way In/Write Your Way Out

While Tammy featured this strategy at the workshop, her friend Julie Saylor actually introduced me to it a few years ago. Julie worked with us to design the Original Governor's Mansion footlocker and used the strategy with great success in several lessons. The strategy is extremely simple to implement. Start with a question central to the lesson (if you are using Montana: Stories of the Land, you can modify one of the "Read to Find Out" statements.)

In the first lesson of the Original Governor's Mansion footlocker, Julie provided the following prompt: What was life like for Montana children in the years 1900–1920? Describe what you might know from stories and reading and what you imagine. What did their homes look like? What did their schools look like? Where (and what) did children play? What type of clothing did they wear? Don’t stop writing for five minutes! (Tammy suggests only writing for three minutes. Do what works for your class.)

After providing the prompt, let them know that they will be thinking hard and writing for five minutes nonstop, as soon as you say, “Go!” You will be using a timer and they must keep on going, not lifting their pencils until the five minutes are up. If they are stuck for what to write next, encourage them to write, “I am thinking!” until they think of more to say. Remind them they can use their imaginations! Create a sense of urgency! For this exercise, they should not be concerned with their spelling, etc. They should just think and pour out their thoughts on paper. When the timer goes off at the end of five minutes, tell students to draw a line where they stopped.

After completing the chapter, lesson or unit, have your students "Write their way out" on the same question, using the same method of non-stop writing (only three minutes this time around.) When we classroom tested this technique in Jodi Delaney's fourth-fifth grade class, she said that students who had struggled to write a sentence proudly filled a page. 

Tea Party
Perhaps some of you already use this powerful pre-reading strategy, which "allows students to predict what they think will happen in the text as they make inferences, see casual relationships, compare and contrast, practice sequencing, and draw on their prior experiences." If not, I recommend trying it.

At the Struggling Readers workshop, Tammy gave us each an index card with a short section of text (in this case from the 1855 Hellgate Treaty, using part of a lesson created by Arlee teacher Shawn Orr). She didn't tell us anything about the text. Instead, she had us read our snippet to ourselves and write a very short summary of it (no more than 20 words--in a classroom, you might want to do this with partners). After we copied our  summary on the back of the card, we "tea partied." We walked around and shared our cards with other members of the class. We read our snippet and summary aloud to our partner (while they followed along silently). Then we listened while our partner did the same. By the end of the tea party, I'd read my part of the treaty 4 times, had mastered some difficult technical language, and had begun to put the pieces together by listening/reading other sections. We don't have any lessons that use this strategy yet, but you can bet we will soon.

I'm pleased to say that Tammy is planning on working with OPI to create an online HUB course based on the workshop she gave for us. I'll let you know when it goes live--likely sometime next spring.

Do you have a great reading strategy? Please email me: I'd love to learn about it.

New and Improved... the Symbols of Montana Footlocker

My colleague and partner in crime Deb Mitchell and I are slowly, ever so slowly revamping our Hands-on History footlockers, writing new lessons that align better to the Common Core and promote historical thinking skills, finding new objects with which to wow your students, digitizing images to make the material more usable for those who can't bring the actual trunk to their classrooms, and improving the teacher and student narratives and other material included in the footlocker user guides.

We are delighted to unveil the most recent footlocker we've revised: Montana State Symbols. In this case, we've changed almost everything, including the title (the old footlocker was called "Treasure Chest: A Look at the Montana State Symbols"). We've added lots of new objects, including tribal nations' flags, gemstones, grizzly bear fur, a mounted mourning cloak butterfly, and a sample of Scobey soil (our newest state symbol).

We've also included nine new lessons:

• Lesson 1, "I Have, Who Has," offers an introduction to Montana's state symbols through a fast-paced game.
• Lesson 2, "Tribal Seals and Flags," is based entirely on OPI's Indian Education Division's unit Crossing Boundaries through Art: Seals of Montana Tribal Nations.
• Lesson 3, "State Seal and Flag," offers students an opportunity to redesign the state flag after learning about the principles of flag design.
• Lesson 4, "Montana's State Songs," has students analyzing the state song, melody, and lullaby before writing their own songs celebrating Montana.
• Lesson 5, "Montana's State Animal," has two parts. Part 1 teaches students to identify grizzly bears and be safe around all bears. Part 2 asks them to contrast Chief Plenty Coups' and Captain Meriwether Lewis's perspectives on grizzlies.  
• Lesson 6, "Gift of the Bitterroot," uses a beautifully illustrated traditional story to learn about the importance of Montana's state flower to the Salish and Pend d'Oreille people. 
• Lesson 7, "The Montana State Fossil," has students research, campaign, and then vote for a class fossil. In so doing they won't just learn about Montana's rich fossil finds, they'll also gain a thorough understanding of the election process. (Perfect for this November!)  
• Lesson 8, "Learning about Montana Sapphires," shares information that will surprise and delight your class gem hounds
• Lesson 9, "Creating a Museum of Montana Symbols," provides a step-by-step guide to creating a classroom exhibit on Montana's state symbols to share with parents or other classes. 

Here are some of the things I love best about the new lesson plans and footlocker:

1. It's reading and writing intensive. I took a class from reading specialist Tammy Elser two summers ago and we integrated many of the strategies I learned from her into these lesson plans, including "write your way in/write your way out," "hosting a tea party," and having students create picture summaries of complex passages.

2. The lesson plans are classroom tested and much improved from the feedback we received. My thanks to all who answered my call for guinea pigs and took the time to write such thoughtful evaluations.

3. You can do seven of the lesson plans without ordering the trunk. We know not everyone can order this footlocker who'd like to use it. Issues of schedule and budget get in the way (footlockers are free, except for shipping to the next venue, but that's still a cost.) That's why we put as many of the resources (including the PowerPoints and, of course, the lesson plans) online as we could--so that teachers who can't get the footlocker can still use the material.

4. The objects in the footlocker are so fabulous, you will want to order it anyway. This footlocker is object rich. The sapphire exhibit, donated to us by Fine Gems International, and the life-size grizzly bear paw cast are my favorite objects, but students will also love the stuffed animals (a trout and a meadowlark, whose sings its song when pressed), and the model of the Maiasaura nest.

Check out the User Guide and then submit your reservation. And let us know what you think of the new and (hopefully) improved product. We love hearing from you.

Literacy and Social Studies Part 2, Chunking

 In my recent post on literacy and social studies I reviewed why teaching social studies improves literacy and talked about the "Write Your Way In/Out" strategy. I also promised to share some other strategies for imbedding literacy activities into your social studies units.  

Chunking

According to Edutopia, "Chunking information—breaking it down into manageable units and scaffolding it with activities—makes learning more accessible." Station activities are a great way to implement this strategy. In one of the lessons in Montana: A History of Our Home, students to "write their way in": "Would you have wanted to be a cowboy/girl on the open range?" Then they visit six different stations. Each station has a photograph or a short chunk of text for students to read and answer questions about. They use the information they've gathered at the stations to write a short essay about why they would, or would not, want to have been a cowhand.

You can easily set up a similar station activity using short excerpts of primary and secondary sources for any topic you are studying.

Chunking, another definition

According to Facing History & Ourselves, "the chunking reading strategy involves breaking down a difficult text into more manageable pieces and having students rewrite these “chunks” in their own words. You can use this strategy with challenging texts of any length. Chunking helps students identify key words and ideas, develops their ability to paraphrase, and makes it easier for them to organize and synthesize information."

This is a great strategy to use with legal documents, like treaties or constitutions. 

Here's one lesson that Salish Kootenai College Professor Tammy Elser created that uses chunking with treaties. In this lesson, students:

1. read the treaty by themselves highlighting words and phrases they don't know or understand.

2. read in small groups, defining words they don't know. 

3. read a third time, paraphrasing the treaty, article by article, in everyday language. 

4. Read the treaty (and their paraphrases) again, stopping at each article to answer the following questions: 

• What's in it for the Tribe? 
• What's in it for the non-Indian settlers? 
• What's in it for the US government.

At a workshop I attended with Tammy, we did an even easier version of this exercise: Each group only analyzed and summarized *one* article. After she checked to make sure our summaries accurately reflected the article, we shared our summaries to one another. 

Stay tuned for future posts featuring additional ways to imbed literacy and social studies. 

Teaching Montana History Online PLC

A few posts ago, I shared information about a new primary source analysis tool I discovered: Evidence Analysis Window Frames. This was old news to those of you who are participating in the Teaching Montana History Online  PLC, since I discussed these and other free tools teachers can use to improve their students' research, analysis, and close reading skills during our October meeting.

We're producing the Online PLC in cooperation with our friends over at OPI, so to view the course curriculum, or participate, you'll need to register at the Teacher Learning Hub--but that is quick, painless and free. 

We meet on the second Monday of the month from 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. but you can watch the recorded videos and participate in the discussion forums at any time. For each time you participate by attending the live session or watching the video, and completing the required activities, OPI will provide you with one renewal unit.   

At September's meeting, we focused on the big picture--what content we wanted students to take away from their Montana history class. Since we spent most of that meeting writing and commenting on a Google Doc, I don't think the video is worth watching. But the Google Doc discussion and the entries in the post-discussion forum are definitely worth reading. For example, Hot Springs teacher Robin Miller shared sources I'd never seen, including  fur trader Robert Campbell's 1830 description of the role of dogs in an Assiniboine camp. 

October's meeting focused on the SKILLS we wanted students to learn. This time, I asked participants to answer the "write your way in" question ("What skills do you want your students to gain from this course?") in advance and then spent most of the meeting sharing tools that matched their goals (including the Evidence Analysis Window Frames as well as many free tools and methods.) The recording of the October meeting is rich in ideas, and the place I'd start if I were joining the course.

At our November 14 meeting, we'll focus on reading strategies. Some middle school teachers have told me that some of their students find the Montana: Stories of the Land textbook too hard--but others have reported great success using the textbook. I'm hoping those participating will share the reading strategies they use to make the textbook accessible and Christy Mock-Sturtz, OPI's English Language Arts/Literacy Specialist and former sixth grade teacher, will also be on hand to share her favorite strategies.  

Even if you can't join us live on November 14, if you have questions about (or suggestions for) ways to help students use the Montana: Stories of the Land textbook, I hope you'll take five minutes to let us know how you use the textbook in your class and what reading strategies (if any) you use to help students get the information they need, by recording your response in our class Google Doc. Christy will use your comments to shape her presentation.

This online course is an experiment, and we're shaping it as we go. So if you have suggestions for how to make it more useful, always feel free to email me.

Teaching with Maps

MTHS Lesson Plans

Last month, in a post on literacy and social studies, I reviewed why teaching social studies improves literacy and talked about the "Write Your Way In/Out" strategy. I also promised to share some other strategies for imbedding literacy activities into your social studies units.  

We recommend using maps in many lessons (including our study guide for Girl from the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronan) and Lesson 2 of Unit 3 of Montana: A History of our Home) but here are two of my favorite map lessons:

·       Montana Today: A Geographical Study (designed for grades 4-6, but easily adaptable for higher grades) asks students to investigate how climate, geology, and geography affect the lives of Montanans. I particularly like Part 1, in which they construct population maps and look for patterns. An upper grade (grades 6-8) version of Part 1 is now available. A Google Docs version of the upper grade worksheets is also available.

·       Mapping Montana, A to Z, Lesson Plan (Designed for grades 4-8) is a perennial favorite that asks students to plan a trip across Montana, visiting towns that start with every letter of the alphabet. 

Cool Maps to Use in Your Classroom

Here's a really interesting map that shows the neighborhoods that were swallowed by the Berkeley Pit.

Here is an interesting article on how Mercator maps distort our understanding of countries' sizes and a tool to see the "True Size of Every County." 

The Library of Congress has digitized many of the Sanborn maps for Montana (and other states as well). What are Sanborn maps, you ask? Founded in 1867 by D. A. Sanborn, the Sanborn Map Company was the primary American publisher of fire insurance maps for nearly 100 years.” Their maps “include information such as the outline of each building, the size, shape and construction materials, heights, and function of structures, location of windows and doors. The maps also give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers.” Here are a few ways teachers have used them: 

“Using pages from the Census, Sanborn maps and the local history book "Stumptown to Skitown" students explore what Whitefish was like 100 years ago.”
Using the Sanborn maps for Missoula, we re-constructed neighborhoods and created logs of the businesses and how they changed over time.

The Montana Authors Project has documented the settings in favorite Montana books from Tough Trip through Paradise and Fools Crow to A River Runs through It, This House of Sky, and Selected Poems of Richard Hugo in an interactive map. 

The State Historic Preservation Office has created several maps reflecting Montana history. My favorite is Montana in the Green Book.

Wondering how your county voted in 1914 on the question of women's suffrage? Find out.

Find more map resources and suggestions for how to use them in this old blog post.

Favorite Lessons: Followup

Over the last few weeks, I've posted your colleagues' favorite elementary, middle school, and high school lessons. At the end of each post I encouraged readers to send in other resources they loved. A few responded:

Billings elementary school librarian Ruth Ferris pointed us to JuxtaposeJS, which "helps storytellers compare two pieces of similar media, including photos, and GIFs." According to ed tech guru Peter Pappas, the program is "ideal for highlighting then/now stories that explain slow changes over time (growth of a city skyline, regrowth of a forest, etc.) or before/after stories that show the impact of single dramatic events (natural disasters, protests, wars, etc.)."

Three Forks Montana history teacher Pam Carey wrote: "One of my students' favorite lesson follows our completion of Chapter 8 - "Livestock and the Open Range" in the Montana history textbook.  I need to give credit to a good friend and History mentor Chris Fisk of Butte who shared this lesson when he presented at a MEA-MFT convention. After Chapter 8 completion students are grouped and prepare their version of "Cowboy Beans." We start with an old recipe and the add their secret ingredients.  We then prepare one day, cook overnight in crockpots, and hold a 5-12 tasting the next day for the winning batch.  Students coming into MT History always look forward to this event.  It is pretty fun since all the school winds up involved.  Cowboy Beans have evolved into a yearly event."

My colleague Tammy Troup was inspired by the projects described to recommend a new resource: "The project about writing a letter from the perspective of a Native sent to boarding school made me remember the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center. Definitely one to share with your list if you haven’t already."

P.S. Our second Online PLC meeting is this coming Monday, October 10, 4:00-4:30. Please join us! 

• Online Meeting Information for October 10, 2016

  1.  At 4:00 p.m., please join the online meeting: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/411471405

  2.  Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended.  Or, call in using your telephone. 

  • Dial +1 (646) 749-313

  • Access Code: 411-471-405

  • Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
  • Meeting ID: 411-471-405

  A recording of the meeting will be posted to this section of the course for those who cannot join the live session shortly after the meeting concludes.
• To receive renewal units and to gain access to all course information, you'll need to enroll in the course through OPI's Teacher Learning Hub.
• During our first meeting of the Online PLC (in September) we focused on the content/big ideas/enduring understandings we wanted our Montana history students to walk away with. (You can find some of our collected thoughts on this here.) On Monday we're going to focus on the SKILLS we want our students to learn. There's a "write your way in" that people are encouraged to complete ahead of time. Access it here.

Billings Educator Conference, here we come!

Are you going to the Educator Conference in Billings, October 18-19? Deb Mitchell, Rich Aarstad, and I will be there with bells on. 

Stop by our booth to pick up a copy of The Art of Storytelling: Plains Indian Perspectives and/or a copy of the book American Trinity: Jefferson, Custer and the Spirit o f the West (while supplies last), check out our newest footlocker and other resources, and just say hello.

We also hope you'll attend our sessions: Deb is presenting The Art of Storytelling: Plains Indians Perspectives, 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM, Skyview High School Room 108. I'm presenting The Real Deal: Primary Sources in the Classroom, 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Skyview High School Room 108. This is the same presentation I gave at the IEFA Best Practices conference in Helena last spring, so if you were there, skip it and go to one of these other amazing-looking sessions: 

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Enhancing Your Curriculum with Montana National History Day

8:00 AM - 9:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 119
Presented by: Michael Herdina

State Coordinator Michael Herdina will present the basics of the project based learning National History Day program and how to integrate it into your already existing curriculum with an eye on competing at the Regional and State Competitions.

Why we do what we do!

8:00 AM - 8:50 AM
Presented by: Janna Lind & Cheyenne Aldrich

This sectional will cover the critical nature of teaching Social Studies in 2018. We will present critical questions and concepts that aid in creating participating citizens. We will explore the reasons why we became History teachers. Our sectional will help teachers explore how their personal backgrounds influence daily teaching decisions.

Montana Native American Histories and the Canada-United States Border
9:00 AM - 9:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 105
Presented by: Patrick Lozar

This presentation explores the role of the Canada-United States border in the history of many of Montana’s Native American communities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Geared toward middle and high school courses, the presentation’s content and objectives meet several IEFA Essential Understandings and National Council for Social Studies standards. 

Traditional Games Overview
9:00 AM - 11:50 AM, Castle Rock Middle School Room Gym/Stage

Presented by: Bobbi Poser & Heather Thompson & Clint Valandra & Don Barcus

We will discuss the importance of learning and playing Traditional Native Games, as taught by the International Traditional Games Society. Learn the history of games that stretch back thousands of years. Expect to laugh while you learn from three instructors certified in teaching Traditional Games. Be prepared to be active.

Bringing History, Literature, and the Arts Alive through Humanities Montana
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 109

Presented by: Ken Egan

This lively presentation will inform teachers about exciting program opportunities for teachers all across Montana. Ken will discuss Humanities Montana's Speakers in the Schools program, Letters About Literature, Democracy and the Informed Citizen, and grants. He will also ask teachers to share their suggestions for most helpful programs.

Students can learn about Montana law in your classroom
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 105

Presented by: Lisa Mecklenberg Jackson

There are many opportunities for middle and high school students to learn about the law in Montana. These include accessing available law-related curriculum, lawyer visits to the classrooms, or trips to the Montana Supreme Court to hear oral arguments. Let us help you teach kids about the law. 

Teaching a Northern Plains Native American T-Dress
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM, Material Fee - $3.00, Skyview High School: Room 260
Presented by: Mara Pierce

In this sectional, participants will learn about a NMAI website specifically meant for educators. From this website, participants will obtain information about Native American Plains dresses. Then, with auxiliary learning about tribally specific symbols and colors, participants will make an T-Dress they can take and use in their own classrooms.

Pairing Picture Books and Primary Sources

10:00 AM - 10:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 119

Presented by: Ruth Ferris 

Pictures Books aren’t just for small-fry. They provide a shared vocabulary and build background knowledge. We will look at some picture books and primary sources that could be used with them. Your students will be engaged as they analyze, and make connections between the picture books and primary sources. 

Poems for Two Voices: Voices from the Past
11:00 AM - 11:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 119
Presented by: Ruth Ferris

Who said poetry can’t be fun? Not a fan of poetry, that’s okay. Come experience how Two Voice poems help you dig deeper and give voice to historic figures. When we do this in class my kids ask if they can write more. 

The Art of Storytelling; Plains Indians Perspectives
11:00 AM - 11:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 108

Presented by: Debra Mitchell

Based on a temporary exhibit of the same name, this multifaceted curriculum provides you with all the tools necessary to bring ledger drawings and other pictographic art from the permanent collections of the Montana Historical Society into your classroom and to engage your students both in the study of a vibrant art form and to gain new insights into Indian peoples’ adaptability and resilience during a period of rapid change.

A Visit with an 1879 American Fur Co. Trader

12:00 PM - 12:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 104 (repeated on Friday, 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 119)
Presented by: Greg Smith

This Living History presentation brings to life the adventures and times of James Willard Schultz - otherwise known by the Blackfoot people as Apikuni. The hour-long presentation sheds light on historically significant events which occur in Montana in the 1870s and concludes by tying our past to our future.

Buffalo Bill Center of the West's K-12 Resources
1:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 105
Presented by: Megan Smith

This session provides an opportunity for teachers to learn more about our many K-12 services and offerings - including on-site tours, outreach materials, virtual field trips, as well as online resources and experiences. Teachers will have time to share how the Center can better serve their needs in the classroom. 

Russell for Learning: Connecting Students with a "Sense of Place"
1:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 210
Presented by: Melissa Werber & Eileen Laskowski

The C.M. Russell Museum and Young Audiences, Inc. are creating literacy based units utilizing the arts and using Charlie Russell as a platform. Russell for Learning explores “Sense of Place” and encourages middle school students to become agents of change in the places they claim.

The Real Deal: Primary Sources in the Classroom
1:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 108

Presented by: Martha Kohl

How can historic photographs, artwork and other primary sources engage students, raise questions about perspective, and hone evidence-based analysis skills? What role should primary sources play in elementary and middle school classrooms? Using primary sources relating to Montana Indian history, attendees will explore best practices for teaching with primary sources. 

Working Men and Women "Sing it Like it is"

1:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 109
Presented by: Bill Rossiter

Music of the working past reflects contemporary worker issues. Come listen and learn how music can enrich your classroom lessons on labor troubles for the past 100+ years. Montana has its share of songs and tales. Find out how to bring the presenter to your class and spark discussions.

Hands on History
2:00 PM - 3:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 119
Presented by: Aly Winterhalter

Learn how the Moss Mansion has created an interactive history experience for children who tour the museum. Also, discover how you can get an interactive experience in your classroom with nothing but a black suitcase. 

IEFA & Holocaust Education: The Writing Project Way
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 215
Presented by: Marcia Beaumont & Brenda Johnston

Participants will learn, write, reflect, and share while building background knowledge about the Holocaust and Indian Education for All. Heads and hearts combine in the writing process allowing learners to make sense of past atrocities and their present understanding of them. Walk away inspired and challenged. 

Social Studies Quick Hitters
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 104

Presented by: Casey Visser & Jamie Jarvis

Differentiation in a social studies classroom is critical to the success of your lesson. Here are some quick hitters that will boost student engagement and can be used in class right away! 

Become a National Geographic Certified Educator!
3:00 PM - 4:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 227
Presented by: Chris Hines & Chris Hines

Join us to complete phase 1 of National Geographic's free Educator Certification Program. Explore our Learning Framework with resources that will fit into your planned curriculum. Then complete Phases 2 & 3 online that integrate relevant resources into your lessons and receive special access to our resources and online community. 

Investigating the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
4:00 PM - 4:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 230

Presented by: Crystal Alegria & Bonnie Smith

Project Archaeology: Investigating Yellowstone is a 3rd through 5th inquiry-based curriculum examining the Great Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) through the lens of an archaeologist. Students learn we are all part of the ecosystem around us and that the GYE has unique ecosystems at different elevations. They use scientific inquiry (observation, inference, evidence, classification, and context) to observe food remains and use the evidence to answer questions about the environment. Students then apply their knowledge of scientific inquiry to real archaeological sites from the GYE! Students also learn about the many American Indian tribes connected to the GYE and examine a map of American Indian trail systems in the GYE. 

Friday, October 19, 2018

Indian enough to be a token, too Indian to teach

12:00 PM - 12:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 225
Presented by: Donelle Williams & Terry Bradley & Scott Flatlip & Tiana Vargas

This presentation focuses on how Native students experience tokenism in the classroom throughout their p-20 education where they are Indian enough to provide the stereotypical “Rez life” perspective but as Native pre-service teachers they are met with opposition when designing their IEFA curricula at MSU. 

National Geographic’s Geo-Inquiry Process in Action! 
12:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 221
Presented by: Chris Hines & Chris Hines

National Geographic invites you to empower students to think like explorers. Join us for a hands-on session to learn how The Geo-Inquiry Process connects students to real-world questions, phenomena and National Geographic explorers in the field.

Teaching Montana Indian Poetry with "Birthright: Born to Poetry"
12:00 PM - 12:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 210
Presented by: Carol Hearron & Shay Witt

Through oral readings, discussion questions, and internet resources, participants will practice using Dottie Susag's "Birthright: Born to Poetry" lessons to deepen their students' appreciation of home cultures and landscapes.These lessons will help any secondary teacher easily incorporate IEFA into English or social studies classes.

Use Tech to Teach Tribal Sovereignty 
12:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 215

Presented by: Lisa Borgstrom

Learn tech tools for teaching of critical literacy and writing on the topic of Montana tribal sovereignty. Meet writing and reading standards in all K-8 subjects and experience a variety of tech formative assessment tools. Teachers create an action plan to implementing sources of College, Career, Community Writing Program.

Connected to Nature: IEFA and Outdoor Education
1:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 239
Presented by: Carolyn Sevier

Relationship with place is a critical layer of the cultural landscape of Montana's native peoples. Spending time outdoors as part of the school day helps to provide important context for IEFA content, in addition to providing other research-proven benefits of nature-connected education.

Bringing History Alive for Children!
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 103
Presented by: Jodi Delaney

How do you teach history to students who have little to no background knowledge? Use your greatest ally: the imaginations of children. Hands-on sensorial experiences help students understand, appreciate, and enjoy the complexities of history by bringing the past to life while developing the skills for Common Core. 

The Landscapes of Savage: How Schools Can Publish & Celebrate
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 215
Presented by: Allison Wynhoff Olsen & Alan Hoffmann & Amber Henwood & Cassandra Moos

Four teachers across grade levels and content areas in the Savage School District led a school-wide initiative, culminating in the publication of Landscapes of Savage: a book about the community written wholly by K-12 Savage students. This presentation provides the structural and curricular approaches used to write this book. 

The Lewis and Clark Track, presented by Armand Lohof

Armand Lohof is presenting six different sessions on Lewis and Clark, so I thought it made sense to group them all together.

Thursday

Sacagawea: Who was she?
8:00 AM - 8:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 108

"What if" Lewis on the Marias
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 108

"What if": Clark on the Yellowstone
3:00 PM - 3:50 PM, Skyview High School: Room 108

Friday

Capt. Lewis and the Marias
9:00 AM - 9:50 AM, Skyview High School: Room 108

Clark's Yellowstone exploration, Skyview High School: Room 108
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Visit Pompey’s Pillar
2:00 PM - 3:50 PM, meet at Pompey’s Pillar at 1:30—travel on your own.

Your Favorite Richest Hills Lesson Plans

Last post I asked you to send me the name of your favorite lesson plan from among those created as part of The Richest Hills Workshop. And, to encourage participation, I offered a prize to the fourth person to respond.

I was thrilled at the response. Here are the lessons your colleagues found particularly noteworthy:

Jean Murphy of Havre wrote: “I’d say the most intriguing lesson plan to me was the one by Derek Frieling, St. Joseph, Missouri, 'Miners’ Messages' (Grades 11 & 4).  Letter writing is almost obsolete.  This is a wonderful idea.”

• The lesson pairs a high school and grade school class. High school students take on the role of miners traveling to the West. Using an online forum, they will write home describing their experiences. Fourth-grade students will write letters of reply, taking on the role of family members of the miners that remained in the East.

Carol Flint of Frenchtown wrote, “My favorite is 'The Poor City on the Richest Hill' by Marla Unruh, Helena, MT.”

• The Grades 4-5 lesson has students creating a 3-D model representing life in Butte at the turn of the twentieth century as a way to understand how wealth and poverty existed side by side; how the few used their power and what they did with their treasure; and how the many lived in poverty.

Gary Carmichael of Whitefish liked Eric Katz, New Rochelle, New York, 'Linking the West and East in U.S. Industrial Growth' (Grade 11). He said, “It had some political cartoons I had not seen before that I could incorporate into the lesson.”

• The lesson has students analyze primary and secondary sources to consider connections between westward expansion and natural resource extraction in the West and the economic growth and industrial development of the eastern United States. 

Karin Flint of Missoula (the winner of the Charlie Russell Journal) found three lessons she’s thinking of using:

Pat Nelson, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, “The Role of the ‘Newsies’: New York, Butte, and St. Louis ” (designed for Grade 5—but Karin’s planning to use it with 7th graders)

• Students will research child labor, the role of newsboys in history, and how children organized to make an impact and improve their own futures. 

Mark Johnson, Shanghai, China, “The Chinese Experience in the American West” (Grades 11-12) Resources (this is the murder mystery lesson plan featured in Monday’s post)

Patrice Schwenk, Missoula, Montana, “Sacred Art: Creating a Frontier Fresco” (Grades 9-12)

• Students will understand how murals are used to communicate a community’s cultural traditions by examining the frescoed murals painted by Brother Joseph Carignano, S.J., in St. Francis Xavier Church, Missoula.

Ruth Ferris of Billings liked Linda Oesterle, Orchard Park, New York, “Long Ago and Today” (Kindergarten—described in Monday’s post) and Michelle B. Major, Rome, Georgia, “Perspectives from the Gulches” (Grade 8)

• Students will evaluate primary source material (photos, newspapers, census, maps, court records, reminiscences, etc.) and use them to write a journal detailing life in a typical boom-and-bust mining town of the 1860s.

Betty Whiting, not a teacher but a historical fiction writer, was impressed with both “Long Ago and Today” and Mary Zbegner, Factoryville, Pennsylvania, “Using Primary Documents from the History of Montana to Inspire Historical Fiction Writing” (Grades 11-12)

• Students will examine primary sources about Montana mining communities, 1865-1920, to become familiar with the process of writing historical fiction and to learn how research can lend authenticity to a piece of writing set in a specific age with a different life style.

Erin Oreilly from, I think Missoula, wrote “I find the murder mystery investigation [Mark Johnson, Shanghai, China, “The Chinese Experience in the American West” (Grades 11-12)] the most interesting. It is an idea outside of the box and would be interesting to many students.”

To find these lessons—and more—go directly to this link.

Too hard to remember? You can always go to the Montana Historical Society’s webpage. Then find the “Educator Resources page” in the “Outreach and Interpretation” dropdown menu. This is where we keep the goods. Scroll down Educator Resources until you find the link to “The Richest Hills” along with lots of other resources.

Thanks to all who took the time to comment!

Martha

p.s. If you actually end up teaching any of these lessons, I’d love to hear how it goes.

Favorite Middle School Lessons

Last week I shared elementary teachers' answers to the following prompt: “Describe (in brief) the best Montana history or IEFA lesson or project or resource your taught this year--the one you will make time for next year no matter what.” As promised, here are the answers we received from middle school teachers to the same question. [I've added a few comments and links in brackets--couldn't resist putting my oar in.] 

MaryLou Systma at Manhattan Christian likes the Learning from Historical Document Units and worksheets we’ve put together to supplement the textbook, Montana: Stories of the Land. “I really like the primary sources. Specifically I like the earthquake letter and the Custer painting.  These show kids first hand what things were like back when the earthquake happened and how history gets twisted in the Custer painting.”

Traci Manseau, who teaches in a rural school near Lewistown, said that "Playing for the World: The 1904 Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School Girls Basketball Team made a huge impact on all of my students how they were treated in the boarding schools.” 

Sally Behr Shendel, a librarian in Sheridan, wrote: “I was inspired by OPI's contest to have students portray their understanding of one of the IEFA Essential Understanding, so I wove together several strands to teach the concept and let students explore its implications. I used the History Channel's (History Detective style) video on unlocking the mystery of a Navajo weaver to introduce the class' tapestry work on 12x18" looms. I used Anna Baldwin's great lesson ("Inside Anna's Classroom") on the concept of sovereignty and the constitution's supremacy clause to teach the essential understanding. I brought in contemporary tribal issues of sovereignty for small groups to read/discuss/share including legalizing marijuana, endangered species, and prosecuting nontribal violent offenders in women's abuse cases. The students designed and produced linoleum print relief images that reflect their experience in being a proud member of a community as the final reflection of this unit.

Wendy Dos Santos, of Trout Creek, wrote: “I combined Language Arts and Social Studies to teach a combination Research Writing (going through all the research writing process) and Montana History lesson in which the students chose a topic of their choice to research and write a MT History Research Paper.  We had a variety of topics chosen.  The students learned research skills, and dug deeper into a MT History topic of their choice.” [I can’t resist plugging National History Day here—a program that would work really well with this research project.] 

Cathleen Kuchera of Superior wrote: “I had students make a skit outlining the War of the Copper Kings and film it. They had to write a skit that went through the events the led up to any one of the fights, and explain the outcome of the fight. They could choose one of the senate fights or the fight for the state capital. Students then filmed their skits and we played everyone's videos during class. It really helped students to think about the events that led to the ‘battles’ and explain both Daly and Clark's position.”

Another teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous, also had students create videos: “The students did one-minute history videos based on non-fiction books we had read. One group of students voluntarily did a brief history based on Montana historical figures. There was a connection with the history books we had read. Time constraints made it difficult to do the video but the students enjoyed writing the script and planning.  Next year, the videos will be done a little better.”

Other teachers wrote anonymously about their favorite lessons:

“The lesson that I will make time for next year no matter what is making pemmican with my 7th grade Montana History class. This is a hands-on way for students to learn about Montana Indian cuisine and culture.”

“I use Charles M. Russell art to teach MT History. My favorite lesson takes place during Chapter 3 in which I use Russell art plus a story from Trails Plowed Under to teach Plains Indian culture.” [I bet this teacher is going to LOVE our new Charlie Russell Packets. As soon as we get everything back from the printer, we’ll be sending these packets all public school libraries. The material is already available online for you to preview and use.]  

“Each year my students in 8th grade Montana history do a research project on each of the tribes of Montana.  They research history, origins, stories, treaties involved in, and current information, etc.  They use this information to put together a poster and PowerPoint and then present their information to the class.  I have had students go as far as calling and  interviewing tribal leaders to get the information and I plan on including an interview component in the future.”

“I did a three-day lesson about reservation life and how it felt to be forced into an uncomfortable and new situation. Students were placed into groups and had to complete assignments within the confines of a box made out of tape on the classroom floor.  They had only the materials I provided in their box (reservation) and could not move from the box until I gave them instructions to do so.  Boxes varied in size and materials provided.  At the beginning of the simulation I had students sign a contract written in Greek.  They were told they would lose points for the assignment if they did not sign the document, but would not be told what it actually stated until later.  Students seemed to enjoy the activity and had an excellent discussion in closing about being forced into a 'box'.” [The lesson plan “Exploring Influences and Perspectives through Ledger Art” includes a similar activity. MHS published this lesson plan as part of “The Art of Story-Telling: Plains Indian Perspectives.”]  

A music teacher wrote: “Listening to pow-wow music. Watching processions, jingle dances, round dances, watching the drummers, etc.  Also, we play a Paiute stick game while singing a song using vocables.”

One 8th grade teacher has her students write a book. "They are told to pick a modern Native American to write their book on. I usually tell them from 1950 to the present. This way they get an idea of what Native Americans are doing in a more modern era.  They are usually surprised to see athletes, singers, actors and various other artists, as well as politicians and activists. They are given what each part of the book is (frontispiece, end papers, title page, chapters, glossary, etc) and they write a book about their person." She added: “The students whine while doing it but they learn so much about a modern Native American, researching, and parts of a book.”

One teacher recommended the book Tiny Warrior by D. J. Eagle Bear Vanas. She read it out loud to 6th graders and had them draw pictures to go with each chapter. “There are a lot of good life lessons in that book,” she writes.

“My favorite lessons all incorporate using Primary Sources (of course). Some that I know I will revisit include Civil Rights, Lewis & Clark, Joseph Medicine Crow (I can bring in all sorts of IEFA primary sources such as boarding schools, etc.)” [See this OPI lesson plan for teaching Counting Coups: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond, by Joseph Medicine Crow.] 

Do you have a favorite lesson you'd like to share? It is not too late. Email information to mkohl@mt.gov and I'll share it in a future post.

P.S. Don't forget to join us tomorrow (Tuesday, 9/15) at 4:30 for our second Montana History Digital Blast: "Art Integration and Charlie Russell."