Ancestry Classroom

 I've been seeing that teachers can sign up to use Ancestry Classroom at no charge, and was intrigued. Then I found out that MTHS Teacher Leader in History Vicky Nytes used Ancestry Classroom with her students in Superior, so I asked her to write a guest post. With no further ado, I'll turn the newsletter over to Vicky.

This is my first year of using Ancestry Classroom, and I think it provides a great first step into research for students of all ages. 

To gain access to Ancestry Classroom, you need to apply, and although the application is relatively simple, you do need your school’s IP Address. Once your application is accepted, students and faculty will have free access for three years to three sites:

• Ancestry.com, the world's largest genealogical site, with links to manuscript censuses and other historical records;
• Fold3, which provides access to "US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served"; and
• Newspapers.com, an online newspaper archives consisting of over a billion pages of historical newspapers.

Note: the sites are only accessible in the school building, so all assignments using this resource will have to be completed in school.  

I began with my eleventh graders, who used all three sites to find information for research projects they were completing. My eighth graders used the sites at the end of a unit on the American Revolution to learn about figures from the Revolution. I created a notetaking sheet for both my eighth-grade class and my eleventh-grade class, which helped guide their research.  

Since using a site such as Ancestry can be overwhelming, I appreciate that they have compiled a variety of biographies on individuals from all parts of the world and all time periods. These short biographies share key moments of the individual’s life and connects students to a primary source document that supports the story. 

My 8th graders could search through Notable People, Notable Stories on Ancestry to learn about Loyalists and Patriots of the American Revolution. My 11th graders used the same feature to find the people and era that most closely aligned with their research. 

Newspapers.com allowed students the opportunity to dig into their own primary source research. I made sure that students knew it would not be easy and we talked about ways of limiting and expanding our scope to find what we are looking for. Starting this lesson with that background, I think, made it a lot easier for students to find what they were looking for. They had a great time doing the required research of American Revolution people but for those that worked faster they then could look up whatever they wanted. 

I was hesitant about doing this introduction to research with my younger students, but there was a lot of excitement and everyone in the room found something exciting to share. They also got a taste of what research is and some of the struggles and successes that come with it. That alone made it worth it for me.

Thanks to Vicky for sharing her experience with this free resource! If you are looking for ways to get younger students started with newspaper research, here are a few tips. And if you have a resource you love that you think other teachers should know about, I hope you'll get in touch. 

2025 Historical Picture Prompt Short Story Contest

The Montana History Portal is hosting the 5th Annual Historical Picture Prompt contest. Using any photo in the Portal collection as a story prompt participants will write a fictional short story (650 words or less) and enter through the History Portal's submission form. Winners will be chosen from grades 3-6, grades 7-12, and adult. The deadline to enter is February 21, 2025. 

Contest rules and information can be found on the Montana History Portal.

Montana Civics Bee

This just in from the Mansfield Center:

The Mansfield Center is partnering with the National Chamber of Commerce Foundation to host the 2025 Montana Civics Bee for middle school students. Students who participate will strengthen their civics, writing, and public speaking skills, and form friendships with other young leaders along the way!  

A brief overview of the Montana State Civics Bee: 

• 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students must submit a 750-word (max) essay proposing their ideas for improving their community by February 4th, 2025.
• Top-scoring essays will be invited to participate in the Montana State Civics Bee in late spring 2025 for the chance to win cash prizes at the state level.
• The winner of the State Bee will be sent on an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC to compete in the National Civics Bee in fall 2025 for the chance to win $100,000 towards college.

The United States is experiencing a crisis in civic education among younger generations, and the Mansfield Center is working to correct this issue by offering opportunities for young Americans to engage with civics and strengthen our democracy moving forward. We are thrilled to gather students from across the state for this exciting event! 

To apply, visit the National Civics Bee webpage and create an account to access the application portal and address to mail physical applications.  

For additional resources to prepare your students visit our resource platform.

Reach out to Kate Koenig at kate.koenig@mso.umt.edu with questions!

NEH 2025 Summer Professional Development Offerings

 Each summer, the NEH offers tuition-free opportunities for K-12 educators and higher education faculty to study a variety of humanities topics. Stipends of $650 to $3,450 help cover expenses of these one-to-four-week programs. Programs may offer continuing education or graduate credits (often for an additional cost).

Teachers who participate in these institutes (including our own interpretive historian, Melissa Hibbard) rave about the opportunity and talk about how energizing, restorative, and enlightening the experience is.

All applications are due March 5, 2024. These programs are extremely competitive, so if one interests you, don't leave the application until the last minute (especially if the application requires a letter of recommendation.) Twenty percent of the slots of each program are reserved for applicants in their first five years of K-12 teaching. The selection committees also get points for geographic diversity, so in general Montana teachers have a slight advantage. You do have to write a personal essay though (which will build your empathy for students applying for college!)

Program Formats

Professional development programs include the following format options:

• Residential: All participants attend for the duration of the project at the host site.
• Virtual: All participants attend for the duration of the project using an online platform. This can include synchronous and asynchronous sessions.
• Combined Format: All participants attend a portion of the project online and a portion of the project at the host site. Online and residential sessions occur at different times, but participants attend the same format simultaneously.

The programs focus on topics from Angel Island and Asian American Immigration to The Pequot War and Africa in World History. I'm particularly a fan of the one-week Landmarks programs because you get to go to places where history happened. It's probably no surprise, but "Voices of the Ancients: Archaeology and Oral History in the American West" (held in Cedar City, Utah), particularly caught my eye. When I mentioned it to Melissa, she told me that this is the Landmarks program she attended, and it was revelatory.  

Learn more.

P.S. Looking for MUCH shorter, less intensive PD? Join Mark Johnson, author of Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky, on January 14 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. for Teaching Montana's Chinese History and earn one OPI renewal unit. Register. 

Social Studies Second Tuesdays

 

Social Studies Second Tuesdays 

Join us for online PDs on the Second Tuesdays of the month from 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. These mostly teacher-led sessions will provide practical strategies and resources to help your social studies lessons shine. Earn one OPI Renewal Unit per session. The first two in the series (October 8, "Teaching Current Events," and November 12, "Teaching with Maps") were fabulous.  Although we don't usually do this, we did record them and so let me know if you want the link. Here are our winter/spring offerings: 

 

January 14: Teaching Montana's Chinese History, with Mark Johnson

Author of Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky and Associate Clinical Professor at Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education Mark Johnson will explain why it's important to include the history of Chinese immigration in your curriculum and introduce new lessons for teaching about the Chinese in Montana. Register.

 

February 11: Teaching with Historic Places, with Ron Buck and Jennifer Hall

MTHS Teacher Leaders in History Ron Buck (7th-12th grade, Shelby) and Jennifer Hall (7th-8th grade, Eureka) will talk about how to make field trips meaningful and why to incorporate place-based education into your school year. Register.

 

March 11: Engaging with Your Local Museum, with April Wills

Museums are great for field trips, but they can be so much more for your students. Join MTHS Teacher Leaders in History and Montana Heritage Project alum April Wills (4th grade, Culbertson) to learn about ways museum-school partnerships can enrich your students' learning, from providing opportunities to conduct local history research to offering authentic audiences for student work. Register.

 

April 8: Teaching Thematically, with Cynthia Wilondek

Textbooks are generally organized chronologically, but is that the best way to organize your class? MTHS Teacher Leaders in History Cynthia Wilondek (9th-12th grade, Big Fork) will discuss the benefits and strategies of teaching social studies with themes rather than following a timeline. Register.

Free Speakers in the Schools Program

 It's been a while since I touted Humanities Montana's Speakers in the Schools program, and that's a shame because it is one of the best deals in the state. 

Through this program, which is free to schools, trained facilitators lead students in workshops and conversations on topics like civics, history, native cultures, literature, and more. To book a speaker, you need to contact him or her directly to check availability and then fill out the online application at least four weeks before the program date. Speakers include

• Mary Jane Bradbury, who does first-person performances as Nancy Russell and Jeannette Rankin. 
• Mark Johnson on Montana's historic Chinese communities. 
• Bridget Kevane on Montana's Latino history. 
• Chris LaTray on the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
• Lanny Real Bird on Plains Indian Sign Language. 
• And many more!

View the entire catalog and learn how to book a speaker for your classroom.

P.S. Join Mark Johnson on January 14 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. for a PD on Teaching Montana's Chinese History. Attendees will earn one renewal unit. Register.

New Year's Resolutions

 Do you make New Year's resolutions?  

Here's a fun look at the history of new year's resolutions (which go back in some form for 4,000 years!)

Thinking about New Year's resolutions made me wonder if anyone has any resolutions relating to teaching social studies? Maybe it's

• Exposing your students to more primary sources.
• Incorporating more Indian history and culture into your curriculum. 
• Taking your learning outside of the classroom (Wibaux middle school teacher Laura Dukart's cemetery project, "In Memoriam. A Study of Our Local Cemetery," is a great model; here's a presentation she created for teachers interested in creating a similar project in their own communities.)
• Implementing a new resource to teach civics and government.
• Using bell ringers.
• Integrating a new teaching strategy.
• Learning more about National History Day by signing up to judge at a contest in Kalispell, Helena, Miles City, or Bozeman. 
• Attending Social Studies Second Tuesdays (Next up is January 14, 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. with author of Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky and Associate Clinical Professor at Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education Mark Johnson, who introduce lessons for teaching about the Chinese in Montana. Register. Attendees earn 1 Renewal Unit.)

I'm genuinely interested: if you do have any teaching resolutions, please share them with me--and if you want to share any ideas you have for fulfilling them, I'd love to hear them as well.