Create an ornament to be displayed in D.C. and/or learn more about Montana's Constitution

 

Sum Up Montana in a Christmas Tree Ornament

Looking for a fun end-of-the-year project? This year's National Christmas Tree is coming from US Forest Service Region 1, which included Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, and the Forest Service is recruiting 10,000 hand-made ornaments to send to the capitol. Specifically, they are looking for: 

6,500 Small Ornaments for Indoor Trees

• Must be 4-8 inches in size
• Decorated front and back
• Lightweight and colorful!
• Express what makes Montana special (flora, fauna, state symbols, iconic landscapes, Indigenous nations, history relating to the forest or the theme "over the rivers and through the woods,” for example, Lewis and Clark expedition)

3,500 Small Ornaments for Outdoor Trees

• Must be 9-12 inches in size
• Decorated front and back
• Lightweight, colorful and durable for outdoor weather conditions!
• Express what makes Montana special (flora, fauna, state symbols, Indigenous nations, history, especially relating to the forest or relates to the theme “Over
  the rivers and through the woods”

50 Tree Skirts

• Skirts should have a diameter of 5 to 8 feet
• Slit needs to be included
• Center hole must be 6 inches

Ornaments may NOT include names (including sports teams or school names), divisive or offensive content, or political or religious words or symbols.

Ornaments must be double-sided. Do not worry about stringing up the ornaments (the Capitol architect has a special wire for that), but feel free to punch a hole. 

You can find more details about the rules and some inspiration in this folder. Note that this material all refers to Idaho, because that's where it was created, but they want Montana contributions too!

Mail your ornaments to Liz Burke, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT, 59602 before July 31 and she will deliver them. 

Billings Workshop on Teaching Montana's Constitution, June 14-16, 2026

There is still space available for grades 6-12 teachers in Teaching Montana’s Constitution: A Summer Workshop for Educators. Educators attending this free workshop will be offered lodging, a travel stipend, and 12 OPI Renewal Units. Learn more at the Friends of the Montana Constitution website.

Scholarships to the Montana History Conference

 

Save the Date!

The 53rd Annual Montana History Conference, "Culture Keepers, Catalysts, and Cowboys: Exploring Billings and Eastern Montana" will be held September 24-26, 2026, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Billings.

Keynote speakers will include historian Paul Hedren, author of Sitting Bull's War: The Battle of Little Big Horn and the Fight for Buffalo and Freedom on the Plains; Crow Tribal Preservation Officer Aaron Brien, and first-person interpreter Mary Jane Bradbury as Evelyn Cameron.

Renewal units will be available for both the Thursday educator workshop and all conference sessions and tours. (Check here after July 1 for more details.) We hope you’ll consider attending!

As in past years, we will be offering travel scholarships for both teachers and college students.

About the Schedule

Thursday, September 25

Scholarship recipients will be required to attend a half-day educator workshop on Thursday led by Melissa Hibbard and focused on historical thinking skills. They will then have the opportunity to participate in a walking tour of Billings, a workshop on sugar beets in Montana, or a workshop on writing and publishing. 

A welcoming reception Thursday evening at the Billings Depot offers the opportunity to listen to western folk musicians John and Joanna Lowell and see two pop-up exhibits, one on historic maps and the other on “The Montana Tapestry: People and Places from 1776 to Today.” 

Friday, September 26    

Whereas the Thursday educator workshop includes a combination of content and teaching strategies, Friday focuses exclusively on content, with presentations on a range of Billings and Eastern Montana history topics, from two photographers who documented the Crow to the history of 4-H and early Yellowstone River Exploration. For those willing to miss sessions, there are also several tours offered on Friday, including architectural tours of Billings, a walk through Mountainview Cemetery, and a tour of two historic cemeteries.

Saturday, September 27 

Saturday morning brings more focus on content, including talks about the myth of Chinese tunnels, biographic warrior writing, ski-jumping and racing in Northeastern Montana, and more. An optional behind-the-scenes architectural tour of Billings' historic buildings closes out the conference on Saturday afternoon.  

About the Scholarships

Funded by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, the scholarships consist of full conference registration plus up to $400 in travel/expense reimbursement. All teachers and students in Montana’s colleges and universities are eligible to apply (residents of Billings and the vicinity are eligible for the conference registration scholarship but not the travel reimbursement). We will also be offering scholarships to cover the registration fee for teachers who only wish to attend the Thursday workshop.

Teacher recipients of the full scholarship must attend the entire conference, including the half-day Thursday’s Educators Workshop and the Saturday sessions (afternoon tours are optional). Student recipients must commit to attending all day Friday and Saturday but are also welcome at Thursday workshops.

Preference will be given to

• Billings area teachers
• Teachers and students from Montana tribal colleges
• Teachers from Montana's on-reservation schools
• Students from Montana community colleges and four-year universities
• Teachers from Montana's rural, under-served communities.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. June 14, 2026. Awards will be announced on Friday, June 26, 2026. Applying for a scholarship is quick and easy. Apply online.

Montana Stories for Kids

 Allen M. Jones, Montana's current poet laureate, has a challenge for kids ages 7-12: Write a story that's less than 300 words based on an interview with a family member, then send it to him to read.

Because he's a writer, not a historian, he proposes that students write their stories in first person. He has great prompts: "Tell me about a problem you had when you were growing up or when you first moved to Montana." "Was there something you really wanted that you couldn't have?" "Did you ever do something that you shouldn't have, and then try to get out of trouble?"

Many of his questions focus on problems--to create a narrative arch. "What choices did you make that led you to having your problem?" "How did you finally manage to solve the problem?" 

Here's the flier he's created with sample questions and instructions. 

If you are intrigued by this assignment but want to focus on non-fiction, check out the user guide Oral History in the Classroom Mini Footlocker for inspiration. Or Unit 4, Part 3, Lesson 2 of Montana: A History of Our Home, which asks students to interview a family member about their immigration history. (See p. 217 of the teacher's guide or p. 30 of the PDF.)

Teaching with Cemeteries

Last week we hosted our final Social Studies Third Tuesday for the year. Three MTHS Teacher Leaders in History--Jodi Delaney (Helena, grades 4-5), April Wills (Culbertson, middle school), and Cynthia Wilondek (Bigfork, high school)--talked about cemetery projects they conduct with their students. It was fascinating and inspiring!

You can watch the recording here. (Please forgive the fact that I kept opening up different files during their presentation. I was trying to gather links to resources to share with participants in a follow up email and thought I could do it without disrupting the proceedings. I was wrong!)  

You can also view their slides, which starts with an overview of cemetery history, includes the importance of teaching students how to be in cemeteries respectfully, and ends with links to resources and sample assignments, including some that can be used for any topic, like this handy PERSIA activity that asks students to look at a topic from multiple contexts (Political, Economic, Religious, Social, Cultural, and Intellectual/Arts.) Cynthia also made a handy Google Slide deck for students to use to break down their PERSIA analysis.

Here are some resources their presentation made me think of, most of which aren't in their slide deck. (And this list is the reason the recording is messed up!)

• Find a Grave. This actually is in Cynthia’s links, but I think it is important share it here anyway! For older students, adding information to this site (which could be as simple as pictures of headstones and inscriptions, but could also include obituaries and other information), would make a great project—and would be a genuine service to genealogists the world over.
• Digitized Newspapers. Both Jodi and Cynthia talked about using Chronicling America to research individuals, which is a fabulous source. Another great source are the many Montana newspapers digitized outside of Chronicling America project that you can access through this link.
• Jodi mentioned Chinese Tomb Sweeping ceremonies.
• There is information about the Tomb Sweeping festival in Lesson 7: Chinese Temples in Montana of the hands-on history footlocker “The Chinese Experience in Montana”.
• Mark Johnson also has middle and high school lessons on “Burial Customs and Cultural Practices of Chinese in America”.
• Mark also has a map of Chinese cemeteries in Montana and links to information about specific cemeteries in Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula on his website, Big Sky Chinese.
• Cynthia talked about Sanborn Maps. You can find many of them on the Library of Congress website.
• If your library (or classroom) doesn’t have a copy of Montana Chillers, by Ellen Baumler, you should order one!
• Wibaux middle school teacher Laura Dukart also has a cemetery project, "In Memoriam. A Study of Our Local Cemetery." Here's a presentation she created for teachers interested in creating a similar project in their own communities.

One of the teachers attending this PD wrote afterwards, "I've never thought of a fieldtrip to a cemetery and now I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of it!" I hope more of you will consider a field trip to your local cemetery this spring. 

Teaching Montana's Constitution: A Free Summer Educator Workshop

 Teaching Montana’s Constitution: A Summer Workshop for Educators will bring together Montana teachers for an in-person professional development opportunity focused on incorporating the story of Montana’s Constitution in their social studies, history, ELA, and/or government curriculum.

Fast Facts

• Dates: June 14-16, 2026
• Place: MSU Billings Campus
• Renewal Units: 12
• Cost: FREE! Lodging, two meals per day, and travel stipend provided
• Target Audience: Middle and High School social studies and ELA teachers
• Registration link: Register - Teaching Montana’s Constitution

Learn More

Organized by the Friends of the Montana Constitution, a statewide nonpartisan nonprofit, this workshop assembles constitutional experts, historians, retired public servants, and current educators to dive deep into the history of Montana’s unique 1972 Constitution and the people who wrote it. Teachers will leave the workshop not only with new materials and resources, but also with new strategies for incorporating Montana history and government into their classrooms in exciting and engaging ways.

• Session Topics Include:
• A primer on Montana’s Constitution
• Stories of the delegates to the 1972 Constitutional Convention including C. Louise Cross
• The role of judges
• The history of MT in the 1960’s & 1970’s
• Montana Constitutional Law
• How Article X led to Indian Education for All
• Understanding the initiative process and the role of the legislature, and more!

Presenters Include: Betsy Griffing, retired adjunct Professor of Montana Constitutional Law and Civil Rights Litigator; Pat Cotter, retired Montana Supreme Court Justice; Constance Van Kley, Assistant Professor with the Alexander Blewett III School of Law; Emily Cross, Billings Attorney and Granddaughter of constitutional convention delegate C. Louise Cross; Brad Faulhaber, Gov’t and Criminal Law Teacher with Sidney Public Schools; and Susan Fox, Retired Legislative Services Director.

Sponsors: This workshop is organized by the Friends of the Montana Constitution with support and funding from the Montana 250 Commission and the Montana Historical Society.

Questions?

Contact: Julia Gustafson, Coordinator, coordinator@montanaconstitution.org or 406-422-2920.

Purchasing Tribal Flag Sets and IEFA Courses

 I've had several teachers reach out to me to ask where they can buy a set of tribal nation flags like we have in our Montana First Peoples: Essential Understandings footlocker. I've found two sources: 

Tribal Nations Maps sell 4x6 inch tabletop flags for $10 each. They come with a base and stand. 

TME Flags also sells sets of the tribal flags and the Montana state flag with a wooden base to hold the complete set. Cost is $109 but if you order 12 or more sets there is a 15% discount. When I wrote them, the link they gave me was for their large flags, but you can simply use the contact form to order.  

 

MTPLC IEFA Courses

MTPLC has 40 Indian Education self-paced, online courses that can be taken for Renewal Units or UM course credits for an extra fee. All of these have fees attached, but they look great for folks looking to dive deep. 

Montana History and Poetry, Part 2

 April is National Poetry Month! Last week I focused on reading poetry. Below are a few lessons that ask students to write poetry as a way of better understanding Montana history. I'll list them in grade level order (elementary first).

Painting to Poetry

An Artist’s Journey: Transform a Painting into Poetry (designed for grades 1–7) asks students to examine several Charlie Russell paintings using their five senses, before choosing one painting to use as an inspiration for a poem. One good adaptation of this for younger grades: Have your students pretend to "step into the painting" by taking a giant step forward before imagining what sounds they hear, what they smell, etc. We designed this activity around Russell's artwork, but you could do this with other artwork or even an evocative photograph.

Biographical Poems

Biographical Poems Celebrating Amazing Montana Women Lesson Plan (designed for grades 4-6) asks students to research a Montana woman and then use the information they gather to create biographical poems. We included a variation of this lesson in Unit 4 of the Montana: A History of Our Home curriculum, in which we ask students to write poems about any notable Montanan. (See Unit 4, Part 4, p. 221 of the Teachers Guide or p. 34 of the online PDF). 

Found Poems

A few years back, retired Helena teacher Jim Schulz suggested having students write found poems as a way to get them to analyze and summarize information. He suggested giving students an analysis question and a relatively short section of their textbook and the assignment to answer the question by writing a poem using only phrases from that section of the textbook. The first part of this post is a sample assignment I created, having students write found poems about allotment using pages of our middle-school textbook Montana: Stories of the Land.

I've also talked to retired librarian Ruth Ferris about asking students to create found poems from historic newspaper articles or other primary sources. The glory of found poetry is that it forces students to read their source text more than once, so make sure the text you provide is worthy of re-reading. 

Dialogue Poems

Poems for Two Voices (designed for grades seven through twelve) asks students to work in pairs to create a poem for two voices, comparing and contrasting the tribal leaders' perspectives. This lesson focuses on analyze Plenty Coups and one by Sitting Bull, but you could use other figures, for example, a member of the radical Industrial Workers of the World and a more conservative member of the Butte Miner's Union. The trick is to make sure the students research and really understand the different perspectives before writing their poems. Here's more information on dialogue poems and some additional examples of how Montana teachers have used them in their classrooms.