Indian Education for All Online Book Club Courses

The Western Montana Professional Learning Collaborative is offering two IEFA Online Book Club Courses.

The first is American Indian Literature (for use in grades K-8, October 8-December 2, 2018.)

This online course serves as an opportunity for participants to explore OPI developed instructional units based on literature sent to all Montana elementary and middle school libraries alongside additional primarily fiction texts for use in grades K-8. The course will be divided into three parts: literature for K-2, literature for 3-5, and literature for 6-8. Many resources are place-based, either focused on Montana tribes or created by Montana Indian authors. Participants will read texts, engage in discussions, complete instructional activities, and examine accurate and authentic Native American fiction and nonfiction texts. Ultimately, participants will select texts and instructional units for immediate integration of IEFA into their classrooms. This course is rigorous and requires the participant complete extensive reading and access a number of texts through their school or public library or purchase said materials from WM-PLC or booksellers.

• Registration fee:  $175
• Credit: 30 OPI Renewal Units or 2 Semester Credits (semester credit is offered through the University of Montana and is an additional fee of $155. The course instructor will provide a separate registration form).
• Visit this website for more information, including a list of the books that the course will explore and a link to register.

The second will focus exclusively on The Dance House by Joseph Marshall III (October 8 - November 18, 2018)

The text used in this book club targets high school student and adult readers; however, teachers of all grades and content areas will build background knowledge and learn instructional strategies that will facilitate the integration of Indian Education for All. The primary text includes essays and short stories from the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Participants will read and review the Essential Understandings of Montana Indians and the book, The Dance House by Joseph Marshall III. The Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians will serve as a guide for critical analysis of The Dance House. Through readings, discussion forums and examinations of high-quality and authentic literature and teaching materials, participants will explore a variety of literature and professional teaching materials and develop strategies, lesson plan(s) and a final project (semester credit only) that synthesizes their learning and allows for the immediate integration of IEFA into their classrooms.

• Registration fee:  $125
• Credit: 15 OPI Renewal Units or 1 Semester Credit (semester credit is offered through the University of Montana and is an additional fee of $155. The course instructor will provide a separate registration form).
• Learn more and register here.

Who's In and Who's Out

When we wrote the middle-school textbook Montana: Stories of the Land, we worked hard to make sure we were telling an inclusive story. I think we succeeded in incorporating Montana's Indian history into the main narrative--at least better than many American history textbooks do. (We were less successful in incorporating women's history, a deficit we've tried to address with our Women's History resources and lesson plans.)

I started thinking about this after reading Facing History and Ourselves one-hour lesson plan on LGBT history. That lesson has students work together to create a timeline of significant events in LGBTQ history (basically by playing the game "Timeline" as a class)* and then reflecting on the difference it would make if LGBTQ history, and the histories of groups that received relatively little attention, were woven into the curriculum and given proportional weight in textbooks and literature classes.

It occurred to me that Facing History's lesson plan could easily be adapted to become an IEFA lesson in a high school American history classes using entries from Montana Office of Public Instruction's tribal history timelines as a starting point.

If you try this, I hope you will let me know how it goes.

*Timeline Rules of Play (from "Rules of Play," RulesofPlay.co.uk):

"To begin, one card is randomly drawn from those not given to players. This is placed in the middle of the table, date-side up and is the starting point of a chronological line which will slowly be built by players. The first player then chooses one of their cards and place it before or after the initial card. The player's card is then turned date-side up. If the player was right, it remains on the table. Otherwise, the card is discarded and a new one must be drawn to replace it. Play proceeds clockwise. The more cards which are correctly played, the harder it is to correctly place new ones! The first player to get rid of their cards wins."

P.S. I was inspired by this to work with Nick Zarnowski to create a timeline-based lesson plan focused on women and the law. As often happens, the lesson morphed beyond recognition and bears little resemblance to the inspiration. However, especially if you teach government, I hope you'll try it and then, of course, report back. 

Montana History for Kindergarten

I recently received a request from a kindergarten teacher for ideas for incorporating Montana history in kindergarten. Do you have any resources that you particularly like? If so, I'd love to hear about them. Here is how I responded:

The fact is, we don’t have a ton of material designed specifically for kindergarten, or really K-3. However, other kindergarten teachers have had success adapting our hands-on history footlockers. The lesson plans are designed for fourth grade but the objects are great for all ages. Footlockers are available to Montana educators for two weeks at a time. No rental fee is charged for the use of footlockers. However, schools are responsible for the cost of shipping the footlocker to the next venue.

Many lower grade teachers particularly enjoy Montana Indian Stories Lit Kit - Immerses students in storytelling and the oral tradition with seven class sets of Montana Indian stories collected for the Indian Reading Series (1972) and reprinted by the Montana Historical Society Press. The lit kit includes animal puppets and User Guide. NOTE: Out of respect for the storytelling customs of many Montana Indian people, this kit is available for use in the winter months (November through March.)

The user guides for all the footlockers are online and contain lists of contents and historical narratives as well as lesson plans. 

We also have specific lesson plans for lower grades in our integrating art and history lesson plans. Your school library may have a copy of our Montana’s CharlieRussell packet and The Art of Storytelling packet. We are in the process of reprinting The Art of Storytelling packets and I can mail you one when they are ready (likely in late October) if you’d like. (Put your name on the list.)

OPI's Indian Education Division has a number of K-2 lesson plans listed by subject matter. Many of them are tied to anchor texts. Poking around, I was intrigued by "Rocks are Tools" under Science and Songs from the Indian Reading Series (which would be a great accompaniment to the Indian Stories Lit Kit), under Music.

Finally, here a couple of lesson plans developed by kindergarten teachers who took part in an NEH Landmarks workshop we held back in 2011. I thought they were ingenious.

New Lesson Plans for a New Year

Over the last couple of posts, I've reported on what your elementary, middle, and high school colleagues said were their favorite lessons and resources. The ones below weren't listed, but that's because they are brand spanking new!

For Grades 11-12 (especially government students): Montana Women's Legal History Lesson Plan. In this 1-2 period activity, students will examine sample Montana legislation from 1871 to 1991 that particularly affected women's lives to explore the impact laws have on the lives of ordinary people and why laws change.

For Grades 7-12: "Poems for Two Voices." This two- to three-day lesson uses the same documents featured in "Hearing Native Voices: Analyzing Differing Tribal Perspectives in the Oratory of Sitting Bull and Plenty Coups." After analyzing Plenty Coups' and Sitting Bull's rhetoric, student pairs will write a poem for two voices, comparing and contrasting the tribal leaders' perspectives, gaining a better understanding of Essential Understanding regarding Montana Indians #1: "There is great diversity among the twelve tribal nations of Montana in their languages, cultures, histories and governments."

For grades 4-8: Making an Atlatl provides detailed instructions on how students can make atlatls and darts while learning more about the physics behind this ancient technology and the tremendous skill it took to hunt large games in the pre-contact era. (We finished this last one in May of last year--but I'm guessing you didn't have a chance to try it so I'm touting it again.)

This isn't new either--but I just discovered the link to it has been broken for a LOONG time, so I have reposted Butte’s Industrial Landscape, a PowerPoint and script created by Fred Quivik, Professor Emeritus of History, at Michigan Technological University. Designed a as a presentation for teachers attending the NEH-funded workshop, "The Richest Hills: Mining in the Far West, 1860-1920," the PowerPoint examines industrial mining's social and environmental impacts. It is dense and rich--but has extremely useful material that I believe can be adapted for classroom use, particularly in the upper grades. (If you do use it, I'd love to know how.) 

And speaking of broken links: I'm begging you. If you find one, please let me know so I can fix it. I will be eternally grateful.

P.S. Elementary teachers: We didn't forget about you this summer--we just haven't finished our assignment. Please be patient.

Best of, High School Edition

Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history of IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. Go here for the elementary and middle school teachers' responses.  Read on for the responses from high school teachers with some notes from me, in brackets.

I enjoyed the IEFA lesson "Where the Girl Saved Her Brother."  The review given by the students was mixed, but not because of the activity.  –Marietta Kuhl, Colstrip Mt.  American Indian Studies (9-12), Government (11), US History (12) [I'm guessing this is the lesson plan Marietta is referring to.]

I revisited my US Constitution/Hellgate Treaty/allotment lessons this year in English class and they were pretty good even without reading Wind from an Enemy Sky. I make sure I include those every year, with or without the anchor text. These can be found within this OPI Model Teaching Unit. Anna Baldwin, Arlee HS 10^th grade English

Several teachers championed the Montana and the Great War project  (including Beaverhead County high school teacher Kim Konen) and I am SO glad. These teachers took on a substantial commitment: to have their students conduct authentic research into how World War I affected people in their counties and then to share their findings. You can find the lesson plan here. You can read a summary of the project here.  You can see the kids' excellent work here.

I did a lesson referencing Indian Relocation and used contemporary artist George Longfish as the catalyst. His work is located in the permanent online collection at the Missoula Art Museum. Jennifer Ogden, Victor School, K-12 Art

Because of a IEFA class I took, I discovered ALL the IEFA resources already in our library! I will be using some of those next year. Shelly Willmore, Roy Public Schools, K-12

We begin with a short discussion of how street names commemorate important events/people. I then ask students to name streets around West High School in Billings (Custer, Howard, Miles, Broadwater, etc). Most express surprise about the number of military and financial men. The real lesson comes when I ask them to name important Native American figures/people (language is important here).  Most name Sacajawea; a few know Two Moons (a park) or Black Otter Trail and now Joe Medicine Crow (middle school).  They quite gleefully name Iroquois, Comanche, Kiowa, Apache and then tipi, tomahawk, and the ilk. As I, fortunately, deal with quite bright juniors; they realize at this point what they have done and how even in 2018 vestiges of white privilege still remain.  Many of them remember the rancor and animosity that the decision to name the middle school after Joe Medicine Crow name brought a few years ago.  I don't do any assessment; the stark realization fills that role for me.--Bruce Wendt, Billings West

Our Art teacher and English teacher collaborate to go to Glacier and learn about the historical signifigance to the CSKT tribes to the area and then create art work of the land, followed with writing about the art piece as it pertains to the CSKT tribes.--anonymous

And three more brief and anonymous but intriguing suggestions:

• I have designed interactive maps to teach MT geography. 
• Mountain man flint and steel fire starting... hands-on for kids.
• Footlocker on Homesteaders [The Mystery of the Old Homestead] from Western Heritage Center

P.S. Don't forget: The deadline to apply for the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation Scholarship to attend the Montana History Conference is September 9, 2018. Learn more about the September 27-29 Billings Conference and the scholarship information here.

Best of, Middle School Edition

Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history of IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. Go here for the elementary school teachers' responses. Stay tuned for high school teachers' responses. Read on for the responses from middle school teachers with some notes from me, in brackets.

Polson Middle School social studies teacher Matthew Dalbey taught World War I. [I hope he used our WWI lesson plan and/or scavenger hunt and other online resources.] Amber Erickson, who teaches 6-8 history in Saco, also focused on the Great War in Montana, but Amber participated in an ambitious project that had students conducting and sharing original research on ways the war impacted the people of their own county. The lesson plan was written for high school students, but Amber's students did a brilliant job. Here is the website they created to share their research.

Indian Literature Stories: my students loved the tales and comparing tribes.—Shannon Baukol, Arrowhead School District, grades 6-8 [One source of relevant stories is the Indian Reading Series. Shannon may also use our Hands-on History footlocker, the Montana Indian Stories Lit Kit, which immerses students in storytelling and the oral tradition with seven class sets of Montana Indian stories collected for the Indian Reading Series. The lit kit includes animal puppets and User Guide. NOTE: Out of respect for the storytelling customs of many Montana Indian people, this kit will be made available for use in the winter months, November through March.]

Studying homesteading in Montana using a 1910 mail order catalogue to purchase items needed on the homestead, analyzing primary sources, going on a field trip to an original homestead and having students create presentations.—Chad Williams, Hamilton Middle School 7th grade Montana History [Our Hands-on History footlocker, Inside and Outside the Home: Homesteading in Montana 1900-1920, includes Sears, Roebuck catalogs and other primary sources and replica artifacts. Another teacher recommends the footlocker on homesteaders from Western Heritage Center, "History Mystery III: The Mystery of the Old Homestead."]

I had my students make postcards about either a town in Montana, or the history of the railroads in Montana, when we studied the railroad. Students researched the history and used those facts in their postcard. The postcards were then hung up in the school for other students to see.—Cathleen Kuchera, Fair-Mont-Egan, 8th grade Montana History  

I did a homesteading day and the students had to create something just like homesteaders, we had a campfire and everything!  We had elk tenderloins, butter, cornbread, knitting and fire making.—Jennifer Graham, Philipsburg

The MHS lesson, "Blood on the Marias: Understanding Different Points of View Related to the Baker Massacre of 1870"—Anonymous

Mapping Montana, A to Z, Lesson Plan.—Anonymous

A winter count activity where each student drew a quilt square to represent an important event in their life using symbolism.—Anonymous [For lesson plans and a PowerPoint on winter counts, see "The Art of Storytelling: Plains Indian Perspectives."]

I attended a professional development seminar at the historical society last summer that inspired me with several strategies for improving students' comprehension of complex reading passages.—Zach Duval, Somers Middle School, 6-8 Language Arts [You can read more about some of these strategies here, and stay tuned: OPI has converted parts of it into an online course that will be posted soon on the Teacher Learning Hub.] 

6th Grade World Fair - students dress, become a person we have studied, and share the importance of why we study them in the modern era even though they lived in ancient times.—Jessica Henigman, Cut Bank,  6th Grade ELA and 6th Social studies [Looking for Montana characters? Check out our Montana Biographies page.]

Charles Russell PowerPoint, Gallery Walk and Poems.—Jennifer Hall, Eureka Middle School, 7th and 8th grades, U.S. History and Montana History [Find the Charlie Russell material Jennifer is referring to.] 

I recommend the IEFA lesson, "More Than Flutes and Drums."—Anonymous

I taught a lesson that compared and contrasted Pocahontas. Students were placed into groups of 3 and assigned a historical figure to take guided notes on (Capt. John Smith, Pocahontas, and Chief Powhatan) throughout the Disney movie Pocahontas and a PBS NOVA Documentary, Pocahontas: Revealed. They were given the same set of questions for both videos and they were responsible for that figure the whole time. They were all tasked with identifying forms of technology, major crops, trade items, social structures, etc., and noting names, dates, and places of importance. After completion of both videos, they shared their findings with their group members and were then asked to write their own story about Pocahontas using the information they had learned. This was a creative writing story.—Mitchell Wassam, Ronan Middle School, 6th grade Ancient Civilization and Geography.

Two different teachers anonymously recommended doing a unit using Tim Tingle's How I Became A Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story. Tim Tingle is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; OPI's Indian Education Division has created a model literacy lesson plan for his book Walking the Choctaw Road. 

Analyzing Points of View: Chief Rosebud Remembers Lewis and Clark.—Tammy Dalling, 7th grade Gardiner Montana history [This is a lesson plan created by the good folks at OPI's Indian Education Division.]

Foods Indigenous to North America. We are currently engrossed in this lesson, and will be throughout the remainder of the quarter.  I have changed and adapted this each quarter that I have gardening class, to fit the knowledge and understanding levels of the students I have at that time.  Also, I have started to adapt the fictional novels into a seasonal round, to help students visualize what is happening, and at what time of the year in the Hatchet book series, and now in the My Side of the Mountain series- the kids are LOVING it!!!—Anonymous

I used Newsela articles a lot this year for media classes.  This one about Frazer, Montana, fits in nicely with the Fort Shaw Indian Girls' Basketball Team.  Could lead to further study of the history of basketball teams in Montana.—Norma Glock, Columbus Middle School, Grades 6-8, Media/Literacy Skills [Newsela is a site that offers nonfiction text at multiple reading levels. More here.]

The students' favorite lesson is the Boarding School. I show the segment from Into the West DVD.  I show this after we study Chapter 11 Early Reservation Years.—Debbie Paisley, Montana History, West Yellowstone

P.S. Don't forget: The deadline to apply for the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation Scholarship to attend the Montana History Conference is September 9, 2018. Learn more about the September 27-29 Billings Conference and the scholarship information here.