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.