More Podcasts, Thoughts on Core Themes, and a Free Resource

Some of our December posts garnered some good responses! Read on. 

More Podcasts

In response to the guest post by Whitehall High School teacher Merrick Parnell on using podcasts for high school social studies, Bozeman High School teacher Elaine Warn sent in a list of podcasts she loves: 

From the Washington Post:

• Presidential--an episode for each president
• Constitutional--an episode about various topics (less pointedly liberal than More Perfect)

Sounds like Hate from the Southern Poverty Law Center

Slow Burn from Slate (various seasons on interesting things like Watergate, Bill Clinton, David Duke, Tupac, and Rodney King)

Finding Fred, all about Mr. Rogers, seriously heartwarming, especially as an educator

Uncivil, looking at the Black perspective on the Civil War. There are some great episodes, such as one about women and their role in the war.

Give Me Liberty, The Making of American Exceptionalism, from The National Review

Floodlines, from The Atlantic about Hurricane Katrina

LBJ's War, from Public Radio International about Vietnam (great use of primary source phone transcripts in this one)

Unprecedented from NPR—similar to More Perfect and Constitutional, with a great look at some very important cases like Snyder v Phelps

Order 9066 from American Public Media about Japanese Internment

And Annie Hanshew of Helena suggested the first season of This Land from Crooked Media, which follows the United States Supreme Court case Sharp v. Murphy to discuss issues around Native sovereignty land rights. 

Core Themes

In response to "Tips from a Veteran High School Teacher," Red Lodge middle school teacher Steve Morris had this to say: "I sincerely enjoyed this post, thank you for sharing! Now in my third year of public school teaching, the 'core theme' concept has been one of my biggest learning points to date. This year I have been utilizing 'Questions are the Answer' which, of course, was sparked by my participation in the Right Question Institute workshop during the past summer. To complement this, I make sure that each unit I teach also focuses on this core question: How is this relatable to my life? Combined, these two themes ensure our studies utilize the newly adopted Social Studies Standards (Develop, Plan, Gather, Analyze, Communicate, Act) while reinforcing the wisdom of Frederick Douglass who opined that “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.” Time and again, I find the usefulness to be the sweet spot—that “aha” moment in which learners see the value of our shared time." 

A Free Resource

Bruce Wendt, whose philosophy of teaching history I shared in "Tips from a Veteran High School Teacher," wrote in with another recommendation. When he taught dual credit American history, he used The American YAWP: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook as his textbook. Published by the Stanford University Press, it is freely accessible online. I had never heard of this but it looks very exciting. Bruce says: "If you don’t know this text, it is fantastic with lots of links and visuals. Best of all, it is constantly updated and not 10 or 15 years old." He also reiterated that although he had students read the textbook, "class discussions/activities were based on issues, not the pages in the book."

What was Christmas like in Montana Territory?

Among his many other projects, the long-time, and much-missed, MHS historian Dave Walter compiled Christmastime in Montana, a collection of stories of Christmases past, mostly from the newspapers.*  For your reading pleasure, I've copied a few excerpts below. Happy holidays to all! 

William Thompson's First Montana Christmas, 1863

My first Christmas in Montana was spent at Virginia City in 1863...A friend had sent us a piece of cinnamon-bear meat, and this my partner put into the oven and roasted. We had lots of flour, because we brought a supply with us; but vegetables were not to be had. I knew where there were some frozen onions behind a store...I put them in a big iron pot and boiled them until we thought they must certainly be cooked.  

The dinner was served. It consisted of bear meat, onions, salt-rising bread, cake, coffee, and sugar. Tom Clanton had been over at a saloon trying to win a gallon of whiskey for the feast, and his partner, Nunley, spent the forenoon rustling for the cake. He was acquanted with a family who gave him the privilege of their cookstove in which to bake a cake.  

We sat down to the Christmas spread. Joe cut the bear and I dished up the onions; Nunley cut the cake and Clanton poured the booze. I scraped the onions on my plate to one side and settled down to enjoy the bear meat, which smelled so good while it was being cooked. Golly, but it was rank, tough, and stringy. I couldn't go it; I never could go whiskey; Nunley's cake was simply unapproachable. I filled up on coffee and bread. 

--Published in the Anaconda Standard, December 17, 1899

 

Christmas in Bozeman, 1867

On the eventful Christmas Eve, all the Masons and all those who love the Masons met at the large and spacious Hall, 26 by 60, newly built in this place, for the purpose of having a grand entertainment in the way of dancing. Our company was honored by many friends from the West Gallatin, by our excellent Captain's lady from Fort Ellis, and by the fort's many gentlemanly officers--besides many of our fair and brilliant faces who inhabit the homely dwellings of stirring, enterprising Bozeman. 

Who in the East shall henceforth say there is no society, no civilization here? To us, no rooms were ever decorated more gorgeously. Chandeliers never shone more brilliantly; hearts never beat more joyfully; music never thrilled more sweetly; refreshments never refreshed more refreshingly...

--Published in the Virginia City Montana Post, January 4, 1868

 

Christmas in Helena, 1868

The celebration of Christmas commenced here on Christmas Eve. ... The liquor, billiard, gambling, and concert saloons and hurdy-gurdy houses were filled, and they remained so for two days. At some point, nearly every saloon had its own peculiar row. Any looker-on, bearing in mind the danger from stray shots, would make up his mind ... that they "had a little hell of their own, and devlis enough to tend to it." 

Main Street was the broad aisle through with the devotees of pleasure marched to do their idol homage. As they did so, their barbaric yells resounded throughout the town....

On Christmas night the orgies reached their height, but we can give no detailed description of them, for most of the participants had become so drunk as to cease to be amusing."

--Published in the Helena Weekly Herald, January 2, 1868

 

*Finding stories about Christmas (or any other holiday) is much easier now than when Dave wrote this book because of MHS's newspaper digitization project. 

Save the Dates

 

Enough folks want us to continue our monthly online PDs that we're scheduling three more this spring, but we're moving them to the THIRD Wednesdays of the month from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.   January 19, 2022: Indian Education for All Join Indian Education Specialist Mike Jetty to learn more about resources to integrate IEFA into your classrooms--and bring your own favorite resources to share. Register here before January 18 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.   February 16, 2022: Teaching with Primary Sources Why do you use primary sources? What are your favorite ways to integrate them in your classroom? Do you have favorite sources? Come share your ideas and learn from your colleagues. Register here before February 15 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.   March 16, 2022: Teaching Social Studies Skills Social studies education includes both content and skills. The new standards focus on teaching such skills as developing questions, planning inquiries, comparing, evaluating and using sources, communicating conclusions, and taking informed action. Come with your questions and your best ideas for teaching those skills. Register here before March 15 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.

Tips from a Veteran High School Teacher

 I saw long-time, but now retired, Billings high school teacher Bruce Wendt at the MFPE conference in Great Falls, but I wasn't able to attend his presentation. Knowing I had missed a valuable session, I emailed him, and he emailed back with some of the thoughts he presented. They are too good to keep to myself, so I wanted to share them with you as well. 

In his session, Bruce related his "philosophy of how to teach history."

"I suggest teachers have a core theme (central question) around which teachers build their courses. Rather than following the chapters of a text or worrying about meeting standard x, decide your goals.  

For years, I used a paraphrase of Crevecoeur’s 'What is an American?' All of my assignments and discussion would hang from that question. Not that I said that every day or even on a regular basis, but it that became in a sense my final at the end of the year."   

"My second essay question for years was 'What is the American Revolution?' (Bruce means this broadly, suggesting that there was more than one, seeing the Civil War as a second and the New Deal as a third revolution.)  

Shaping your class around big questions, and having students answer those questions using evidence from their readings, solves the problem of students simply googling answers to questions by "asking questions that a Google search does not answer directly."

 It's harder--at least at first--to teach this way than to follow a textbook, but to my mind, there are any number of benefits. Your class will be much more interesting. Students will come out of your class understanding that history is more than "one damn thing after another." And finally, they'll have gained a lot of practice thinking deeply, making evidence based claims, and "constructing meaning."

 To my mind, it doesn't get much better than that. 

Do you use a single core question over the course of a semester? Unit-based core (or essential) questions? Do have a philosophy for teaching history? I'd love to hear about it.   

 

Podcasts for high school social studies

 When Whitehall high school social studies teacher Merrick Parnell offered to write a guest post on podcasts, I leapt at the chance. So--with no further ado, I'll turn it over to Merrick!

I love to use podcasts to supplement the content in my social studies classes. It creatively presents the information and allows students to create their own mental pictures. I will also have students create a visual depiction of the podcast by drawing a picture that represents what’s being said or having them take notes.

Here are a few of the podcasts I like to use:

History

• Stuff You Missed in History Class: The podcasts do a good job of covering both World and US History topics.
• Richest Hill: This is a great podcast about Butte’s mining history and its impact on the current Superfund Site. The podcast also has a great episode on Frank Little that I like to use when teaching about Labor History.

Government

• More Perfect: This is a great podcast that goes into the constitution and the supreme court of the US and covers different decisions. 

Current Events

• Up First: This is a great podcast that covers current events in the US and World. 
• National Native News: Native American current events and news 
• Montana News: MTPR’s daily news headlines

Economics

• NPR’s Planet Money: This podcast is great to teach economics in a current event setting. The podcast takes a different economic event and applies it to the world. 

It's Martha, back again. Do you use podcasts too? Do you have any favorites to add, or other activities to do with them? Let me know and I'll share.

Taking Informed Action

Way back in September, I said I was going to write periodic posts on the new standards. Thus far, it's been very periodic, with a post on developing questions (SS.K12.1) and one on resources to meet the new fourth-grade standards. (The short version, use our curriculum--now available online and soon available for purchase--to meet all but three of the standards.) So I figure it's time for another installment. 

The standard I've gotten the most questions about is "Take Informed Action" (SS.K12.6). When I first saw this standard, my thoughts immediately turned to political action: learning about a current issue of concern and then writing a letter to a political leader or the local paper, or otherwise engaging in lobbying. There's nothing wrong with encouraging students to use their voices politically (as long as you don't tell them which side of an issue to choose!) But taking informed action is so much more than politics. 

First, of course, is the adjective informed. Students must study a topic thoroughly before taking any action. The action part can take many forms. If you study hunger in your community, doing a food drive can be informed action. If you study pollution, picking up trash or recycling can be informed action. Many schools already do these things--or have students participate in other service projects. The trick is to make sure students are not just taking actions, but that they are taking informed actions.  

Here are some examples from the National Council for Social Studies article
Taking Informed Action to Engage Students in Civic Life: 

• After studying the impacts of a snowstorm on their community, students "created a paid snow-shoveling service."
• After learning about child labor, students raised money for "a school in Pakistan in honor of an anti-child-labor activist who was killed at 12 years old."

Closer to home, I remember a Plentywood teacher telling me that her students used their GPS skills to help map the community's fire hydrants (something the fire department wanted done). In Wibaux, students research people buried in their historic cemetery. With a greater appreciation for the role of the cemetery in their community and the importance of preserving community history, they participate in a cemetery clean up day. 

Sharing what you've learned to an authentic audience is also a form of informed action. For example,

• Third grade students in Helena used to (and maybe still) study the city's history and then take an adult in their life on a tour of the town's historical sites. (The adult completed a tour guide evaluation form and students were awarded "historic tour guide" badges for their efforts.)
• Many teachers have upper elementary students teach something they've learned to younger students. 
• In Corvallis, high school students created Then and Now history exhibits that were displayed in local businesses.
• In Townsend, high school students studied and interviewed veterans and produced a Veterans Day celebration.
• In Billings, high school students collaborated with the Western Heritage Center to create a museum exhibit.

I really like the way Craig Perrier wrote about taking informed action for C-3 Teachers. He asserts that informed action can include bringing student work into the public sphere, bringing viewers into the classroom, or even be "an individual growth opportunity or personal experience." My very favorite part of his post is the infographic he created toward the bottom of the post, that list a variety of verbs: "inform/explain; persuade/entertain; celebrate/memorialize..." 

Long before I ever heard about the C-3 and the standard "take informed action," I was a huge advocate of asking students to make genuine contributions while learning about history by participating in crowd-sourcing projects like History Unfolded: U.S. Newspapers and the Holocaust.  That's informed action, too. 

My action (writing this piece) was heavily informed by C-3 Teachers, the Montana Heritage Project, and--to paraphrase PBS--teachers like you. What concerns or excites you about this standard? How have you worked with your students to "take informed action"? Do you interpret this standard differently than I do? Send me a note and I'll share it out. 

  

More Online PD

Don't forget--Project director Jennifer Birnel is offering a tour of the Montana Memory Project at our PD on Wednesday, December 8, at 4:00 p.m. Register here by December 7 to receive the Zoom link.

Looking for more online PD?  The Indian Education Division of Montana Office of Public Instruction has made a series of webinars available for teachers to watch at their own pace.

Earn up to 24 renewal units for watching both the Unpacking the Essential Understandings Webinar and the Essential Understandings Deeper Dive Workshops, and learn more about the Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians and how to implement them throughout your curriculum in any educational setting: K-12, pre-service teaching, informal education, after school programming, etc.

Each webinar/workshop is a 90-minute recording you can watch when it suits you and your schedule. To earn renewal units, you will need to compete a short survey after watching each recorded episode. You will also gain access to the extensive resource folder that supports the materials referenced in both the Unpacking and Deeper Dive recordings.

Over 100 educators have viewed the recordings, and their feedback indicates these 90-minute webinars/workshops are valuable, interesting, and immediately applicable to all teaching scenarios. 

Note: participants are only eligible to receive 2 renewal units per webinar/workshop, so if you attended the live sessions or watched the recordings previously, you will not be eligible to earn additional renewal units.

Series Two – Unpacking the Essential Understandings Playlist

Series Two – Unpacking the Essential Understandings Renewal Unit Feedback Survey

Essential Understandings Deeper Dive Playlist

Essential Understandings Deeper Dive Renewal Unit Feedback Survey

 

Discover the Montana Memory Project

join Jennifer Birnel, head of the Montana Memory Project on December 8 from 4 p.m.-5 p.m. to tour of the Montana Memory Project's new platform and learn searching tips. 

Register here before December 7 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting. 

Participants are eligible for one OPI Renewal Unit.

More Resources for Teaching about Thanksgiving

 Merrick Parnell, who teaches high school social studies in Whitehall, wrote to say that he really appreciated my Thanksgiving post, and planned to use some of the highlighted resources. I'm pretty sure it was the link to OPI Indian Education Specialist Mike Jetty's 2019 guest post on Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving that Merrick particularly appreciated because he went on to say that he lectured on the first Thanksgiving with a focus on the Wampanoag people and that he students learned a lot. He also graciously shared some of the teaching resources he used for this lesson, particularly podcasts and other audio. I'm sharing his list (along with his notes), below. I'm excited to listen to some of these podcasts myself! Maybe during my Thanksgiving morning walk. 

Mr. Parnell's Thanksgiving Resources--Podcasts and Audio 

• Stuff You Missed in History, The First Thanksgiving.

I like to use this podcast for my students at the high school level. While listening, I have the students take notes or draw a visual representation of what’s being discussed in the show.

• Native American Calling, Culture Connection: Turkeys

This is a great podcast on the tradition of the turkey from the Native perspective. 

• https://www.nv1.org/podcasts/national-native-news/National Native News

I use this 5-minute news clip for current events all throughout the year.  Its great to bring awareness to news and issues that it covers. 

Thanks for sharing, Merrick! 

 

Thanksgiving

What traditional foods will you feature on your Thanksgiving table? And how traditional are they, really? 

• I found this quote from the 1867 Virginia City Montana Post about Thanksgiving foods for comparison: "To-day the gallinacious fowls, and cranberry sauce; pone, pumpkin pie and dough-nuts, fruits, nuts, and cider will be eaten."--The Montana post. [volume], November 30, 1867
• An ad in the 1880 Fort Benton River Press promises that "'The Eataphone' will help us out on Thanksgiving day with oysters in every style." (Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what an Eataphone is!)

One of my favorite guiding questions is "What's changed and what's remained the same?"

How does your celebration compare to the Thanksgivings described in these two Thanksgiving poems published in 1880 in the Fort Benton River Press?

In Town and Out

To-morrow, all over this glorious nation

The old and the young, and of every station

Vide the President's proclamation

Will hold their Thanksgiving celebration.

The church bells will ring on the clear, cold air,

And call on God's people to meet Him there; 

In country and city, in hamlet and town; 

From highland and lowland, from mountains and down; 

With thankful hearts, in praise and prayer, 

For his protection and thoughtful care.

And the gay bells will jingle,

The sleighs glide along,

And the young voices mingle

In jest and in song; 

As over the pure and the glistening snow,

Light-hearted and gay, in their cutters they go--

But the printer will miss it all.

 

Cold!

Oh, no.

Guess not.

Sleigh rides.

Thanksgiving.

Roast turkeys.

Tom and Jerry.

Peach and honey.

The light fantastic.

Some of it in ours.

--Fort Benton River Press, November 24, 1880

This Thanksgiving week, I also want to draw your attention to this 2019 guest post from Indian Education Specialist Mike Jetty, which shares both his perspective on the holiday and many useful links. It's still relevant, and (even more surprising) all the links still work! 

I also want to point teachers to Story Corps' Great Thanksgiving Listen, which "encourages young people—and people of all ages—to create an oral history of our times by recording an interview with an elder, mentor, friend, or someone they admire."

Whether you celebrate, commemorate, or mourn; eat oyster stew, turducken, or tofurkey; take time off or--like our Fort Benton printer--work the holiday, I wish all the best for you and yours, this week and every day. 

 

 

Engagement Strategies

 We had a great online professional development last week, with teachers coming together to share their favorite engagement techniques. Here are a few ideas that came out of the session. 

Silent discussion: If you have middle school students who are hesitant to participate in discussions because they are anxious about what their peers will think, try a silent discussion. The teacher who presented this idea said she puts questions on big poster boards around the room. Students circulate, answering the questions on sticky notes. She then puts students into groups and gives each group one of the poster boards and asks them to organize and synthesize the answers on the sticky notes and then report out. 

Character Day: First day of the unit is Character Day. Characters can be people or items—in the Africa unit, salt is a character. Each student chooses a different character—they must do a little research on their character, then when the character comes up, the student shares their research. 

Inquiry: Have student questions that guide your unit of study using the Right Question Institute's Question Formulation Technique. There is LOTS of free information on the Right Question Institute's website (though you have to register to access it). And they'll be offering a free training for 12 renewal units next spring (you can sign up for the waitlist here.)  

Primary Sources: Maps, historic photographs, objects... This is obviously a favorite of mine. 

Participants also pointed to ideas shared on the website Ditch That Textbook and in the book Teach Like a Pirate. They also talked about games they play with students ("Would you rather" and "Four Corners"), asking students to tweet as characters, rewriting the Declaration of Independence as a break-up message, and more.  

Thanks to all the creative teachers who participated in the session! I learned a lot. 

 

Primary Sources are grrrrrreat!

 Over the ten plus years I've been writing Teaching Montana History and putting my stuff up on my blog, I've written 91 posts on teaching with primary sources. And I figure it's time for post 92. That's how much I love primary sources. 

The Montana Memory Project is the go-to place for finding primary sources relating to Montana history. It recently moved to a new platform, with, I'm told, better functionality. Jennifer Birnel, head of the Montana Memory Project is going to join us on December 8 from 4 p.m.-5 p.m. to offer a tour of the new platform and searching tips. Register here before December 7 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting. 

Looking for tips about how to use primary sources in your classroom. Check out this the Digital Library of America's 10 Ways to Use the Primary Source Sets in Your Classroom. Then spend some time surfing the DPLA's collection, which is remarkably broad. 

The National Archives explains why using primary sources is so powerful in History in the Raw. The National Archives also has some great activities on DocsTeach, including this one that starts with an anti-Chinese boycott poster from Butte. 

EIU Teaching with Primary Sources also talks about the "why" (exposing students to multiple perspectives; helping them develop critical thinking skills and empathy for the human condition; and helping students understand that all history is local) as well as offering tips on how to choose and cite primary sources.  

Of course, the mother ship for primary sources is the Library of Congress. I recommend looking first at the Library of Congress Primary Source Sets.  

I also love, love, love digitized newspapers--you can find many on Chronicling America, a Library of Congress site, and even more from Montana on MontanaNewspapers.Org. 

Finally, William Madison Randall Library also lists several online repositories--you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the page.  

 Happy surfing!

Two Unrelated Notes

Bear River Massacre

Bannack Park Ranger John Phillips responded to last week's post about the Bear River Massacre, saying that he has been discussing the Bear River Massacre in tours at Bannack for years in his attempt to incorporate elements of IEFA at Bannack State Park. That's really cool and just one more reason to book a tour of Bannack State Parks, which is one of the coolest historical sites in Montana that's open to the public.

Browning Public Schools BNAS District Instructional Coach wrote to share that "the Blackfeet Tribe also refers to the Baker Massacre of 1870 as the Bear River massacre. The massacre in 1870 happened on the Marias River which the Blackfeet had called Bear River before it was renamed.
Just thought I would share that with you in case some get confused about the name especially up in the Northcentral part of Montana." We gathered material on that massacre, including a scholarly article and discussion questions (for high school) and a primary-source based lesson plan (for middle and high school) here. 

Upcoming Professional Development

Please join us this Wednesday, November 10, from 4-5 p.m. for our online PD Hooks! where teachers share their best strategies for engaging students in the study of history.  Last year’s session on Hooks was the overwhelming crowd favorite, so we thought we’d do it again. Register here before November 9 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.

November Commemorations

I think every day should be Veteran's Day and Mother's Day, and every month should be Native American Heritage Month, or Women's History Month, or Black History Month. That's the excuse I use when I let a special commemoration slip by--which is often. But Tom Rea at WyoHistory.org is more on top of it. (I bet if he's married he never forgets his wedding anniversary! Unlike me.) 

Native American Heritage Month

Tom wrote a good post for Native American Heritage Month (November) highlighting the Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West, created by the Wyoming State Historical Society after its legislature passed its version of IEFA in 2017. Tom explains:  

With the help of scholars, tribal elders and educators on the Wind River Reservation we began adding to our content about American Indians, and educators on the reservation helped us develop classroom toolkits of Wyoming history. 

The articles on tribal history—currently there are 22 of them—can be viewed by clicking on the “Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West” tab at the top of every page. The toolkits can be viewed by clicking on the “Education” tab. There you will find links to lesson plans for students and teachers—digital toolkits of Wyoming History, we call them. 

State lines are, relatively speaking, recent political conventions imposed on an ancient landscape. We don't think of the Western Shoshones and the Nez Perce as Montana tribes because they don't have reservations here, but historically they hunted and harvested and traded in Montana (as well as Idaho). And of course the Crows, Cheyennes, and Lakotas all have deep connection to Wyoming. 

All this to say: Check out some of the resources on Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West to find lesson plans and learn about topics ranging from The Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark to Father DeSmet's map and the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty. 

Veteran's Day

And while we are commemorating special days, I wanted to point out a lesson that is not only my all-time Veteran's Day related lesson but one of my favorite lessons of all time: Reader’s Theater: Letters Home from Montanans at War. I've written at length about Letters Home before, so I'll just say, if you teach English, history, or theater to grades 8-12, you should do yourself a favor and make time for this lesson, which asks students to read, interpret, and perform letters written by soldiers who served in conflicts from the Civil War to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

P.S. Don't forget our November 10 PD from 4:00-5:00 p.m.: Hooks! Attend to learn and share strategies for hooking students' interest and to earn one OPI Renewal Unit. 

Teaching Montana History is written by Martha Kohl, Outreach and Interpretation Historian at the Montana Historical Society.

  

 

 

More on the Bear River Massacre

 Last week I shared some IEFA related links, including one about the 1863 Bear River Massacre, during which an estimated 350 Shoshones--including many women and children--were slaughtered and about 24 U.S. troops died near Preston, Idaho.  I expressed surprised that I had never heard of this event, which was more deadly than Sand Creek or Wounded Knee.

Eureka teacher Jennifer Hall responded to the post: 

"I had not heard of the Bear River Massacre either until I attended an NEH summer workshop in Utah a couple years ago. We spent one full day listening to a speaker and then traveling to the battle site on a field trip. It was an amazing experience! 

Our speaker was Darren B. Parry, Chairman of Boa Ogoi project and tribal elder.  Darren told us the story of the massacre as he was told through oral history. He loves speaking to classrooms about his people and the massacre. He's willing to Skype or help in any way. Darren also has several You Tube videos as well. He can be contacted through that website."

 

 

IEFA PD

 Looking to improve your understanding of IEFA? The Western Montana Professional Learning Collaborative offers a great array of self-paced online courses, Current Events in Indian Country, Art and Literature IEFA Integration (K-5), Plants in Montana Native Cultures, and American Indian Sovereignty. You can find information about these and other courses as well as cost and links to register on the WMPLC website. 

Cool Stuff on the Internet (IEFA Edition)

When I see things that interest me--and that I think might interest you--I save the links until I have a "post's worth"--however many that is. Here are a few things I've seen relating to Indian Education for All that I thought were worth sharing. 

• I had never heard of the 1861 Bear River Massacre until I read this Washington Post article: Bear River Massacre killed 350 Northwestern Shoshone Indians, worst in U.S. history.
• The curriculum resources from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition look really good. Have you used them?
• The Smithsonian published this article on "A Spectacular Collection of Native American Quilts."
• This article from the Pew Charitable Trust provided food for thought: "Growing Number of Cities Weigh Tribal Land Acknowledgements."  

 

Have you read anything that's worth sharing? Send it along or post it in the Teaching Montana History Facebook Group.

 And speaking of sharing, teachers are going to be sharing their favorite strategies to engage students at our November 10 Professional Development: Hooks! (online from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.) Last year’s session on hooks was the overwhelming crowd favorite, so we thought we’d do it again. Bring your best strategies for engaging students to share and/or come to learn what has worked in your colleagues’ classrooms. Register here before November 9 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.

 

Bell Ringers

I'm sure many of you are way ahead of me in appreciating and using material from Matt Miller's Ditch that Textbook, like this Yelp Review template (for reviewing a place as a historical character), or one of these 20 ideas for exit tickets, which include

• The class sketchnote: At the end of class, ask students to draw, doodle, diagram, etc. a part of the lesson they remembered on the whiteboard/chalkboard at the front of class. Seeing everyone’s responses in one place is a fun visual experience. Plus, when you see lots of similar responses — or a lack of certain responses! — it can show you what stuck and what didn’t.
• The sticky note mosaic: Grab a few pads of sticky notes of different colors. Tell students what each color stands for: something that know for sure, something they’re still unclear on, something they need to tell the teacher, etc. Stick the sticky notes on the board randomly or in groups as they leave. The colors will help you sort them quickly.

A lot of Matt Miller's ideas sound really great (if you have a favorite, let me know). I was particularly taken with Caption This, the very first item on his list of "20 digital bell ringer activities to kickstart class." 

Per the Ditch that Textbook, the activity works because it forces students to make inferences and think about perspective. It's also fun!  

I was so taken with it that I made a few for Montana history--including one for Lewis and Clark, two for the fur trade, one for gold mining, one for the Tenth Cavalry, one for homesteading, and one for logging.

These were easy to do using Ditch That Textbook's template--and if you don't want to have your students working online, you can simply print out the slides. Feel free to use the ones I created--and if you create any others around a Montana history theme, send them to me and I'll add them to this shared folder so everyone can access them.

 

Use sources to gather evidence to develop and refine claims (SS.K12.4) and communicate conclusions (SS.K12.5) with this clever assignment

Carrie Sorensen who teaches Montana history to middle school students in Fortine designed a really ingenious way for her students to communicate their understanding of the forces set loose during the War of the Copper kings and the fight for money, ideology, and power at the turn of the century. She asked her students to pick a character (The Company, a miner, a rancher, a populist, William Clark, Marcus Daly, Augustus Heinze, or William Hogan), decide whether their character was a hero or a villain, and create a comic book telling their story using their class notes and information they gleaned from the Montana: Stories of the Land textbook. Here's a copy of her instructions.  

I love this assignment not only for its creativity, but because creating comic books forces students to summarize and synthesize--both important skills to learn. 

Some time back, Jennifer Graham of Philipsburg told me that she had her students show what they knew through a War of the Copper Kings twitter fight, another great possibility for studying this combative era! 

Do you have a great strategy or lesson that you'd like to share? Feel free to email me and/or join our November 10 online PD from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on "Hooks!" during which we'll ask folks share their best strategies for engaging students. Find a link to register here: https://mhs.mt.gov/education/OnlineProDevelop. 

 

Teaching Montana History is written by Martha Kohl, Outreach and Interpretation Historian at the Montana Historical Society.

  

Footlockers Are Back!

The Society's Footlocker program offers thematic "traveling trunks" focused on a wide variety of topics, from archaeology to World War II. Each footlocker is filled with reproductions of clothing, tools, everyday objects, maps, photographs, documents. In addition, each footlocker user guide includes historical narratives for educators and students, lesson plans (many of which do not require material from the footlockers), and Amazing Montanan biographies. We've also just finished aligning all of the lesson plans included in the user guides to the new Montana social studies standards.   

We make footlockers available to Montana educators for two weeks at a time at no charge. However, schools are responsible for the cost of shipping the footlocker to the next venue via United Parcel Service (UPS) or the United States Postal Service (USPS). Can't afford shipping (or the footlocker you want is already reserved for the time you want it)? Many of the lessons in the User Guides can be completed without ordering the footlocker, and our newer footlockers have the two-dimensional artifacts (photos, posters, etc.) available as PowerPoints that you can download.  

• Learn more about the program and how to order a footlocker here. 
• Find a list of titles and links to the user guides and standards alignment here. 

 And speaking of standards alignment--tomorrow is the last day to register for our October 13 online professional development: Diving into the New Social Studies Standards.  We'll be meeting from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.. Attendees will receive one OPI renewal unit. Register here.

See you in Great Falls!

I just finished looking over the line-up for both the Montana Council on Social Studies and the Montana Council for History and Civics Education and am more excited than ever for the MFPE Educators Conference in Great Falls, October 21-22, 2021.

For me the highlights are Little Shell Chairman Gerald Gray's talk "Little Shell and Our Fight for Federal Recognition" at 10:00 AM on Friday, the roundtable on Social Studies Issues on Thursday at noon, and all the sessions on implementing the new social studies standards. I'm also looking forward to presenting on our new fourth-grade curriculum (1:00 PM on Thursday) and having one-on-one conversations in the exhibit hall.   

Although I didn't include them in the list below, Lewis and Clark enthusiasts will be pleased that there are a number of Lewis and Clark-related sessions (to find them type Lewis and Clark into a key word search).  

Read on to whet your appetite, and if you will be in Great Falls, I hope you'll come see us at our booth in the exhibit hall.  

Thursday, October 21, 2021

8:00 - 8:50 AM

• C3 Framework and integrating the new MT SS Standards, Janna Lind and Cheyenne Aldrich, CMR 217
• Heart Mountain Japanese Relocation Center, Armand Lohof, CMR 215

9:00 - 10:50 AM

• New and Improved Montana Memory Project, Jennifer Birnel, CMR 102

10:00 - 11:50 AM

• Responsible teaching of the Holocaust, Carol Shipley, CMR 217

11:00 - 11:50 AM

• (Virtual) Social Studies Update! Overview of 5 New Montana Content Standards, Stephanie Swigart, Michelle McCarthy, and Colet Bartow
• Where I AM: Reading and Writing About Place, Noel Osterman, CMR 221
• MCHCE Business Meeting, CMR 212

12:00 - 12:50 PM

• Social Studies Issues, Bruce Wendt and Janna Lind, CMR 215

1:00 - 1:50 PM  

• (Virtual) Continuity and Change in the History of Yellowstone National Park, Michael Breis, MFPE EDCON 7
• Does "We the People" Include Me?, Sandra Oldendorf, CMR 216
• New Standards, No Problem: Resources for 4th Grade Social Studies, Martha Kohl, CMR 217

2:00 - 2:50 PM

• How the IEFA Essential Understandings fit in an AP curriculum, Cheyenne Aldrich and Janna Lind, CMR 215
• Teaching Social Studies in the Remote Classroom, Alex Rosenleaf, CMR 213

3:00 - 3:50 PM

• Connections of history/literature: Take One, Ken Egan, Jr. and Bruce Wendt, CMR 216
• Bringing History Alive for Children!, Jodi Delaney, CMR 212

4:00 - 4:50 PM

• Connections of history/literature: Take Two, Ken Egan, Jr. and Bruce Wendt, CMR 216
• Russell for Learning: Educational Resources from the C.M. Russell Museum, Melissa Werber, C.M. Russell Museum
• Infusing Indigenous/Young Adult Literature into our Classrooms, Rebecca Chatham, CMR 207

Friday, October 22, 2021

8:00 - 8:50 AM  

• (Virtual) Applying MT Social Studies to the Inquiry Design Model, Hailey Hancock, MFPE EDCON 1

9:00 - 9:50 AM  

• Parks and Trees in Great Falls, Montana’s Early Development, 1883-1916, Troy Hallsell, CMR 216

10:00 - 10:50 AM

• Little Shell and Our Fight for Federal Recognition, Gerald Gray, AUDITORIUM
• (Virtual) Forward Montana presents: The Montana State Budget System Template, McKeely Shannon, MFPE EDCON 7

11:00 - 11:50 AM

• IEFA Resources to Support the New Social Studies Standards, Mike Jetty, CMR 216

12:00 - 12:50 PM

• MCSS Business Meeting, CMR 217

1:00 - 1:50 PM  

• (Virtual) Brave Conversations in the Social Studies Classroom: Strategies and Standards, Hailey Hancock, MFPE EDCON 1

2:00 - 2:50 PM  

• Mesh C3 with New Social Studies Curriculum, Bruce Wendt, CMR 217

 

Social Studies Skills, Continued

Last week I introduced a new periodic series on resources to teach the new social studies standards with post on developing questions. This week, I'm going to focus on planning inquiries and comparing and evaluating sources for relevance, perspective, and accuracy.  

Skill #2 (SS.K12.2): Plan Inquiries 

I bet most of you already work with students to conduct inquiries--from posters on the different tribes of Montana and "living statues/wax museums" in elementary grades to more in-depth research projects in middle and high school.   

To reassure yourself that you've been doing inquiry all along (or for a quick introduction to the idea) check out Edutopia's  "What the Heck Is Inquiry-Based Learning".   

Unless you, as the teacher, provide the guiding question, the first step is developing a research question. I covered developing questions pretty thoroughly in my email last week, but I forgot to mention resources from Teachinghistory.org that focus specifically on helping students develop research questions.  

The next steps typically include other skills listed in the standards (compare and evaluate sources for relevance, perspective, and accuracy; use sources to gather evidence to develop and refine claims; and communicate conclusions). That's why inquiry is so powerful!

National Geographic has educator resources to support implementing the Geo-Inquiry Process into your classroom. 

The Stanford History Education Group creates some of the smartest, best curricular material out there. Designed for middle and high school students, their Reading Like a Historian lessons ask students to engage in a historical inquiry by analyzing primary sources from different points of view to answer a guiding question. To access their lessons--over 150 of them--you have to register, but registration is free. If you teach middle or high school, and don't use SHEG's resources, I encourage you to take a moment and browse their site. You'll like what you see. 

For middle and high school classes, National History Day is a natural way to integrate inquiry.  Montana's contest is on hiatus this year, but that doesn't mean that you can't use NHD resources in your classroom to help students plan inquiries. Use these links to find NHD's Middle School Teacher Resources booklet and their two part high school booklet (Part 1 and Part 2).  

Do you have a favorite resource for helping students plan inquiries? If so, please share! And stay tuned for the next installment on the social studies standards.  

P.S. Don't forget to sign up for our next online PD,  October 13, from 4-5: "Diving into the New Social Studies Standards." Register here before October 12 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.

 

Social Studies Standards and Skills

How do you feel about the new social studies standards? (This is a real question, not a rhetorical one. Please email me!) I'm excited about them--but can also imagine they seem a bit daunting. So, I'm starting a series of periodic posts focusing on resources to help you meet specific standards, starting with the skills section, which are supposed to be integrated across all grades. 

Skill #1 (SS.K12.1): Develop Questions 

Question Formulation Technique (QFT)

Practicing the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a GREAT way to teach students how to develop questions. Here's a link to a blog I wrote sometime back describing the technique, but the best thing to do is go to the Right Question Institute Website, and start exploring the materials on their Teaching and Learning page, including lesson plan templates, PowerPoints, and videos showing QFT in action), and/or watch this 27-minute tutorial on YouTube. 

Question Starts

Of course, there are other ways to help students learn how to develop questions. I came across Question Starts when I was exploring the Thinking Routine Toolbox on Harvard University School of Education's Project Zero website. 

Like most good routines, this one is deceptively simple. Here's a PDF from Project Zero with all the details, but in brief, here's how it works:

1. Brainstorm a list of at least 12 questions about the topic, concept or object. Use these question-starts to help you think of interesting questions:
   Why…? How would it be different if…?
   What are the reasons...? Suppose that…?
   What if…? What if we knew…?
   What is the purpose of…? What would change if…?
2. Review the brainstormed list and star the questions that seem most
   interesting. Then, select one or more of the starred questions to discuss for a few moments.
3. Reflect: What new ideas do you have about the topic, concept or object that you didn’t have before? 

Question Cubes

Billings librarian (and MHS Teacher Leader) Ruth Ferris introduced me to question cubes, a variation on question starts, and TPS-Barat/Primary Sources Nexus Teacher Resources has a template online so you can make your own. They explain:

If your students need help with asking questions when analyzing primary sources, bring out the question cubes. You can make them from paper or cleaned-out school milk cartons. Each student or student group should get two cubes [one with the words "who, what, when, where, how" and the other with "is/are, would/could, should, might/will, was/were"] ... and roll both to help get those questions flowing.

How are you going to work with your students on developing questions this year? 

 

Making Connections in Middle and High School English Classes

I'm all for tying the novels, memoirs, and other literary texts to Montana history and am delighted to help come up with ways to do it. Some have more obvious connections than others. It makes sense to study Montana during the Great Depression when you are reading Grapes of Wrath or Out of the Dust.  

Hattie Big Sky (a middle school novel about a woman homesteading in Montana during WWI) connects directly to resources we have on homesteading and on WWI, including chapters in Montana: Stories of the Land and the Story Maps and the lesson plan we created for our WWI centennial project, Montana and the Great War.    

Teaching James Welch's Fool's Crow? Have students investigate primary sources relating to the Marias Massacre.  

Reading Girl from the Gulches: A Story of Mary Ronan (which offers a girl's-eye view of life in the Montana gold camps)? We've got teaching resources for you.  

And of course, OPI's Indian Education Division has a wealth of model lessons for literature, at all grade levels, including Joe Medicine Crow's Counting Coup and Darcy McNickle's Wind from an Enemy Sky.  

It took me by surprise, though, when Sentinel High School teacher asked me what Montana resources might complement the Autobiography of Malcolm X. But of course bringing it home makes sense and I was thrilled by the opportunity to look for Montana history resources that tie to the literature you are teaching. See below for the links I sent her--and let me know if you are looking for Montana history connections for a book you are teaching. I don't know if I'll be able to help, but I'm certainly willing to try. 

Resources to bring the Montana experience into the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

• “Lifting as We Climb”: The Activism of the Montana Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs talks about efforts to get an equal access to public accommodation law passed in Montana.
• Montana’s African American Heritage Resources has interviews with African American Montanans growing up during the time period as well as other materials (I haven’t read them though).The site also includes a link to this story map of Montana in the Green Book.
• I’ve never read this book, and I hear there are curse words, and other objectionable content--including some misrepresentations of historical events--but it might be interesting to look at Viet Cong at Wounded Knee: The Trail of a Blackfeet Activist by Woody Kipp. I bet you can find excerpts that you could use for comparison.
• Chapter 6: Federal Indian Policy of Montana Mosaic (a 19 minute video) looks at Relocation and the rise of the American Indian Movement through the story of the Juneaus—I think this could be a cool comparison.

Again, if you have books you teach that you’d like to find Montana tie ins for, let me know—coming up with suggested resources to pair with books already being taught in ELA classes has been on my list to do for a long time.

Help Us Document and Share Your Community History

 ICYMI--or looked at it a while back but then forgot about the site--I want to remind you about the existence of Historic Montana, a great resource for community study. The website and companion app, originally launched in 2017, started out with about 250 properties. Over the years, MHS historians have added over one thousand more historical narratives, thousands of “then and now” photos, and numerous new historic district and themed tours. 

Historic Montana users learn about architecture; social, economic, and cultural life; and significant events and movements in Montana and national history as they relate to specific Montana places. With so much information and a variety of historic and contemporary photographs, Historic Montana is a valuable resource for teachers and students working on place-based Montana history projects. You can even use the text and photos to create your own walking tours. 

We also invite you and your students to help shape history by making HistoricMT.org even better! If you have a class assignment that asks students to

• photograph National Register-listed buildings or districts to document your community,
• conduct new research on a National Register-listed site (or buildings that contribute to an NR district), or
• record interviews or podcast episodes about places in your town

we would love to feature it on HistoricMT.org. For more information on ways to use and improve Historic Montana, contact MHS Interpretive Historian Christine Brown at 406-444-1687 or Christine.brown@mt.gov.

 

IEFA Ethnobotany Webinar Series

 OPI is offering yet more amazing looking Profession Development! 

In addition to their Contemporary Topics in Indian Country series, they are also offering an Ethnobotany Webinar Series Starting October 5, 2021. 

This series of six FREE webinars* will feature a tribally-specific window into the practical, cultural, ecological, medicinal, and/or ceremonial importance of Montana's native plant species. Each session, presented by a tribal expert in ethnobotany, will cover how to respectfully integrate knowledge learned about ethnobotany into your instruction. 

Earn renewal units (2 per session or 12 for all 6 sessions)* 

Webinars will be held on the first Tuesday of the month, October through March, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Register here.  

#1 – October 5, 2021: Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeet/Métis) - What is Ethnobotany? And why is it important? 

#2 – November 2, 2021: Rose Bear Don't Walk (Crow/Bitterroot Salish/Lone Pine Shoshone Paiute) - Traditional Foodways and Holistic Health 

#3 – December 7 , 2021: Marissa Spang (Northern Cheyenne/Crow) - Living in Relations: How to Practice Plant Knowledge 

#4 – January 4, 2022: Annie Sorrell (Salish) and Loga (Turtle) Fixico (Blackfeet/Bitterroot Salish/Nez Perce/Dakota/Haudenosaunee) - Ethnobotany, TEK, and Science 

#5 – February 1, 2022: Reyna Monteau (Nakoda) - Common Uses of Medicinal Plants and Foods for Health and Wellness 

#6 - March 1, 2022: Shane Sangrey (Cree) - Cree Knowledge of the Plants of Rocky Boys Reservation 

After registration you will receive the following communication: a confirmation letter and a reminder email containing the Zoom link on the Monday prior to the webinar. 

*Registration, signing in to each webinar, and completion of a follow up survey provided after each webinar is required to earn OPI renewal units. 

For registration or renewal unit questions please contact Joan Franke, OPI Indian Education for All Unit Administrative Assistant, jfranke@mt.gov.

What's Allowed

Concerned about Critical Race Theory?

If you haven't heard about the opinion the Montana attorney general issued on anti-racism and Critical Race Theory, feel free to skip this post. As long as you aren't treating students differently on the basis of race, creating a hostile environment, or engaging in racial scapegoating or stereotyping (and I can't imagine you are), then keep doing what you are doing. For those of you who have concerns, read on. 

After reading the headlines about this opinion early in the summer, my colleagues and I also had concerns, so we did what historians do: we went to the source. 

I encourage everyone to read the twenty-five page Montana Attorney General’s Opinion 1, Vol. 58, Op. 1 May 27, 2021 and particularly the section Analysis and Conclusions of Law (pp. 18-22), because that's the heart of the ruling. For easy reference, my colleagues and I also put together a one-page FAQ sheet: "A Teacher's Guide to the Montana Attorney General's Opinion on Critical Race Theory and Indian Education for All,"  which I'm sharing below.  

Is it legal to teach curriculum that explores racism, discrimination, and colonialism?

Yes. Montana’s state social studies standards require that students be able to accomplish the following, all of which will entail studying and understanding the history of racism, discrimination, and colonialism:

• “Analyze perspectives of American Indians in US history” (SS.H.9-12.10);
• “Identify ways in which people and groups exercise agency in difficult historical, contemporary, and tribal contexts” (SS.H.9-12.3);
• “Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in ensuring civil rights at the local, state, tribal, national, and international levels” (SS.CG.9-12.12); and
• “Analyze how, since European contact, historical events and policies have mutually impacted American Indian and European societies.” (SS.H.6-8.3)

Can educators continue to teach the Seven Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians using curriculum from OPI, the Montana Historical Society, or other state agencies?

Yes.  The Seven Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians are integrated throughout the Montana Accreditation and Content Standards that guide instruction for all schools. Educators have a constitutional and legal obligation to implement Indian Education for All in a culturally responsive manner. 

Is it legal to teach Critical Race Theory?

Yes, although Critical Race Theory—the study of how views on race have shaped public policy and the legal system—is generally only taught in college level classes. The Attorney General’s opinion states that “There are legitimate pedagogical uses for elements of the CRT/antiracism curricula that do not violate state or federal laws…. This opinion, therefore, should not be construed to limit a school or government entity’s ability to use, present, or discuss these materials, where appropriate.” (Knudsen, p. 19) 

Is it legal to teach the 1619 Project or any other curriculum relating to the history of slavery?

Yes. While calling the 1619 curriculum “inadvisable,” the Attorney General specifically states that it is “protected by the First Amendment and it is reserved for policymakers to decide if it belongs in classrooms.” (Knudsen, p. 22) 

Are academic freedom and student political speech still protected?

Yes. “Nothing in this opinion shall be construed to restrict any expressive activities protected under the U.S. Constitution, including academic freedom or student political speech.” (Knudsen, pp. 22-23). Student political speech should take place in accordance with any relevant district or school policies. 

What practices or activities are prohibited under the Attorney General’s opinion? 

The opinion lists discriminatory practices that are illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Montana Human Rights Act. Schools and educators may not

• “classify students or other Montanans by race,”
• “treat individuals differently on the basis of race,”
• “create a hostile environment,” or
• “engage in racial stereotyping” or “racial scapegoating.”   

“The law will not tolerate schools, other government entities, or employers implementing … programming in a way that treats individuals differently on the basis of race or that creates a hostile environment.” (Knudsen, pp. 18-19) 

In general, it is O.K. to teach about racism, discrimination, and other topics so long as no adverse or discriminatory actions are taken against any students as a part of the lesson, curricula, or learning activity. 

(All quotations are from Montana Attorney General’s Opinion 1, Vol. 58, Op. 1 May 27, 2021. This information should not be construed as legal advice.) 

The Bottom Line

Continue to teach history and IEFA. Continue to encourage respectful exchanges of ideas. Continue to treat all students fairly and with respect. If you want to talk further, I'm happy to do so.

 

Best of, High School

Every spring I send out a survey asking folks to tell me about the lesson they will make sure to do again next year, no matter what. And every fall I share your answers to that question. I've already posted the elementary and middle school teacher recommendations. Read on for high school inspiration (with comments from me in brackets):

Deb McLaughlin, Belgrade High School, wrote: "I did a WWI unit using the Montana and the Great War Story Maps. We did a class activity in which the student picked a primary source and explained it to the class. It really made the time period come alive. Then we investigated sedition using the UM Sedition Project website and they made a poster similar to what hangs in the Deer Lodge prison. Students were able to make connection to contemporary issues and were really engaged." [Resources that can be used to accompany the Story Maps can be found here, and include shorter (1-2 class periods) and longer (2-3 weeks) lesson plans as well as a scavenger hunt.  The shorter lesson plan was designed for middle school, but it is easily adaptable to high school.] 

Helena High School English teacher Jill Van Allstyne shared ideas and resources that were shared with her by Jeremy Red Eagle, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, who used to come as a guest speaker to her class. He "would show us the film Dakota 38 and help us understand it. ... This film is about a group of mostly South Dakota indigenous men who travel by horseback to Mankato, MN (in modern times) to honor their ancestors who were killed in the largest mass execution in U.S. history." "The film is available for free online. I will include some links here:

• Dakota 38 trailer and full movie
• Smooth Feather Youth
• "South Dakota artist selected for Minnesota arts program" 

Lynn Mason, Corvallis High School, 10th grade Geography and World History, wrote: "I incorporate IEFA all throughout the school year in each unit we do in Geography or World History (even Driver Education!) Sovereignty is one of my favorite topics whenever we learn about different types of government." [I'm always looking for good resources on sovereignty! If you've got favorites, please let me know.] 

Several people made anonymous suggestions: 

One teacher leads her students in a collaborative unit with English 10 that includes a novel study using Thin Wood Walls, as well as an investigation of Japanese Interment and Detention Camps, including Fort Missoula as part of her investigation of World War II.  

Another wrote: "Did not teach a lesson, but one at our school combines the art and English class based on the importance of Glacier National Park to the Salish and Kootenai tribes in a place based learning project." 

Do you have a lesson, resource, or strategy you love? It's not too late to share it! Email me and I'll share it out.  

P.S. We had to migrate our website to a new platform, which may have led to some broken links. We can usually fix bad links quickly if we know about them. Will you help us identify problems by emailing me any broken links you find? Pretty please?  

Resources to Meet the New Fourth Grade Social Studies Standards

Fourth Grade Curriculum 

We are close to finishing our fourth grade curriculum. Drafts of the curriculum, including chapters from the student textbook, have been published online and are available for download. While these are still subject to revision, they are all ready to teach and (mostly) classroom tested.

The student textbook, Montana: A History of Our Home, will go to print soon and should be available for purchase by January 2022.   

The curriculum is learner-centered, rather than textbook-centered, and focused on actively engaging students. Activities include games, analyzing primary sources, exploring points of view, graphing, and mapping. The lessons tap into multiple disciplines--art, ELA, and math--to engage students in analyzing history and constructing knowledge. 

Looking for Folks to Test a Few Final Lessons 

Before I print the teacher's guide, I need to test a few lessons. If you have an hour or two between now and October 15 to test a lesson on the 1972 Constitution, on What Governments Do, and on Tribal Sovereignty, please email me.   

We added these new lessons to help teachers to meet the new fourth-grade social studies civics standards: 

• SS.CG.4.3. Describe how rules, laws, and policies are implemented by local, state, national, and tribal governments;
• SS.CG.4.4. Define sovereignty for tribes in Montana; and
• SS.CG.4.5. Identify key foundational documents in Montana's government.

More on the Fourth Grade Standards 

The rest of the curriculum aligns extremely well with the geography and history standards, and, of course, with the Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians. 

I'm really excited about the new history standards, and with this curriculum, fourth grade students should be be able to meet every one: 

• SS.H.4.1. Understand tribes in Montana have their own unique histories (Units 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)
• SS.H.4.2. Identify events and policies that have impacted and been influenced by tribes in Montana (Units 2, 3, 4, 5)
• SS.H.4.3. Explain how Montana has changed over time given its cultural diversity and how this history impacts the present (Units 2-6); and 
• SS.H.4.4. Describe how historical accounts are impacted by individual perspectives (Units 3, 4, and 5)

The curriculum also aligns well with all of the new geography standards:

• SS.G.4.1. Examine maps and other representations to explain the movement of people (Unit 1, 2, 3, 4, 6)
• SS.G.4.2. Identify and label the tribes in Montana and their indigenous territories, and current locations (Units 1, 2, and 5)
• SS.G.4.3. Investigate the physical, political, and cultural characteristics of places, regions, and people in Montana (Units 1, 3, 4, and 5)
• SS.G.4.4. Analyze environmental and technological events and conditions and how humans and the environment impact each other with relation to settlements and migration in Montana (Units 1, 3 and 4)

And the new fourth-grade economics standards:  

• SS.E.4.2 identify basic elements of Montana's state economic system; including agriculture, business, natural resources, and labor; and
• SS.E.4.3 identify various resources and labor that are used to provide goods and services in Montana.  

Since we're nothing if not interdisciplinary, most lessons also align with many of the ELA standards AND some even align with art and math lessons as well.  

I hope you find these resources useful, and of course, I'm always happy to talk with teachers about these or any other resources, the new standards, and anything else that's on your mind. 

 

Free Webinars: Contemporary Topics in Indian Country

One of the requests I received from my year-end survey was for more information on contemporary issues in Indian country. You asked, OPI delivered with a new webinar series: Advocacy Award Recipient Webinar Series: Contemporary Topics in Indian Country.

This series of six FREE webinars will feature a different Teresa Veltkamp Advocacy Award for Excellence in Indian Education recipient. Each session will cover current events and contemporary issues facing Montana tribes. Learn how to research primary documents for classroom use and how to respectfully integrate them into your instruction.

• Build background knowledge and explore practical classroom integration of IEFA and primary documents
• Engage in meaningful discussions
• Build community and share resources
• Earn renewal units (2 per session or 12 for all 6 sessions)
• Due to the theme being current topics, actual topics listed below may change to reflect another important contemporary issue for Montana Indians.

Webinars will be held on the third Wednesday of the month, September through March, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. (There will be no webinar in December.)

#1 - September 15, 2021: Jacie Jeffers - Boarding Schools

#2 - October 20, 2021: Amy Williams - Creating Connection in Indian Country

#3 - November 17, 2021: Miranda Murray - Addressing Current (and possibly controversial) American Indian Topics in the Classroom

#4 - January 19, 2022: Calli Nicholson - Sovereignty

#5 - February 16, 2022: Bill Stockton - Tribal Documents (treaties, pacts, laws, data, and more)

#6 - March 16, 2022: Chris Pavlovich - Civic Action

After registration, you will receive the following communication:

• a confirmation letter
• a welcome letter with the Zoom link for the webinars
• reminder emails one week before the scheduled webinar and on the Monday prior to the webinar

NOTE: Registration, signing in to each webinar, and completion of a follow-up survey provided after each webinar is required to earn OPI renewal units. For registration or renewal unit questions, please contact Joan Franke, OPI Indian Education for All Unit Administrative Assistant, jfranke@mt.gov. Register here. 

P.S. Don't forget, MHS is also offering an online webinar series on the SECOND Wednesday of the month, from 4:00-5:00. First up, September 8: Introduction to MHS Resources. Register here. 

Best of, Middle School

At the end of each school year, I ask teachers to recommend their favorite lessons and resources. And at the beginning of each school year, I share them. ICYMI: Here are the responses from elementary teachers.  

And here are the lessons your middle school colleagues will make time to do again this year no matter what, plus additional comments/links from me in brackets.  

Mandy Ramesar, Polson Middle School 6th-8th Social Studies, wrote: "I taught aspects of the Montana during the Great War unit.  We focused on the Great War scavenger hunt online.  It was a great resource to introduce Montana's contributions during WWI.  We also created a Montana character during the Great War.  It was amazing to see how creative students were when creating a Montanan during this time.  

6th-8th grade art teacher April Valerie Jimenez from Browning recommends Ledger Art. [I don't know if this is what April uses, but here is a link to our ledger art lesson plans.]  

Abbey Kochel, 7th grade Montana history and geography teacher at Castle Rock Middle School in Billings, plans to incorporate more information about the Hmong refugees who moved to Billings this next year. She has long retold what she knew of the story of her childhood friend, whose family fled Laos in the early 1980s. After a harrowing journey, they arrived at a refugee camp in Thailand and then, sponsored by St. Luke's Church were able to move to Billings. Recently, her friend's brother wrote and self-published a sixty-eighth page book about the family's experience--Freedom Crossing: A Laotian Family's Daring Escape Across the Mekong River--which Abbey plans to use this year. [Montana Mosaic: Twentieth Century People and Events Chapter 5  features information about the Hmong in Missoula starting at 13:22. Find the video here, and the user guide here.]   

Steve Morris, 6th-8th, Roosevelt Middle School, Red Lodge, does a unit on "Montana's Mysterious 3-7-77 History."  

Anonymous: Teach about Indian reservations & tribes of Montana & boarding school dorms and cultural changes for Native Americans.  

Gary Carmichael, who teaches computer coding/programming at Whitefish Middle School Grades to Grades 7th and 8th, wrote: "I had students (Grade 8) code an interactive quiz using the information they learned in their Montana History class. 

Do you have a lesson, resource, or strategy you love? It's not too late to share it! Send it to me at mkohl@mt.gov and I'll share it out.  

P.S. We had to migrate our website to a new platform, which may have led to some broken links. We can usually fix bad links quickly if we know about them. Will you help us identify problems by emailing me any broken links you find? Pretty please?