Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 10 is Columbus Day, according to the State of Montana. It is Indigenous Peoples' Day according to many Montana cities. For its part, the federal government recognizes both Indigenous Peoples' Day and Columbus Day.

This makes it a good time to consider the history of both holidays, as well as the histories of both Indigenous peoples and Columbus.

Starting with the holidays, here are three proclamations by two presidents:  

• Proclamation 2101--Columbus Day (President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 9/30/1934)
• Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples' Day (President Joseph Biden, The White House, 10/8/21)
• Proclamation on Columbus Day (President Joseph Biden, The White House, 10/8/21)

And here are two articles:

• As some Montana cities celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, a push to observe the holiday statewide is still ongoing (Yellowstone Public Radio 10/11/21)
• Indigenous People's Day is a federal holiday now. Activists want to drop Columbus Day (National Public Radio 10/11/21)

I can see a good middle or high school lesson that asks students to engage with important questions:

• Does it matter who we celebrate?
• How do we choose who to recognize?
• Can we celebrate both Columbus and Indigenous People or do we need to choose just one?
• What do you think we should celebrate on the second Monday of October?

One approach would be to jigsaw: have students read and analyze one of the three documents in "expert groups." Then reconfigure students into groups of three, with an expert on each document in every group. Have each expert teach their document to the members of their group. 

Here are some other resources:

One of my favorite education bloggers, Glenn Wiebe, wrote a post that includes many links: Resources for Your Indigenous Peoples' Day. 

The Indian Education Division of the Montana Office of Public Instruction created this lesson for grades 6-8: Critical Thinking about the Arrival of Columbus.

Finally, check out these ideas for celebrating American Indian Heritage Days that the Indian Education Division of OPI gathered. They include links to resources, suggestions for virtual guest speakers, and links to professional development that will be useful all year long. 

P.S. Whatever you call the holiday, we're working October 10, so join us from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. for the online PD Tech and Social Studies. In this sharing session, Teacher Leader in Montana History and K-6 Tech Specialist April Wills and other tech-savvy colleagues (including maybe you) will offer ways to integrate tech into your social studies classroom. Register by October 7 to receive the Zoom link.

Strategies That Encourage Making Connections

 Looking for new strategies? Here's one from Glenn Wiebe, one of my favorite social studies bloggers (seriously, go subscribe to his blog. You won't be sorry .)

Which One Doesn't Belong

Here's how to play:

• Put kids in pairs. 
• Find four things that have something in common--say the Cardinals, the Eagles, the Ravens, and the Bears football teams--and share it with your students--on a slide or on paper. Pictures are obviously better than words.) 
• Then ask students "which one doesn't belong?" Maybe they'll say the Bears, because the other three teams are named after birds. Or maybe they'll say the Ravens, because they play in the AFC. Or maybe they'll say the Cardinals, because that's the only name that's shared by both a professional football and professional baseball team. Any answer works as long as they have evidence to support their theory.

Glenn suggests doing this a couple of times with things students are familiar with--like foods, movies, etc., before trying it with social studies content--tribal leaders, technology that changed Montana history, etc. Head over to his blog to get more nuance and ideas for deepening the activity. 

Hexagonal Thinking

I first discovered hexagons in 2020. And I still think they are a great way to engage students. Here are the basics:

• Place ideas or topics on hexagon-shaped pieces of paper (or on digital hexagons). For example: drought, Great Depression, New Deal, Fort Peck Dam, 1930s, Indian Reorganization Act, unions...
• Then give those pieces of paper to students and ask them to place the hexagons so that they only touch related topics/ideas.
• Then have students explain their thinking.

Here's the blog post I wrote about this in 2020, with example word lists for both homesteading and the treaty period. 

Here's an old blog post of Glenn Wiebe, who does an even better job of explaining hexagons than I did. (Did I mention you should subscribe to his blog?)

Do you have a favorite strategy to get students thinking more deeply and engaging with the content? Let me know and I'll share it out.

P.S. Join us October 10 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for Tech and Social Studies and come away with new ideas of ways to integrate tech into your social studies classroom. Register here to receive the Zoom link. Attendees can earn one OPI Renewal Unit.

Montana's Economy Story Map

 If you're a fourth-grade teacher, I hope you've started teaching Montana: A History of Our Home. If your school has been able to purchase the book, great! If not, I hope you tap into our website, where we've posted the PDF of the book for download as well as each chapter of the online teachers guide. If you have students with learning disabilities, you can find an audio version of the book through Learning Ally. 

One of the Unit One lessons has students exploring a Story Map about Montana's economy. Unfortunately, I forgot to include the link to the story map in the print version of teacher's guide. It is in Unit 1 of the online teacher's guide. And it's here.

If you come across any other errors as you use this curriculum, please don't hesitate to let me know. (Kudos are always welcome too, of course.)

Title IX Turns 50

 A lot happened fifty years ago, in 1972. Montana adopted a new state constitution (more on this in a later post). Following a grassroots, community effort, the federal government designated the Scapegoat Wilderness, which became the first citizen-initiated wilderness area in the nation. There was also Watergate, the Munich Olympics terrorist attack, and the signing of a treaty with the Soviet Union limiting the numbers of intercontinental ballistic missiles. And Congress passed Title IX. 

This historic piece of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibited "sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity) discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." (HHS.gov) It initiated a sea change for girls and women--and the culture at large--and is a great way to explore how legislation can affect everyday life.

Although Title IX was, and is, about much more than sports, high school sports impact so many students that it is a great starting point for exploring this law.  A few years back, we created a lesson about Title IX, which we called Women and Sports: Tracking Change Over Time.  

I love this lesson: After examining a photo of a women’s basketball game in Missoula circa 1900 using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), students read an essay to learn about the ways that Title IX changed girls’ opportunities to participate in school sports. They then conduct a survey of their community and analyze the data they collect to see how Title IX affected their community.

A few notes: We say it's for grades 4-8--but it requires students to write and think about percentages, so it's really for grades 5 and up (probably grades 6 and up). The lesson plan is EASILY adaptable to high school, especially if you substitute this short article for the simplified version we printed in the lesson plan and jettison the reading comprehension piece.

I've had a hard time getting teachers to teach this lesson--I think because I mis-graded it, but also because some social studies teachers (not you, I'm sure) are a teensy bit afraid of math. But the math is actually very easy, and I'd argue it's important to provide students real life examples of how mathematics can help us understand the world around us. 

So I'm issuing a challenge: On the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX, teach this lesson. Then send me your students' findings. We'll save them and add their research to our collection so future generations of historians can benefit from their work.

Best of, High School

 Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history or IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. Here are what your fellow  teachers said (some anonymously) with comments by me in parentheses. Find elementary responses here and middle school responses here.

• My favorite was this lesson about Deb Haaland, the first Native Secretary of the Interior: Tribal Nations and the Department of the Interior (mt.gov).
• I teach French, and our French book has a culture section on Medieval shields & coats of arms. We then explored the tribal seals of the tribes in Montana. The students created their own personal shield as a concluding exercise. (Here's a link to OPI's high school tribal seals lesson. OPI also created tribal seal lessons for 6-8 and 3-5.
• Students examine the policies of the Indian Removal Act. Students then examine the Tribes of Montana to make connections of the similarities and differences of the U.S. government of handling during the Indian Removal Act and the U.S. governments treatment of Montana Indian Tribes down to policy, treaties, and interactions.--Kaine Berardinelli, North Star Schools
• Using Chronicling America and Montana Historic Newspapers to show our students that Japanese Internment Camp at Heart Mountain, WYO involved Montana and its youth. We examine articles related to sports competitions between a Montana School (Red Lodge) and the Wyoming internees. We have used the basic lesson for sometime, but are fleshing it out more and more each year.  Used in Grade 10 English with the novel Thin Wood Walls by David Patneaude.--Pam Roberts, Huntley Project, 7-12 Library, a collaborative unit with Grade 10 English
• Contemporary American Indian Issues: This lesson was easy to implement in my classroom this year. My students researched MMIW/MMIP and created bills (in government) and posters (my other classes) designed to shed light on this issue. (I don't know if this is what the teacher used, but the Indian Education Division at OPI has a lesson plan with the same title.)
• Great Depression images (I'm sure the teacher used these Farm Security Administration images, digitized by the Library of Congress.)
• We have used current events to discuss MMIP and extrapolate our discussions out to other native peoples around the world. Lyn Mason, Corvallis High School, Geography and World History
• The atlatl project. (This teacher may have used Making an Atlatl.)
• Little Big Horn Unit and field trip. (I'm not sure what resources this teacher used, but Stanford History Education Group has a lesson on the Battle of the Little Bighorn that's worth looking into.)
• A buffalo harvest, Bill Wagner, Drummond
• I adore the Mission US interactive lessons for immersive, thoughtful, and playful interactions with historical events. In regards to IEFA, the Cheyenne Odyssey is a particularly intriguing and individualized experience for students (https://www.mission-us.org/games/a-cheyenne-odyssey/). They are asked to take on the perspective of Little Wolf, a Cheyenne teenager who must navigate life on the Plains in 1866. The Battle of the Bighorn is figured prominently in this simulation, and the characters respond to realistic situations with diverse  perspectives. I have used this site with both Middle and High School social studies students and it is always a hit. Check out their lesson plans - they are worth it!--Cynthia Wilondek, Bigfork High School   

It's never too late! If you have a dynamite lesson you think other teachers would like to know about, let me know.

P.S. If you are new to teaching Montana history or just want to learn more about MTHS resources, don't forget to register for "Introduction to MTHS Resources". The hourlong workshop will be held September 12 from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on Zoom. Participants will earn 1 OPI Renewal Unit.

                                                                                                                          

 

Best of, Middle School

 Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history or IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. Here are what your fellow elementary teachers said (some anonymously) with comments by me in parentheses. Find elementary responses here. Stay tuned for high school responses.                                               

• Using pictures associated with the Indian Boarding Schools and having students do a DICE writing activity with it. The pictures and quotes were from a book sent to the libraries from OPI. The students were in groups of 3 or 4 and there were 8 stations. Students had about 5 minutes at each station to observe, read, and discuss what was at the station. Each station also had a single dice and a laminated paper with the DICE questions. Students rolled the dice and everyone needed to write their response in the appropriate square on the grid (numbers on grid match numbers on the stations).--Kathi Hoyt, Library, Castle Rock Middle School, Billings                          
• Investigating First Peoples, Clovis Child Burial - I come back to this every year during our archaeology unit with 6th graders. I also use Montana: Stories of the Land every year when learning about treaties. (Treaties are covered in Chapter 7.) The book's discussion of treaties, plus supplemental materials like Chief Victor's letter to Edgerton, are very accessible to students and make an often neglected topic easy to understand.--Dylan Huisken, Bonner Social Studies, grades 6-8                                                                      
• Playing for the World--Wendy Maratita, 7-8 Social Studies, Harlem Jr/Sr High School Studies (This it a unit built around a DVD about the 1904 Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School girls basketball team that became world champions at the St. Louis World's Fair.)

• In Memoriam. A study of our local cemetery.--Laura Dukart, Wibaux Public Schools, grades 7 & 8 history (I attended a session during which Laura presented on this project and it sounds AMAZING. She's graciously shared her presentation describing the project and says folks should feel free to contact her if they have questions. I hope you consider adapting this for your own community.)    

• I used the Montana: Stories of the Land text this year with several footlockers. (Learn more about our hands-on history footlockers and how to order them here.) The footlockers offered so much to the learning for my students! The fur trapper footlocker was probably my students' favorite.--Sheryl Kohl, Poplar Middle School TRAILS, grades 5-8 alternative education                       

• A lesson on the Butte mining accident before we go on our field trip to the mine. (I'm not sure how this teacher organized her lesson, but you can use these telegrams relating to the Speculator Mine disaster and this article about the disaster.)                                       

• Native American trade (a work in progress). When we cover the Silk Road, I developed a trade game using gold coins and trade items. I'm working on a trade game in Pre-Columbian North America. This one uses 12 different groups from around North America. I have a Google Slideshow if you are interested.--Jim Martin, C.S. Porter Middle School, 6th Grade, Missoula      

• The atlatl project. (I'm not sure if it's what this teacher uses, but here's a lesson plan for making atlatls. Students LOVE it.)                           
• Montana Counties map project. I have students cut apart maps of Montana and then put another student's puzzle together. I find it helps reinforce the locations of counties for students.--Rhonda Lynn Petersen, Chester, Joplin, Inverness, 8th Grade Montana history 

• The Montana and the Great War scavenger hunt.--Carrie Sorensen, 7-8  Fortine (I'm so glad someone is using this! It's one of my favorite things we've created.)

• The Montana and the Great War scavenger hunt.--Carrie Sorensen, 7-8  Fortine (I'm so glad someone is using this! It's one of my favorite things we've created.)                       

It's never too late! If you have a dynamite lesson you think other teachers would like to know about, let me know.

P.S. If you are new to teaching Montana history or just want to learn more about MTHS resources, don't forget to register for "Introduction to MTHS Resources". The hourlong workshop will be held September 12 from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on Zoom. Participants will earn 1 OPI Renewal Unit.

P.P.S. Montana Historical Society Teacher Leaders in Montana History have begun leading twice monthly Twitter chats, every other Thursday from 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Next chat is tonight, September 8. Join the conversation using the #MTHistTLs hash tag.

 

Best of, Elementary

Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history or IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. Here are what your fellow elementary teachers said (some anonymously) with comments by me in parentheses. Stay tuned for middle and high school responses in later posts. 

• I printed out the 4th grade book and can't wait to teach it next year!!! (Find more about our new fourth-grade Montana history textbook Montana: A History of Our Home, including links to a PDF of the book and to the Teachers Guide, as well as information about how to order physical copies.)
• "Should I stay or should I go?" I loved the student discussions on what would make them stay or go, and the push/pull factors that influenced them the most. (This lesson is included in both the "Coming to Montana: Immigrants from around the World" footlocker and in Chapter 3, Part 1 of the Montana: A History of Our Home Teacher's Guide.)  
• Sara White, the elementary Native American Curriculum Coordinator in Shelby recommends Napi The Anthology by Jason Eaglespeaker. "It is a great read-aloud during the winter months to focus on the Blackfeet culture, locate or discuss local geographical places or foods/animals that are mentioned in the story along with Napi lessons and comprehension life skill questions to discuss afterwards."
• Grades 3-5 teacher Susan Seastrand from Morin Elementary southeast of Billings recommends Montana's Black Past - 4th Grade. (This was one of six lesson plans we created for Helena Public Schools. It uses the anchor text The Journey of York by Hasan Davis and includes a PowerPoint and a research activity.  Learn more about the other lesson plans we created for K-5 here.)
• The best resource I discovered this year is Native Knowledge 360 (from the National Museum of the American Indian & the Smithsonian). There are endless free educational lessons and resources that include Native narratives in rich layers of learning. The interactive lessons have worked well in my mixed-age classroom (K-7) this year. I will continue to use this quality resource in the future.
• Helena elementary librarian Marla Unruh wrote: "Our fourth grade always does a big unit on Lewis and Clark, so I created a website to guide students through a study of what that life might have been.  I vary the activities each year, trying to improve student engagement. For each of the four pages on the website, after discussion, I usually have them type answers into a padlet." 

It's never too late! If you have a dynamite lesson you think other teachers would like to know about, let me know. 

P.S. If you are new to teaching Montana history or just want to learn more about MTHS resources, don't forget to register for "Introduction to MTHS Resources". The hourlong workshop will be held September 12 from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on Zoom. Participants will earn 1 OPI Renewal Unit.

P.P.S. Montana Historical Society Teacher Leaders in Montana History have begun leading twice monthly Twitter chats, every other Thursday from 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Next chat will be September 8. Join the conversation using the #MTHistTLs hash tag.

 

Free PD from the Stanford History Education Group

 I think the world of the Stanford History Education Group and the materials they create for teachers.  

Their Reading Like a Historian curriculum "engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills.

This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on historical issues and learn to make historical claims backed by documentary evidence."

Their Beyond the Bubble History Assessments offer 130 assessments that "easure students' historical thinking rather than recall of facts."

There resources are EXACTLY what you need to meet Montana's new social studies standards.

You can learn more by attending one or both of their free webinars.

• Click here to register for the Reading Like a Historian webinar on September 7th at 5 p.m.- 6 p.m. Mountain
• Click here to register for the Beyond the Bubble assessment webinar on September 21st at 5 p.m.-6 p.m. Mountain

Email me (mkohl@mt.gov) a few sentences detailing which webinar you attended, one of the resources you looked at, and your plans to use it in your classroom (or why you won't be using it), and I'll send you a certificate for one OPI Renewal Unit. (If you attend both sessions, you'll earn two OPI Renewal Units.)