Best of, Middle School Edition

 Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history or IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. Here are the responses from middle school teachers with some notes from me, in brackets. You can find the elementary school teachers' responses here.

Chris Clairmont, who teaches in Superior, wrote: "Making atlatls and arrows to throw at a mammoth. Kids loved it and gained an understanding of how difficult this was.' [Check out our step-by-step instructions for making atlatls.]

Jennifer Hall, Eureka Middle School, highly recommends Métis finger weaving. She wrote: "I found the lesson in the Discovering Lewis and Clark footlocker resources (from the Hands-On History Footlockers provided by MTHS). The lesson begins by reading the picture book, The Flower Beadwork People, and letting students explore the beautiful Métis sash provided in the trunk. After reading the book, students watch a video tutorial on how to finger weave like the Métis people. Although it was a bit slow and chaotic to start, all of my 135 students enjoyed this hands-on activity. They begged me to let them do it again the next day. My classroom floor was covered in yarn bits and I was exhausted by the end of my sixth class, but it was so worth it. I will definitely teach this lesson every year from now on."

Michelle Moccasin, who teaches Crow language and culture in Lodge Grass, recommends Bird Country, "a crow story about where the birds journey back to their homelands."

Sheryl Kohl, who teaches at Poplar Middle School in its alternative education program, recommends the footlocker Gold, Silver, and Coal: Oh, My! She wrote: "I expanded upon the "Motherlode" activity and the students were each a miner in the field, some days finding a few nuggets, and some days gambling away their profits!  Some days the weather would cooperate and some days the animals would get into their food.  The students had a great time." [Learn how to order a hands-on history footlocker here.]

Jim Martin, who teaches at C. S. Porter Middle School in Missoula, shared his approach to teaching about Indian boarding schools: "Students are faced with the guiding question: 'How have Native Americans been able to preserve their culture in the modern United States?' 

We then read Sweetgrass Basket by Marlene Carvell, a historical fiction book that describes the Native American boarding school experience. Throughout the unit we read various articles regarding Native Americans. Articles are found at Newsela and need of a subscription, but they discuss having better depictions of Native's in comic books, more Congressional representation, Charles Curtis, first BIPOC Vice President of the United States, the Dawes Act (1887) and Indian Removal Act (1830). We look at maps of Southeast United States and see how many tribes were relocated to other states and placed on reservations. We also look at Montana: Stories of the Land Chapter 13 p. 255, in which the two graphics illustrate homesteading into the Flathead Reservation.

While reading about the Indian Removal Act, we look at another article at Newsela that discusses how Native food seeds are being reunited with tribes. The Indian Removal Act conversation comes up again as we talk about, for example, foods in Florida not having the same climate as Oklahoma and Kansas. Students finish the unit with an essay answering the guiding question, "How have Native Americans been able to preserve their culture in the modern United States?"  

Dylan Huisken, who teaches in Bonner, wrote: "This year I designed modules using the Montana: Stories of the Land textbook, MHS recommended primary sources and links, and the Primary Source Analysis worksheet. Students responded well to the worksheets and did an amazing job. I then added other links, games, and activities for them to work on when done with their reading/notetaking/research. I gave students a week to complete their module and they could work with others. This was for 8th grade and was meant to act like an "independent study" that mimicked block scheduling and high school-level notetaking skills. This allowed for deep engagement with a topic of their choice, allowed us to share and cover a lot of ground, and worked as a natural segue for me to do a Charlie Russell lesson. Students completed the module using Google Classroom, which is the perfect template for offering up a variety of links, videos, and primary sources in addition to them doing pencil/paper notes and reading from the physical book. This was a rigorous way for us to cover the many topics of so-called Manifest Destiny in a place-based, IEFA-informed way without relying on the national timeline of Texas Independence, Polk, Trails, California Gold Rush, Railroads." 

Robin Miller, who teaches in Hot Springs, does a lesson on disasters that focuses on "The Three Disasters of Montana (Glacier Lake Missoula, Quake Lake, and the Yellowstone Caldera)." 

Glacial Lake Missoula is the first major disaster that occurred in Montana.  We read about it in our textbooks, watch a power-point and then watch the video "Mystery of the Mega Flood".  Then we create a list of the highlights of the disaster and put it on the whiteboard.  The students then take the list and divide it into categories and give them headings. (We save this list.)

Then we move on to the most recent disaster: Quake Lake. We read about it in the textbook, we watch a PowerPoint, then we read excerpts from primary resources that were published in the newspaper the next year. Then we once again create a list of the highlights of the disaster and put it on the whiteboard. The students then take the list and divide it into categories and give them headings.  (We save this list as well.)

Then we move to the disaster that hasn't happened yet: the Yellowstone Caldera. We read about it in the textbook, then we have a worksheet that covers some of the scientific aspects of this disaster, and finally we watch the video "SuperVolcano" that was produced by the Discovery Channel.  We again make a list of highlights of the disaster and create categories. 

The final activity varies depending on the year. Sometimes the students will debate which disaster is the most interesting, catastrophic, or horrific.  Other years the students write an essay that answer the same question in a writing prompt. Or students create posters of their favorite disaster, write a speech to support their choice, and then present their nominee for most interesting disaster. When all the speeches are finished, the students vote for the best disaster. Each student gets 2 votes so that they can vote for themselves and one other disaster.  

Other teachers answered anonymously: 

I used Montana Stories of the Land resource in my ELA classes as an extension activity. We were reading the novel Lyddie, which explores factory conditions in the 1800s. Students were able to explore the different industries in Montana through the Stories of the Land resource. [My guess is that she focuses on Chapter 15 and Chapter 16.] I followed up this exploration with a deeper investigation into the North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917.

Native poetry, boarding schools [I'm guessing she uses Birthright: Born to Poetry]

Charles Russell Biography through the PowerPoint presentation to 8th graders

Stay tuned for high school teachers' recommendations.