Freedom Week and Other Commemorations

HB 591 added some new requirements for Montana schools, including recognizing “Freedom Week” and requiring “commemorative exercises” to be conducted during Freedom Week and on other days designated by the legislature or governor as legal holidays.

The goal of this legislation is to

• Inform “students about … the values that underpin the nation,”
• Promote “an in-depth understanding of founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Montana Constitution and their historical context and significance,”
• Make sure students “have a clear understanding of the relationship between ideas in the Declaration of Independence and key events in American history, including immigration, the American Revolution, the formulation of the Constitution, the abolitionist movement, and the women's suffrage movement,
• “Educate students about the sacrifices made for freedom in the founding of the United States and the values on which the United States was founded,” and
• “Instill a sense of patriotism and civic responsibility among students.”

I’ve had some emails from teachers asking for suggestions of resources they can use. I’ll send out information down the road on holidays that fall in October and beyond, but for now, I thought I’d focus on Citizenship Day (September 17), Freedom Week (the last full week of September), and American Indian Heritage Day (fourth Friday in September).

Citizenship Day

If you haven’t already figured out something to do for Citizenship Day, consider having students see if they could pass the citizenship test.

• The National Museum of American History has an online citizenship test students can take.
• Gilder Lehrmann Institute has three versions of the test (one for elementary, one for middle school, and one for high school). The upside of using the Gilder Lehrmann tests are that students can print out their results. The downside is that when I took the test, it said that I had the wrong answer when I selected "Assiniboine" in answer to a multiple choice question asking us the name of one Indian tribe in the U.S. I've written them asking that they correct their test! 
• Here’s a good study guide and here’s the official study guide. 

Freedom Week

This seems to be a catch-all, which makes it exciting as there are lots of cool things you can do.

Recognizing Veterans

When I think about instilling a sense of patriotism and educating students about the sacrifices made for freedom, my mind turns first to veterans. (Of course, these lessons can be used for Veterans Day as well).

• Reader's Theater: Letters Home from Montanans at War (grades 7-12)
• American Indians in the Military - A Warrior Spirit (grades 7-12)
  • Warrior Spirit - article by Ellen Baumler
  • Resources for Teaching About American Indians in the Military
• Native Words, Native Warriors (about code talkers, grades 6-12)

Instilling a Sense of Civic Responsibility

• My colleague Melissa Hibbard put together this Padlet on resources to teach civics (grades 3-12)
• I believe one of the best ways to instill a sense of civic responsibility is to encourage students to take informed action (which is one of the skills listed in our social studies standards). Here’s a post I wrote back in 2021 with ideas.
• Ordinary People Do Extraordinary Things! Connecting Biography to Larger Social Themes is a high school lesson that looks at the ways people have chosen to improve their communities, which hopefully will inspire an increased sense of civic responsibility.

Learning More about the Montana Constitution

To better teach about the Montana State Constitution, explore these resources, which include lesson plans for grades 4-6, grades 7-8, and high school. 

Learning about the Declaration of Independence and Constitution

• The Library of Congress has this lesson called “Created Equal?” that focuses on a few key concepts of the Declaration of Independence, beginning with the phrase "All men are created equal."
• The Digital Inquiry Group’s lesson on the Declaration of Independence asks students to critically examine the text and question the motives of its authors to answer the question “Why did the founders write the Declaration of Independence? It's lesson on the Constitution is called Slavery in the Constitution. You have to register to use DIG lessons, but it's free.
• The National Archives has these resources for teaching about the Constitution. 
• Did you know that one of the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence is that King George wasn’t doing enough to protect the colonists from “merciless Indian Savages”? OPI created this lesson to ask how and why this biased language became part of one of the US’s founding documents.  

The Women’s Suffrage Movement

For a Montana connection to the women's suffrage movement, check out Hazel Hunkins, Billings Suffragist: A Primary Source Investigation. (grades 9-12) 

Montana passed women's suffrage for non-Indigenous women in 1914 (6 years before the national amendment)! You can read a short piece on Montana women's suffrage and see a map that show how your county voted here.  

The Revolutionary War and the Abolitionist Movements

I’m less up on national resources and national history, but:

• The Digital Inquiry Group has several lessons relating to the Revolutionary War (grades 8-12)
• PBS has this lesson about the Abolitionist Movement (grades 6-12)
• Melissa’s Padlet also has links to lessons on the Revolutionary War.(grades 3-12)

American Indian Heritage Day

• In celebration of American Indian Heritage Day 2025 the Montana Office is Public Instruction is putting out a call for Montana students to share their perspective regarding Indian Education for All. Students will answer the question: What does Indian Education for All mean to you? Student responses can be in the form of an art project, poster presentation, poetry, music and
  video. Be creative and have fun – this is a celebration! Projects must be submitted by September 26 along with parental permission forms to share them. Find more information here.
• OPI is also featuring a special event September 25th from 4:00 p.m.– 5:00 p.m., an American Indian Heritage Day Webinar featuring Kasey Nicholson.  Kasey is a member of the A’aa’niii’nin (White Clay Nation – Fort Belknap) He is a Wellness Educator, Motivational Speaker, Powwow Emcee and Comedian.  This webinar is open to all so bring your sense of humor and see Essential Understanding 3 in action. Zoom link 
• Of course, OPI also has great lessons for all grades and subject matters.
• I also really like the lessons in our footlocker Montana’s First Peoples: Essential Understandings, most of which can be taught without ordering the trunk.

Other Ideas?

I'm interested to hear what resources, projects, programs, or lessons you and your school are using. Email me and I'll collate your responses and send them out.