MHS at MEA-MFT

If you are attending MEA-MFT's educator conference this year, we hope you'll stop in at the exhibit hall to see us. We also hope you'll consider attending one of the sessions Montana Historical Society staff are participating in.

On Thursday, I'll be participating in an institute from 9:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. MCAD16: "Starting National History Day in Your Classroom." Presenting with me will be Cathy Gorn, director of NHD, Tom Rust (fromer Montana NHD coordinator and MSU Billings history professor), and Michael Herdina (Eighth Grade Teacher, Gallatin Gateway, and current Montana NHD coordinator).

Also on Thursday, from 10:00 a.m.- 11:50 a.m. in SHS246, my closest colleague and partner in crime Deb Mitchell will be presenting "Analyzing Historic Images to Meet MCCS." Deb "will demonstrate analysis of historic images through Visual Thinking Strategies along with the importance of learning to source images, and aligning to meet MCCS for grades 7-12."

Later on Thursday, from 1:00 p.m. - 1:50 p.m. in SHS247, Deb will present "Classroom Learning using Primary Documents and Objects." Here's the description: "Learn about the newest revamping of our footlocker program at the Montana Historical Society, Immigration:Coming to Montana. This footlocker is the first of many footlockers at the Montana Historical Society to be updated with new tools and lesson plans to serve you and your students in the classroom."

Senior Archivist Rich Aarstad will be presenting "Yes, We are a Teachers' Union" on Friday 10/17 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. in MCAD16. "This sectional is an overview of the creation of the Montana Education Association, the Montana Federation of Teachers, and the evolution of both organizations within the broader context of Montana's labor movement."

Later on Friday, Rich will be joined by government records archivist Jeff Malcomson in "The Blood was Still Hot: A Historical Debate." (10/17, 1:00 p.m.-1:50 p.m. MCAD13). This "in character," fictional debate between Wilbur F. Sanders LRJ & Samuel Word LDJ regarding MT Territorial politics got rave reviews at our recent history conference. The presentation will also discuss creative ways primary source documents can be used in the classroom.

It would be hard to choose between "The Blood Was Still Hot" and MHS Reference Historian Zoe Ann Stoltz's presentation at the same time (in MCAD 11): "Teaching History with Montana Foodways." Luckily, Zoe Ann is also repeating her talk from 3:00 to 3:50 p.m. Zoe Ann's presentation will "explore the endless lesson opportunities available through discussion and study of Montana Foodways." According to Zoe, "Everyone eats, everyone knows someone who cooks, and everyone craves grandma's cookies. While foods present a universal commonality, they also offer insights into our unique ethnic heritages and changes in scientific understandings as they relate to food preparation and preservation."

Lots of good sessions to choose from! I'm looking forward to hearing about the great work teachers are doing across the state, catching up with old friends and making some new ones.

p.s. I just received a note from Sam Mihara, who grew up as a former prisoner at the Wyoming Heart Mountain Japanese internment camp and is now a lecturer at the University of California. He will be giving a keynote speech on Thursday, October 16 at 1:00 PM in the auditorium and will also be part of an all day Friday, October 17 workshop (8-3:50) at Fort Missoula, What an amazing opportunity to be learn from someone who lived this history.

More on Columbus Day--and Favorite Lessons

Cheyenne Aldrich of Billings had this great idea in response to my recent Columbus Day post. "I turned the table around and asked my 11th grade US History students to prepare a lesson plan on how they thought Columbus should be taught. They got to decide what age they wanted to "teach" and what would be appropriate for that age to learn."

She also sent in some lesson suggestions in response to Favorite High School Lessons: 

Multiple Perspectives: One of my favorite lessons that I have students do is to look at multiple perspectives of the Battle of Little Bighorn. My "hook" is to have the students look at the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company's depiction of the Battle. I usually begin the discussion with something like "what does a beer company have to do with Custer's Last Stand?"  It seems to be a fairly nice way to get seniors to talk about perspective, biases, agendas, intentions (all of the words history teachers love) without them even realizing it. Then I have the students complete the Multiple Perspectives Assignment using the resources found on this website: http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listmultipleca.html 

After a couple days of looking at the different resources we usually end up with a nice discussion of the Battle but also about the idea "What is history?" if every event has at least this many (most are left out) different perspectives, biases, agendas, intentions, etc. how do we know what really happened? And if we don't know what "really" happened what's the point in studying history at all?

One lesson that never disappoints: This one could be used for any era, but I usually use it in relation to allotment, homesteading, the Dawes Act, etc., is to have the students write a reverse poem. Here is the example that I show the students:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA 

This poems seems to resonate strongly with students and sets the bar high...these are really hard to do! Try it with your students! For homesteading it might read dreams one way and realities the other. Another idea my be to read one way for the Dawes Act and another way against the Dawes Act. We share our poems together in class and discuss the historical significance behind each poem. Each time that I have done this in class there has been a "goosebump" moment. I think students realize how hard it is to do, so when it is done well by another student they have some appreciation. Here is an example of one that a student did pertaining to the Battle of Little Bighorn. Can you tell the two different perspectives? (Read it forward. Then read it backwards.) Oh and because I try to "practice what I preach" here is mine. When you read it down it is meant to be the perspective of  Tuekakas (Chief Joseph the Elder) to his son Inmatóowyalahtq̓it (Chief Joseph) and then, reading up, it is son to father.

Columbus Day Is Fast Approaching

It’s been a few years since I’ve written a Columbus Day post, but that’s because I don’t have much new to offer. Still, I had a recent request for ideas on how to teach the holiday, so I thought I’d reshare this 2012 post, which still feels relevant for those looking for material on Columbus (or the Columbian Exchange). 

Not mentioned in that post are the very good resources from the Zinn Education Project on "Rethinking Columbus" or this recommendation from Ginny Weeks from Blackfoot Community College: "Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, is a good book which I have read to classes on Columbus Day.  It's very well written, easy to read aloud, and appropriate for children, but it works for all ages.  Here's link to information about it."

If you have other suggestions for recognizing Columbus Day, do send them along and I'll share with the group.

Primary source based lesson on Montana's landless Indians

It's been seven years in the making, but good things are worth the wait. I'm pleased to announce that  "Montana's Landless Indians and the Assimilation Era of Federal Indian Policy: A Case of Contradiction" is now ready for classroom use. This  week-long primary-source based unit designed introduces students to the history of the landless Métis, Cree, and Chippewa Indians in Montana between 1889 and 1916, while giving them an opportunity to do their own guided analysis of historical and primary source materials.

The curriculum asks students to wrestle with issues of perspective, power, ideology, and prejudice and to closely examine the role of Montana newspapers played in shaping public opinion toward the tribes’ attempts to maintain economic independence and gain a land base and political recognition.

Intrigued? Here's some other notes on this curriculum:

1. It is primary-source rich. The unit includes over fifty photographs, newspaper articles, oral history excerpts, and letters. Even if you don't have time to teach the entire unit (and you may not, see point 6), I'd encourage you to download it to look through the primary sources to see if you can integrate just a piece or two into your curriculum. 
2. It is aligned to the ELA Common Core and Essential Understandings. Worksheets demand students read closely, interpret words and phrases and especially tone, assess point of view, integrate content presented in diverse formats, delineate and evaluate claims, and compare how different texts address the same topic.
3. It deals with difficult subject matter. Many of the primary sources are shockingly, eye-openingly racist; even as reading them can be uncomfortable, studying these unvarnished accounts can give students a deeper understanding about our shared past. 
4. We say the unit is appropriate for grades 7-12 but because of the difficulty of the subject matter, the quantity of material, and the complexity of some of the texts, it might be more appropriately used in high school and college classes than in middle school. (I'd love to check this perception--so if you teach this--at any grade level--let me know how it goes.)
5. It tells a story most of us don't know. This is worth reading, whether you teach it or not, to gain new knowledge of an under-told history. 
6. It is long--141 pages long. The unit is designed to "jigsaw"--so different groups of students are responsible for mastering and presenting different aspects of the lesson. Nevertheless, it will take six days (or possibly a week with homework) to complete the unit. 

I'm very excited about this unit--and very curious about how it plays in the classroom. Whether you teach the unit as it is designed, just copy a few of the primary sources to teach, or just read it for background, I'd LOVE to hear from you. Email me your thoughts at mkohl@mt.gov.

More Child's Eye Views: Girl from the Gulches and Boyhood Recollections

A few weeks back, I talked about our new Mining Childhood Lesson Plans, which offer a child's-eye view of the copper mining town of Butte.

Girl from the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronan is another resource that presents a child's perspective, in this case that of a girl growing up in the placer mining camps of Virginia City and Helena. The Girl from the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronan Study Guide (Designed for students 6-10) includes lesson plans, vocabulary, chapter summaries and questions, alignment to the Common Core, and other information to facilitate classroom use of Girl from the Gulches. Book One, which provides a child’s-eye view of the mining frontier, is available to download at no charge as a PDF. Classroom sets of Girl from the Gulches can be purchased from the Montana Historical Society Museum Store by calling toll free 1-800-243-9900.

A shorter child's eye view, this time of the homestead frontier, is this excerpt from "Boyhood Recollections: A Narrative of Homestead Days in North Eastern Montana," by Otto Jorgensen.

On another note entirely, Anna Baldwin (2014 Montana Teacher of the Year) is offering a FREE online course: "HeartLines: Engaging Students with Tribal Materials and Common Core Skills".

The class focuses on integrating rich, tribally specific materials in ways that support the Montana Common Core Standards and your students’ engagement. Students can earn 30 OPI renewal units or 2 graduate credits (graduate credits cost $135).

The 10-week course begins Oct. 6. Registration deadline is Oct. 3. Find more information--including a link to register--here.

Favorite High School Lessons

Over the last few weeks I have shared elementary and middle school teachers' answers to the following prompt: “Describe (in brief) the best Montana history or IEFA lesson or project or resource your taught this year--the one you will make time for next year no matter what.” As promised, here are the answers we received from high school teachers to the same question.

Gary Carmichael in Whitefish created a "lesson based around campaign finance and 'Dark Money'. As the campaign season evolved the lesson entitled 'I never bought a man who wasn’t for sale' kept changing as things were added and removed to fit what was happening. I used this lesson two years ago and will modify it and use it this fall during the elections.

Bruce Wendt of Billings wrote: "A quick hour long exercise I do is to first discuss how street names reflect communities and how we often use streets to honor folks from the past.  I then have the students list the street names around West High (include Broadwater, Alderson, King, Custer, Howard, Miles, Lewis, Clark and so on).  A rather interesting list is it not?  I then ask the students to list street names that reflect Native Americans from the past.  We can list tomahawk, Navaho, Tipi, etc.  We do have Sacajawea Park, Indian Cliffs, Two Moon Park (the latter is rarely mentioned).  The point of course is how we remember the past and how we drive (literally) on it every day."

Julia McCarthy-McLaverty of Missoula wrote: "I love the lesson(s) on the railroads in Montana & will continually use them.  Additionally, I use various different lessons from the Richest Hills NEH Summer Workshops focusing on mining." By the way: We're going to be offering the weeklong NEH-funded Richest Hills workshop again this summer. Stay tuned for details. Re railroads: I hope Julia is referring to our PowerPoint lesson "Railroads Transform Montana," because it is one of my favorites. 

Lorrie Davis Tatsey of Browning found last year's Indian Education For All posts "most useful, and adaptable." She also appreciated the information on teaching Montana women's history and Historical Community Research 

Dottie Susag, who travels to classroom through Humanities Montana's Speaker in the Schools program, wrote: "I just finished teaching a 50 minute lesson using clips from PLAYING FOR THE WORLD, with readings from FULL COURT QUEST.  We looked at the Fort Shaw Indian Girls Basketball Team, responded to the question of how people survive cultural and personal loss and survival." (By the way: Speakers in the Schools is a FREE way to bring in guest speakers. You should check it out!)

Toni Henneman from Valier wrote: "I found a list of Native American legends on firstpeople.us (a great resource!) and had each student choose a tribe and a different legend. They then read through, summaraized it, and created "comic books" for their legend.  I found they really got into this since most of the legends deal with very visual elements and good action which lends themselves to good comics or 'graphic novels'."

Other teachers contributed their thoughts anonymously:

"I loved the website that gave descriptions of New Deal projects by state so students could look at local New Deal work."  

"Chapter 17, of the Montana: Stories of the Land textbook is a very good chapter. The kids love the history of the car in Montana."

Have a favorite lesson (either one you created or one you didn't but love) that you didn't get around to sharing? It's never too late. Email me at mkohl@mt.gov and I'll spread the word.

Women's History Matters Scavenger Hunt. Cool Resources Plus a Prize--Who Could Ask for More?

Have you--and your students--checked out our Women's History Matters project yet?

Created as part of a commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of women’s suffrage in Montana, Women’s History Matters is designed to promote an increased appreciation and understanding of the role of women in Montana’s past. The website includes bibliographies of manuscript collections, oral histories, government documents, pamphlets, magazine articles, videos and dvds, and published material; over 130 articles published in Montana The Magazine of Western History to download and read; information on oral histories, including what’s been collected and how to conduct your own; educator resources, including lesson plans; suggestions for ways communities, individuals, and organizations can celebrate the 2014 centennial; and more.

At its core, though Women's History Matters is a blog--we post two, well-written, 600-900 word articles every Tuesday and Thursday about some aspect of Montana women's experience: from women bootleggers to the Women's Christian Temperance Union; from the Women of the KKK to the members of the Montana Federation of Negro Women's Clubs; from Kwilqs (a Pend d'Oreille woman who led her fellow warriors against the Blackfeet and Crow) to Blackfeet banker Elouise Cobell, who took on the federal government on behalf of Indians everywhere.

Need some encouragement to explore the blog? Join the Women's History Matters scavenger hunt (and invite your students to join as well).  

Find the answers to the following 5 questions on the Women’s History Matters blog. Then send your answers to us in a private message via the Montana Women's History Matters Facebook page  (and while you are at it, like our page!) Don't want to use Facebook? Email your answers (and snail mail address) to me at mkohl@mt.gov. 

We'll pick a winner at random (from those who answer correctly) to receive an autographed copy of I DO: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF MONTANA WEDDINGS. Ready?

1. Norwegian women joined the Daughters of Norway, but who joined the Daughters of Penelope?
2. Why didn't Lucille Otter attend college?
3. What was Octavia Bridgewater's military rank?
4. What was the name of Caroline Lockhart's first book?
5. In 1956, Anna Boe Dahl became president of what organization?

Good luck!