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?  

 

Free Online PDs from MHS

Because we couldn't host in-person PDs last year, we, like everyone else, mournfully made the switch to online. And we found out that folks liked it! So even though we're back to hosting in-person PDs (are you coming to the September 23 Educator's workshop in Butte?) we decided to continue to offer online options as well, the second Wednesday of every month from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.  These sessions are interactive and attendees can earn one OPI renewal credit per session. 

September 8: Introduction to MHS Resources

Participants will be given time to explore the MHS website and then will be asked to share resources they plan to use in their classrooms. Register here before September 7 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting. 

October 13: Diving into the New Social Studies Standards

Join with other teachers to explore the new Social Studies content standards, focusing on the ones that are relevant to the grades you teach, and learn how the new social studies skills standards overlap, or complement, the standards for other academic disciplines. Register here before October 12 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.  

November 10: Hooks!

Back by popular demand! 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.  

December 8: Explore the Montana Memory Project
Join Montana Memory Project Director Jennifer Birnel for a tour of the new Montana Memory Project website, and learn how you can find primary sources to use in your classroom—from historical photographs and yearbooks to cattle brands and reminiscences. Then join in a discussion of best practices for introducing primary sources to students. Register here before December 7 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.

 

Best of, Elementary...

 ... and a request.

Help!

Every spring, I ask folks to share their favorite Montana history of IEFA lesson, the one they would absolutely do again. And every year, your answers are the most popular aspect of my listserv, so I know you came for your colleagues' recommendations. But since you are here, please email me if you teach fourth grade and are able and willing to test a lesson on "The 1972 Constitution," "What Governments Do," "Tribal Sovereignty," and/or "Montana's Economy" before October 15. 

And now onto the main attraction!

 

Recommendations 

Shelby third grade teacher Sara White wrote: "I use the Montana Skies Blackfeet and Crow Astronomy books/CDs to have the students during the winter listen to the Blackfeet story 'The Woman Who Married a Star.'" I ask them to "recount the story, determine the central message/lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed through the text. Then I do the same lesson with the Crow story, "The Seven Stars: The Story of the Seven Bulls." The students love to hear the stories and we have great, enriching discussions." [OPI sent these books and CDs to every public school, but they can also be found online. The books with lesson plans are here (Crow) and here (Blackfeet). Links to the stories, which have been posted on YouTube, are here.  

Fifth/sixth-grade teacher Shannon Baukol, from Arrowhead School (Park County) wrote: " I loved teaching the Coming to Montana unit to my 5th and 6th grade class this year. I found it extremely valuable and enlightening and it gave my students so much information that they didn't already know." 

Elementary librarian Ruth Ferris (Billings) wrote that her favorite lesson was "An Artists Journey: Transform a Painting into Poetry," which asks students to examine several Russell paintings using their five senses, before choosing one painting to use as an inspiration for a poem. 

Anonymous: This year I used the "Water Protectors" book [We Are Water Protectors]. I read the story aloud to the students, then discussed the main idea and important history to go with the story. We did a watercolor art project portraying clean water. We wrote poetry describing our feelings about why clean water is important to all life. The students were engaged and learned many new things about the history and importance of the Water Protectors. I will do this every year from now on. 

Anonymous: In October I did a unit on the Native American populations in MT. The book lists were wonderful. [I think she's talking about the books listed in this post and this post.] 

Anonymous: We had a trip to the local museum to study the natural resources of our area. We are making a trip to the museum to do a search for Native American items from this area. 

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?  

P.P.S. Don't forget to register for Introduction to MHS Resources, September 8, from 4:00-5:00 and earn one OPI Renewal Unit. Participants will be given time to explore the MHS website and then will be asked to share resources they plan to use in their classrooms. Register here before September 7 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting. 

 

Welcome Back

Welcome back! Or if you are new to Teaching Montana History, welcome. I hope everyone had a good summer. The first posts of the school year are always business, so let's get started.

Help This Community Grow

If you have colleagues you think would enjoy this listserv, please let them know how to subscribe!

Apply for a Scholarship to Attend the Montana History Conference in Butte

We're back in person for the 48th Annual Montana History Conference, September 23-25. View the program and then apply for a Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation scholarship to cover your conference registration and some of your travel expenses. (We also provide OPI Renewal Units to conference attendees.) 

Back by Popular Demand: Online PD

Join us the second Wednesdays of the month, from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. for an hour of interactive professional development, and earn one OPI Renewal Unit. First up, September 8: Introduction to MHS Resources: Participants will be given time to explore the MHS website and then will be asked to share resources they plan to use in their classrooms. Register here before September 7 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.

For Students with Learning Disabilities

Did you know? Montana: Stories of the Land is available as an audio book for students with learning disabilities through Learning Ally.

When Links Don't Work 

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? 

Teaching Montana History Facebook Group

If you spend time on Facebook, I hope you'll join--and actively participate--in our closed Teaching Montana History Facebook group. It's a great way to connect to other teachers. I look forward to connecting with you there—or through phone or email. Please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Finding Teaching Resources

You can find resources on the "For Educators" page of the MHS website. They are organized by subject, as well as by skill level: Elementary, Middle School, and High School.