Dreaming about Summer?

 NEH offers tuition-free opportunities for K-12 educators and higher education faculty to study a variety of humanities topics. Stipends of $1,300-$3,450 for residential programs and $650-$1,725 for virtual programs help cover expenses for these one- to four-week programs. The application period for all programs closes on March 3, 2023.

From everyone I've talked to, these programs are amazingly exciting and invigorating. They are also competitive, so you'll want to give yourself time to pull together a good application. Most programs reserve a few spots for early career educators. They also look for geographic diversity, which gives Montanans an advantage when applying to programs outside our region. 

You can see the full list of opportunities here, but these are a few that caught my eye:  

Buffalo Nations: History and Revitalization of the American Bison
Location: Yellowstone National Park, near Gardiner, MT
Dates: August 2-8, 2023; August 9-15, 2023 (1 week)

Diverse Historical and Cultural Perspectives in Native American and African American Art
Location: Toledo, OH
Dates: June 19-23, 2023 (1 week)

Centering Youth Agency in the Civil Rights Movement
Location: Clinton, TN and Online
Dates: June 26-30, 2023 (residential phase); July 10-14, 2023 (virtual phase) (2 weeks)

Rethreading the Needle of the Native American History Narrative
Location: Boston, MA
Dates: July 16-28, 2023 (two weeks)

Slavery in the Colonial North
Location: Online
Dates: July 16-22, 2023 (1 week)

“We the people”: Migrant Waves in the Making of America
Location: Tucson, AZ
Dates: July 10-21, 2023 (2 weeks)

 

P.S. Don't forget to sign up to join Dylan Huisken via Zoom on January 9, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. for a discussion about Place Based Learning/Local Studies. Register here.

2023 Online Sharing Sessions/PDs

Join fellow educators for discussions about resources and strategies for teaching social studies, especially Montana history and Indian Education for All. Sessions will be held the second Monday of the month from 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. via Zoom.  Attendees may earn one OPI renewal unit. Register through the links below.

January 9: Place Based Learning/Local Studies, led by 2019 Montana Teacher of the Year Dylan Huisken

If we want our students to grow up to be good citizens, we must first teach them how to be good neighbors. This requires perspective and student-led research into their local history.  Place-based education helps students create relevant and tangible background knowledge by looking for history in their own family, backyard, and community. This session will provide ready-to-apply tips on implementing placed-based education with local history! Register here.

February 13: Instructional Strategies You'll Love, led by Teacher Leader in Montana History Jennifer Graham

Join other inspired social studies teachers to discover new ways to increase student engagement and curiosity, including Collaborative Instructional Strategies (CIS). Implementing CIS in the classroom can support your classroom community, SEL skills and bring a level of engagement into classrooms that will keep students coming back for more! Bring your best strategies to share and leave with ready-to-apply techniques that you can immediately put into practice to enliven your social studies classroom. Register here.

March 13: Integrating Montana History across Disciplines, led by Teacher Leader in Montana History Cynthia Wilondek

History supports, strengthens, and enhances the study of all subject areas. Please join us this March for a practical and applicable discussion on how you can integrate Montana history into your subject area. All grade levels are welcome. Register here. 

Two Grant Opportunities from Montana Environmental Education Association

 I wanted to let you know about two grant opportunities from MEEA (Montana Environmental Education Association) that can help Montana teachers and educators get their students outside. The deadlines for these grants are quickly approaching:

The first is the OOK (Open Outdoors for Kids) grant. MEEA partners with the National Parks Foundation and the Montana State Parks Foundation to administer this program which offers $300 travel grants to help teachers get their students out on state and federal public lands. The deadline for this grant is January 6. Find more information and the application here.

The second is MEEA’s mini grants. These $500 grants can be awarded to Montana schools, homeschools, tribal entities, nonprofit organizations and tax-exempt government agencies. These funds can be used for a variety of projects like creating a student-run wildlife habitat or funding a visit to a local state park. The deadline for this grant is December 31^st. Find more information and apply here. 

Both of these grants would pair nicely with a place-based/local studies project. Learn more about how to plan and execute such a project by joining  2019 Montana Teacher of the Year Dylan Huisken for our first online sharing session of 2023: January 9, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Register here.

Applications are open for NEH Landmark Programs

NEH offers tuition-free opportunities for K-12 educators and higher education faculty to study a variety of humanities topics. Stipends of $1,300-$3,450 for residential programs and $650-$1,725 for virtual programs help cover expenses for these one- to four-week programs. The application period for all programs closes on March 3, 2023.

From everyone I've talked to, these programs are amazingly exciting and invigorating. They are also competitive, so you'll want to give yourself time to pull together a good application. Most programs reserve a few spots for early career educators. They also look for geographic diversity, which gives Montanans an advantage when applying to programs outside our region. 

You can see the full list of opportunities here, but these are a few that caught my eye:  

Buffalo Nations: History and Revitalization of the American Bison
Location: Yellowstone National Park, near Gardiner, MT
Dates: August 2-8, 2023; August 9-15, 2023 (1 week)

Diverse Historical and Cultural Perspectives in Native American and African American Art
Location: Toledo, OH
Dates: June 19-23, 2023 (1 week)

Centering Youth Agency in the Civil Rights Movement
Location: Clinton, TN and Online
Dates: June 26-30, 2023 (residential phase); July 10-14, 2023 (virtual phase) (2 weeks)

Rethreading the Needle of the Native American History Narrative
Location: Boston, MA
Dates: July 16-28, 2023 (two weeks)

Slavery in the Colonial North
Location: Online
Dates: July 16-22, 2023 (1 week)

“We the people”: Migrant Waves in the Making of America
Location: Tucson, AZ
Dates: July 10-21, 2023 (2 weeks)

 

Glenn Wiebe's Hacks for Teaching with Primary Sources

A few weeks ago, I wrote about where to find primary sources relating to Montana history and provided a few ideas about how to incorporate them into your classrooms. 

In that post, I *should* have included a link to this post by my favorite social studies education blogger, Glenn Wiebe. But I forgot to--so now it gets its very own feature.

You'll want to scroll past the part where he talks about Kansas's state standards to the very first bit of bold. That's where the good stuff is. To encourage you to read his entire blog, I'll list the hacks here--but you'll need to go visit Glenn's site to get the whys, hows, and what fors as well as specific strategies and suggestions to get you started.

Hack one: Start with a clear end in mind.

Hack Two: Create a hook, generate some intrigue, ask for predictions, develop a cliffhanger.

Hack Three: Use interesting and provocative primary sources. 

Hack Four: Tamper with history just a little bit. As in . . . modify the sources (especially the textual ones) to make them more accessible for your students.

Hack Five: Turn your kids loose with your compelling question that aligns to your hook activity.

Glenn's got examples. He's got activity suggestions. If you want to improve your use of primary sources, hop over to his blog and read this post. 

 

Planning a Field Trip to Helena?

 First, an apology about last week, when I accidentally scheduled two emails for Monday! One of those was supposed to be this one. The best laid plans....

Second, I hope you had a marvelous Thanksgiving break. 

Finally, I have both good and bad news for those of you planning to bring your students to Helena during the legislature. The good news first: The Montana Historical Society (MTHS) is resuming guided tours of the capitol to student groups. Tours will be offered Tuesday-Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Contact Anthony Schrillo to schedule: Anthony.Schrillo@mt.gov.  

As many of you know, MTHS is in the process of building a grand new addition, which, when it's completed will contain all new, world-class exhibits. It's going to be amazing, but transitions are never easy. All of this to say that all of our museum exhibits, except for Big Medicine, will be closed beginning January 1. 

Of course, there is still lots do do in Helena. We will continue to offer guided tours of the Original Governor's Mansion (group capacity is 20 people), and provide walking tour booklets for self-guided tours of Helena's historic districts. (Weather permitting, dividing classes into two groups, with one walking the neighborhood and the other touring the OGM, works well.)

Other organizations in Helena who offer tours and school programs include: 

• Montana Wild, whose programs include "Meet the Mammals," "The Science Behind Wildlife Management," "Fish Math," "Science Field Investigations," and more. They also offer travel grants!  
• Montana Jewish Project, whose tour of the historic synagogue focuses on the history of Montana's Jewish settlers. (Although the website says Wednesdays, 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. I have been told they are willing to accommodate school groups at different times.)
• Montana Military Museum, whose displays follow the military in Montana from the arrival of the Lewis and Clark army expedition in 1805, through the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and various peacekeeping operations. 
• Helena Cathedral, a truly grand building, is available to tour Tuesday-Thursday (ask for a tour focused on the art and architecture).
• ExplorationWorks is a science museum with exciting interactive exhibits. 

 

 

 

 

Primary Sources and Not In Our Town

 I've learned about new resources from folks responding to recent posts.

Not In Our Town

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Montana Jewish Project (MJP) giving away free book kits featuring The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate. (They still have kits available. Learn more and find a link to apply here.) In response, retired Billings high school teacher Bruce Wendt wrote to let me know about an exhibit his American Studies students created in partnership with the Western Heritage Center (WHC) on the twentieth anniversary of the 1993 outbreak of racial violence and the formation of the Not in Our Town movement in response. His students created the exhibit after conducting oral interviews and archival research. Bruce shared an article he wrote for the Ohio Social Studies Review on the project, which presents an exciting model of a museum-school partnership. (High school teachers: Could you work with YOUR local museum to create an exhibit?)

Bruce also said that his students' production "is now a traveling exhibit. If any school/teacher wanted to pair it with the book/lesson [The Christmas Menorahs], I would be happy to facilitate with the WHC (and cover transportation costs). If a teacher wanted, I have plenty of free time to come along with the exhibit." Interested? Contact Bruce to learn more and make arrangements.  

Forest Service History 

Tom Petersen with the National Museum of Forest Service History wrote to tell me that educators have created primary source based lesson plans using materials they found in the Library of Congress and at the Forest Service Museum. The lessons are posted here.