Nominate a Rock Star Teacher

 Do you know a great fourth, fifth, or sixth grade teacher who has done an exemplary job teaching Montana history during the 2022-2023 school year?

Please nominate him or her for the 34th Montana Statehood Centennial Bell Award.

The winner will receive the 34th Montana Statehood Centennial Bell Award, which honors the Montana History Teacher of the year.

Nominations may be emailed to Norma Ashby Smith, Award Coordinator, at ashby7@charter.net.  Nominations should include the nominator’s name, school, address, phone number and email; teacher’s name, grade, school, address, phone number and email. Deadline for nominations is March 31, 2023.

Nominated teachers will be asked to submit two letters of support, one page from their principal, superintendent, fellow teacher or librarian, one page from a student, and one page detailing why they enjoy teaching Montana, how they engage their students in learning, how their Montana history course recognizes cultural diversity and anything else they’d like to share about their class or methods.

Nominees will receive instructions on how to submit this material. Deadline for submissions is May 1, 2023.

The winner and his or her class will be honored at a ceremony in the State Capitol on Wednesday, November 8, 2023. The winner will receive a plaque and a $4,500 cash prize toward classroom materials, field trips, speakers and anything else that will enhance learning in their classroom. 

This program is sponsored by the Montana Television Network, The Foundation for Montana History, and the Sons & Daughters of Montana Pioneers in cooperation with the Montana Historical Society and the 1889 Coffee House in Helena. Additional gifts of $100 in gold Sacajawea dollars are given to the student who writes the letter of support for the winning teacher from Judy Wohlfrom of Woodland, Ca., and one gold Sacajawea dollar for each of the students who accompanies the winning teacher to the Nov. 8 ceremony from Mike Collins, President of the Sons & Daughters of Montana Pioneers and his wife Connie of Helena.

Contact Norma Ashby Smith of Great Falls, Montana, Award Coordinator, with any questions about the award or the nomination process at 406-590-6798 or at ashby7@charter.net. 

Last Chance for This Amazing Training! (Plus a Favor)

 

First, the Favor

If you used Montana: A History of Our Home last semester, would you please take this survey? It's anonymous--unless you want to be entered into the prize drawing, in which case there's a chance at winning a fabulous prize. Either way, you will have my eternal gratitude.

The Training You Won't Want to Miss

"It was truly a wonderful learning experience."--Montana teacher

Montana teachers have raved about the Right Question Institute's free, online  "Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Primary Source Questions." And, luckily for you, RQI is offering the course one last time, asynchronously February 28-March 28, with two optional live webinars. 

Learning how to ask questions is an essential skill, one our students struggle with and one that isn't explicitly taught often enough. ("Develop questions" is also the very first skill listed in the new state social studies standards.)  And asking questions can transform the way students approach primary source learning. 

Join the Right Question Institute for Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Primary Source Questions: a new, free online course made possible by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program. 

Read more about the course on the course information page and then follow this link to register. Deadline to register is February 24.

If you send me your certificate of completion, I will provide you with 12 OPI Renewal Units.  

Can't take the course, but want to learn more? Check out these self-paced, on-demand modules. 

Want to see how one fourth-grade, Nevada teacher applied what she learned? Check out this video. (Note: She uses the term "QFT," which stands for "Question Formulation Technique," the routine for teaching students to ask questions that she learned, and you will learn, if you take the "Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Primary Source Questions" course.)  Also: Her project--having students draw their own maps of the state of Nevada based on their own questions--is an idea worth stealing! (Here's an 1887 map of Montana Territory. And here's the map's metadata and a little bit of information about the mapmaker.)

Nominate a Local History Hero

Every community has them--the unsung heroes of local museum or preservation efforts--including language preservation. Maybe it's time to let the whole state know about the person who means so much to your community.... 

The Montana Historical Society is seeking nominations for people and organizations whose exemplary commitment to identifying and preserving our historical and cultural heritage makes them eligible for the Heritage Keeper Awards. 

To qualify, the individual must be alive, and organizations must be currently active. Nominees will be evaluated on the significance and impact of their overall work in enhancing, promoting, and stimulating general public interest in a specific aspect of Montana history and culture. You can find a list of past awardees here. 

The nomination deadline is April 1, 2022. The nomination form and additional information can be found on the Montana Historical Society website. 

Nominations or questions can be emailed to Jenni Carr at Jenni.Carr@mt.gov, or mailed to Heritage Keeper Awards Chair, Montana Historical Society, P.O. Box 201201, Helena, MT 59620-1201.

Awardees will be honored in celebrations in their home communities this coming summer or fall.

 

Teaching about Montana's Favorite Cowboy Artist

Libby middle school teacher Bill Moe came up with a very clever, very simple worksheet on Charlie Russell's art. He creates a scenario where the students are "filthy, stinking rich." (What student wouldn't like that?) They will be able to outbid anyone at an auction of C. M. Russell art. Then he asks them which piece they chose, why they chose it, the story behind the artwork, and has them do a quick sketch. What a fun way to get students to look closely at a Russell painting!

For more in-depth study and/or different approaches, check out MTHS's Teaching Montana's Charlie Russell. The site includes links to biographical PowerPoints, grades 3-12 hands-on art lessons, and grades 1-12 art/ELA/social studies lessons, including “An Artist’s Journey: Transform a Painting into Poetry” and “What Don’t You See? The Historical Accuracy of Charles M. Russell Paintings.” 

The C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls also has teaching resources. 

P.S. Looking for great instructional strategies? Or do you have a great one to share? Join Teacher Leader in Montana History Jennifer Graham February 13, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. for the online PD, Instructional Strategies You'll Love. Jennifer will share Collaborative Instructional Strategies (CIS) that she says will improve students' Social Emotional Learning skills and increase student engagement. Participants are invited to bring their best strategies to share or just come to listen. Register here. 

Masterpiece Matchup and Other Instructional Strategies You'll Love

 

Masterpiece Matchup

It's brilliant, and yes, I learned about it from my favorite social studies blogger, Glenn Wiebe. He in turn learned about it from Kansas middle school teacher Laura McFarren, who adopted the idea from California teacher Amanda Sandoval. What's the "It" I'm talking about? Masterpiece Matchup, an "activity is to encourage kids to think and talk more deeply around a set of primary sources."

Here's how it works:

1. Find several written primary sources about a single topic. Laura used a Stanford History Education Group Reading Like a Historian Lesson that focused on Lewis and Clark's treatment of Native Americans. (If you teach 8-12 grade and aren't already using SHEG's Reading Like a Historian Lessons, I promise you want to start.)

2. Have students read through and analyze all of the sources using a traditional primary source analysis worksheet (Laura did this as an all-group activity.) 

3. Give each student one specific document to re-read and then have them "'recreate' the source visually." (Stick figures are fine.) Make sure they label their drawing with a letter that matches their document. (e.g., Doc. A, Doc. B., etc.)

4. Post all of the drawings of Doc A together on one wall, all of the drawings of Doc B. on another, etc.

5. Then have all of the students try to match the primary sources to the drawings. Encourage conversations during this activity and have them justify their thinking.

Laura followed this activity with a Structured Academic Controversy around the SHEG lesson's original question: “Were Lewis and Clark respectful to the Native Americans they met on their journey?“

She said that because they took part in the Masterpiece Matchup, students "really knew their documents and were able to dig into the SAC conversations at a deeper level. Definitely a redo."

I'd encourage you to read more details about this activity on Glenn's blog and if you do this in your classroom, tell me how it goes. 

Looking for More Great Instructional Strategies?

Or do you have a great one to share? Join Teacher Leader in Montana History Jennifer Graham February 13, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. for the online PD, Instructional Strategies You'll Love. Jennifer will share Collaborative Instructional Strategies (CIS) that she says will improve students' Social Emotional Learning skills and increase student engagement. Participants are invited to bring their best strategies to share or just come to listen. Register here.

Black History Resources

Every month is Black History Month, right? But because folks pay more attention to Black history in February, I decided to share a few resources. The first two are probably most useful for middle and high school teachers. The last is probably most useful to elementary teachers. 

Hidden Stories: Montana's Black Past 

Everyone should watch this remarkable video, produced by Kate Hampton of the Montana Historical Society's State Historic Preservation Office. Completed in 2022, the 57-minute movie traces Montana’s African American history from the Civil War to the present day. It foregrounds Montana’s pioneering Black residents and frames their experiences within the greater context of Montana history across space and time. I just found out it is debuting on Montana PBS on February 13, but it is also available to view on YouTube.

Elementary and middle school teachers should watch it for background knowledge, but we think high school teachers should share it with their students. Colleague Bryan Baldwin created this teaching guide, which breaks the video into three parts, and provides summaries, discussion questions and vocabulary terms for each part. 

Montana African American Heritage Resources Website

There is so much information collected on this website, including a number of brief essays on various aspects of Montana's African American history; census data from 1910 and 1920; and a list of laws passed by the Montana legislature intended either to discriminate against or protect the rights of its African American citizens. My very favorite item on this site is the Story Map, “Montana in the Green Book”.

"Between 1936 and 1967, Victor H. Green & Company published The Negro Motorist Green Book, which offered listings of lodgings, restaurants, service stations, and recreation opportunities for African American travelers. According to the 1949 introduction, the publication's goal was "to give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trips more enjoyable. ... It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment." Find out which Montana venues advertised that they welcomed African American travelers. 

Elementary Lessons

Last year I worked with the Helena Black History Education Initiative to create six elementary school lessons. Each is tied to an anchor text and includes an activity. Only one is related to Montana history. You can read more about and find links to the lessons here. 

 

Teaching Rigorous and Meaningful High School History

Guest post by Bruce Wendt

 Martha Kohl’s recent column that linked to Michael Yell’s post on teaching history led to reflecting on my own evolution in teaching history on the high school level.  Very few students “get” history or understand why they are required to enroll in what is to many a numbingly boring class.  How do we tackle this? Here are some suggestions.

The ability for teenagers to think historically begins on the first day of class with a challenge for them to understand that the discipline is more than a stolid march of dates and folks.  I believe we start the year knowing where we want to be on the last day.  We study past events not as an antiquarian exercise but to begin putting together the puzzle to know where we are in the present and what the future holds.

Two specific suggestions to begin the year: First, work with the students to help them understand that reading history is different than enjoying a novel or studying a biology textbook. I assign the textbook, articles and academic books in the first week. Students need to look for the thesis/argument in the source they are examining. Throughout the course of the year, we continue to focus on the thesis. History centers on core themes or the threads that link the past with the present. Years ago, Carleton College’s history department published years ago a succinct essay on how reading leads to thinking.  I think we all want lucid discussions in the classroom and the ability to recognize ideas over time is crucial—early lessons help guide students to developing these skills.

Second, history is built on interpreting primary documents and making reasoned arguments both in verbal discussions and in writing. For years the first documents we examined in American history were the operating instructions for the Virginia Company and the Mayflower Compact. When we do this, we are moving on two fronts.  We practice interpretation, but we are also setting the stage for events later in American history.  These two documents also demonstrate stark differences in the Massachusetts and Virginia values of the early colonial period and then during the Revolutionary and Civil War.  As teachers who know where we are headed, we can push students to think for themselves about these threads.

 Multiple resources have published worksheets on interpretation including the National Archives. I would suggest reducing the questions to a simple 5 or 6 that still capture the essence of the document. After using them the first week, students are expected to use the process for the rest of the year in their analysis. I was more interested in weaving the source into the march of history than reading worksheet questions every time we used a document. The goal with these questions is not to achieve the “right” answer but to begin a process of critical examination and knowing/practicing the skills needed to build arguments.  

Be warned, however: students will be frustrated and annoyed (especially those who have scored well in earlier classes by putting on paper what the teacher wants) for the first several weeks. One must be patient and encouraging until students understand that they can be successful by articulating what they believe based on their interpretation. 

I’m always happy to answer questions or discuss ideas. For an extended view of establishing sophisticated student thinking, I would suggest Stanford’s Sam Wineburg’s Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past. Also useful is the guide the National Council for the Social Studies published in 2010 that organizes the curriculum around ten themes with multiple classroom examples.

Bruce H. Wendt, Billings West High School (retired)