Montana: Stories of the Land

Educator Resources

Takeaways

• Inspired by reading specialist Tammy Elser, who was in turn inspired by SKC graduate Taylor Crawford, we've created a "Takeaway" bookmark for every chapter of Montana: Stories of the Land. Before starting a chapter, print and cut out these bookmarks and distribute them to your students. Ask them to use the Takeaway to summarize the GIST of what they learn from reading assigned sections of the chapter. Remind them that they don't have much room, so they'll need to think before they write down the most important idea they want to take away from the section. Learn a little more about the GIST strategy.

• Even though we've created Takeaways for every chapter, we don't recommend you have your students complete a Takeaway for every section of every chapter they read. That would be exceedingly tedious. However, used appropriately, they can be a useful tool for encouraging reflection and teaching students how to summarize information.

Websites and Online Lesson Plans

• The Annotated Resource Set Logging the "High Lonesome," 1862-1949, includes links to photographs, maps, illustrations, and documents relating to Montana’s timber history. Many, but not all, of the images were also used to illustrate Chapter 12 of Montana: Stories of the Land. These sources can be used to build PowerPoints or to create DBQs or other primary-source based activities.

• Tales of the 1910 Fire is an exhibit, including a first-hand account of the fires by a forest ranger, created by Archives & Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library.

• The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' "Fire on the Land" website is a great resource in itself and includes links to many additional resources.

• The U.S. Forest Service has created a series of lesson plans to complement The Greatest Good: A Forest Service Centennial Film. Many of the lesson plans can be used without watching the film.

• PBS created a companion website for NOVA's Fire Wars with resources and a teacher's guide.

• The National Museum of Forest Service History has virtual exhibits, lesson plans, and digitized collections.

• The Forest History Society offers both primary and secondary source information on the history of the U.S. Forest Service in a well organized, easily navigable site.

• The US Forest Service has gathered information on the history of smoke jumping.

• The Great 1910 fire website has transcribed newspaper articles, lists of fire victims and photographs.

• Logging History in Montana. Teacher Dave Pickering created this classroom tool on the history of logging. It has a series of themed questions, and links to hundreds of photos on the Montana History Portal that go back to the earliest days of logging in Montana.

Videos or DVDs

• The Greatest Good: A Forest Service Centennial Film - 2 hours. Available for purchase via an internet search.

• Yellowstone Aflame: Fires of '88, 1989 - 53 minutes. Available for purchase via an internet search.

Possible Fieldtrips: View the Map

• Gates of the Mountains Boat Tour, near Helena (this will take you by the site of the Mann Gulch fire)

• Smokejumper Visitor Center, Missoula

• Sliderock Lookout at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula

Alignment to ELA Common Core Standards

Alignment to Content Standards and Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians (EU)

Tests and Answer Keys