EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH RESOURCES
Montana is blessed with a rich and vibrant history. Below are some helpful links to resources for teaching Montana history, as prepared by the Montana Historical Society, many of which are approachable for the casual learner as well:
Montana: A History of Our Home Student Book and Online Teacher's Guide
Designed to meet the needs of Montana teachers and students in grades 4-6, this accurate, inclusive, engaging, and up-to-date textbook offers a quick tour through 13,000 years of Montana history. To accompany the student textbook, Montana: A History of Our Home Teacher’s Guide offers engaging lessons on Montana history, geography, civics and government, and economics. These activity-based lessons integrate readings from the student textbook, introduce students to primary sources, and align with Montana content standards and the Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians.
Learn how one National Board-Certified teacher re-framed her civics class around the US citizenship test, making the learning more engaging and meaningful through authentic inquiry.
Review the 100 questions and answers, plus check out this site to practice.
Did you incorporate the US Naturalization Test into your teaching? Let us know and be entered to win gift cards and other fun prizes. Entries accepted until June 11, 2025.
Our middle school offerings are organized around the Montana: Stories of the Land textbook and the Montana: Stories of the Land Companion Website and Teacher’s Guide. The twenty-two-chapter book covers Montana geography and history from the pre-contact period to 2008. The website includes skills-based worksheets, tests, Teaching with Historical Document units, and related lesson plans organized by chapter.
Part of Montana 250’s mission is to increase youth proficiency about United States government. MTHS Historian and former classroom teacher Dr. Melissa Hibbard, maintains a Padlet with dozens of open-access resources to teach civics to students in preschool through high school. Know something she should add? Email her at melissa.hibbard@mt.gov.
Designed for grade 4 but used by K-12, these traveling trunks allow teachers to bring reproductions of clothing, tools, everyday objects, maps, photographs, documents to their classroom. User Guides with lesson plans and standards alignment accompany each footlocker, which cover twenty different topics, including Indigenous culture and history, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Montana’s state symbols, homesteading, the Progressive Era, and World War II.
National History Day in Montana
National History Day is a co-curricular, standards-aligned academic program for students in grades 6-12. Students research topics related to an annual theme, then present their findings as documentaries, exhibit boards, papers, performances, or websites.
National History Day in Montana offers an Elementary Poster Contest as a scaled-down version of the standard History Day exhibit category. The contest is open to 4th and 5th graders. Posters must focus on topics in Montana history and relate to the annual NHD theme (2024-2025 Rights and Responsibilities in History). Learn more and sign up to participate.
Teachers grades 4-5 can apply to join a cohort of elementary educators doing the History Day Poster Contest. Selected teachers will receive training in historical research, primary source analysis, and poster construction, as well as a $250 stipend and 3 renewal units. Apply by November 1.
Montana 250 is proud to support the History Day poster contest as a way to get 4th and 5th grade students researching the Montana's vibrant Indigenous cultures, its veterans, and its residents' achievements, honors, and innovations.
Montana Mosaic: 20th Century People and Events
Twelve short videos, designed for use in 7-12 classrooms, address major topics in Montana’s twentieth-century history, from copper mining and homesteading to federal Indian policy and the 1972 Constitution.
Interdisciplinary, Primary-Source based Lesson Plans and Units
MTHS has created numerous interdisciplinary lesson plans. See the Educator Resources website to explore.