About Montana: A History of Our Home*
AUTHOR: Martha Kohl
RELEASE DATE: May 2022
SPECS: 96 pages, 8.5" x 11", hardcover with library binding, 82 color illustrations, and 4 maps
ISBN 13: 978-1-94052-799-4
PRICE: $35.00
AGES: 8-12
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.
Classroom sets of Montana: A History of Our Home can be ordered by contacting our distributor, Farcountry Press, 800-821-3874 fax 406-443-5480 or sales@farcountrypress.com. Schools receive a 30 percent discount and a free teacher’s guide with every classroom set.
Montana: A History of Our Home is available as an audiobook for students with learning disabilities through Learning Ally.
Download a PDF of Montana: A History of Our Home.
Listen to an audio version of Montana: A History of Our Home.
*Funding for Montana: A History of Our Home was provided by the Bill and Rosemary Gallagher Foundation, the Montana Professional Teaching Foundation, Rick and Jane Hays, and donations from many individuals too numerous to name.
About the Montana: A History of Our Home Teacher’s Guide
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 and align with Montana content standards and the Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians. Purchase a spiral-bound copy of the Montana: A History of Our Home Teacher’s Guide from the Montana Historical Society Museum Store by calling 406-444-2890 or download the materials from the links below.
Unit 1: This is Montana
Students will investigate how climate, geology, and geography affect the lives of Montanans. In Part 1, they will construct population maps, look for patterns, and read about Montana’s three regions. In Part 2, they will learn about Montana’s reservations and tribal nations. In Part 3, they will plan a route across the state, improving their map-reading skills while learning about the places they choose to visit. In Part 4, they will learn about Montana’s economy. In Part 5, they will tie what they learned to answer the unit’s guiding questions. Find the student narrative here.
Unit 2: Montana's First People
In this unit, students will investigate Montana's earliest history from about 13,000 years ago to about 1810. They will compare traditional tribal homelands to the location of current reservations and explore the unique history and cultures of some of Montana's tribes through art and music. They will also discover that there are different ways of learning about the past, including oral traditions and archaeology. Find the student narrative here.
Unit 3: Coming to Montana
In this unit, students will learn about the pressures and incentives (push-pull factors) that brought people to Montana, and particularly the large role that Montana’s natural resources played in attracting people to the state. They will learn about the fur trade, mining, ranching, and logging and the effects these new enterprises had on both the newcomers and on Montana’s Indian Nations. Find the student narrative here.
Unit 4: Montana in the Twentieth Century
In this unit, students will learn about the homesteading period, which brought tens of thousands of newcomers to Montana. They will also learn about the policies of forced assimilation (boarding schools and allotment) and their effects on Montana Indians. They will also explore post-1920 immigration and research why the families of people they know came (and stayed) in Montana. They will conclude the unit by writing a biographical poem celebrating an amazing Montanan. Find the student narrative here.
Unit 5: Montana's Government and Tribal Nations
In this unit, students will explore the Montana constitution, the roles of local, state, tribal, and federal governments, tribal sovereignty, and the Seven Essential Understandings Regarding Montana Indians. They will take a deep dive into Essential Understanding 6 (“history is a story most often related through the subjective experience of the teller”) by looking at differing perspectives on the Rosebud Battle/Where the Girl Saved Her Brother. Find the student narrative here.
Unit 6: Montana: Land and People
In this unit, students will celebrate Montana with lessons on cowboy artist Charles M. Russell and an introduction to a baker’s dozen of extraordinary Montanans, from the well known (Chief Dull Knife, Marcus Daly, Jeannette Rankin, and Elouise Cobell) to the lesser known but no less remarkable (Harriette Cushman, Maurice Hilleman, Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail, and George Oiye). Find the student narrative here.
Timeline: Find an illustrated timeline of Montana history here.
Glossary: Find the Montana: A History of Our Home Glossary here.
