Montana: Stories of the Land

Chapter 21 - A People's Constitution, 1972

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 Montana Law Library has posted the entire proceedings of the constitutional convention online.  Volume 1 includes brief biographies of each delegate, an alphabetical list of committee assignments, a map of delegate districts, and a list of delegates by district.

Creative Educator has a lesson plan that asks students to examine the U.S. constitution and write a classroom constitution.

The Montana State Legislature website lists classroom resources, including links to organizations involved in promoting civics education and "A Student's Guide to the Montana Legislature."

Videos or DVDs

For This and Future Generations - 60 minutes. (A VHS tape of this film can also be borrowed from the Montana Historical Society.)

Chapter Eight, "Montana's Quiet Revolution," (23 minutes) of Montana Mosaic: 20th Century People and Events.  (Check your library. OPI donated a copy of this DVD to every public school in Montana. The DVD is also available as streaming video.)

Possible Fieldtrips

Montana State Capitol, Helena
 

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

Tests and Answer Keys