New Standards on Satchel
Keep up to date on standards and guidance documents on Satchel, which allows you to easily search and navigate newly implemented, adopted, and existing content standards, including Montana's new 2025 English Language Proficiency Standards, the 2026 Montana Mathematics Content Standards, and the 2026 World Language Standards.
The Last Best Learning Podcast
The mission of the Last Best Learning Podcast is to deliver digestible and relevant professional learning that honors educators’ capacity in an increasingly busy world.
Our state’s educators empower minds, elevate futures, and inspire self-discovery - and we walk beside them.
We invite you to join us in this innovative approach to professional development, tailored to address the unique challenges faced by educators in Montana's ever-changing educational landscape. At the end of each month, the podcast will be uploaded to the
K-12 Content Standards webpage as well as the Podcast YouTube channel.
Check out our most recent episodes
Coming Soon
- November - Ep. 16 - IEFA - You Don’t Have to Be an Expert—But You Do Have to Begin with special guest Connie Michael from Crow Agency Elementary School
- December - Ep. 17 - Combatting Conflict, with special returning guest John Sommers-Flanagan of the Happiness Project
ELA
Poetry Out Loud
From the Montana Arts Council - Poetry Out Loud engages high school students in performing poetry as a powerful oral tradition. The program builds confidence, creativity, and a deeper love of language among students everywhere. No matter your subject—English, theatre, music, art, or something else—your encouragement can help a student discover their voice and maybe even represent Montana at the national competition in Washington, D.C. Find key dates, materials, and registration here.
Poetry Out Loud outreach coordinator, poet Kaisa Edy, created this charming video inviting teachers to participate. Know another educator who might be interested? Please share this opportunity. Let’s help Montana students speak their poems—and their truths—out loud. Contact Kaisa for more information at poetryoutloud@mt.gov.
Upcoming Hub Course: Preparing Students for the MAST Performance Task
Be on the lookout for a new course on the Learning Hub: Preparing Students for the MAST Performance Task. This course is designed for 3-8 teachers and will guide participants through a review of the rubrics and ELA content standards relevant to the writing assessment, writing strategies to use all year long with your students, and instructional resources and approaches to practice the Performance Task–including exemplars, prompts, and more.
MATELA Nominations
MATELA is seeking nominations for board and officer positions for the upcoming year–the group especially needs a Webmaster/Tech Chairperson. Passionate educators, literacy advocates, and current members are invited to consider serving in a leadership role to help guide MATELA’s mission of advancing English Language Arts education across Montana. Self-nominations are welcome. Please contact the MATELA editor at kyndra.campbell@montana.edu.
*New* Monthly Instructional Strategy Spotlight
October’s strategy focuses on sentence expansion. Click on the image to watch the 5-minute video.
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OPI ELA Updates
Check out the Montana OPI ELA page to learn about additional professional learning opportunities, instructional resources, standards revisions, and more!
Chinese Experience in Montana Footlocker
MTHS worked with Mark Johnson, to create a new footlocker focusing on The Chinese Experience in Montana. Mark is the author of The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana, which won the 2023 W. Turrentine Jackson Award & The Caroline Bancroft History Prize. He's also the Associate Clinical Professor for Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education and a former classroom teacher who trains teachers on subject-specific methods and practice. He knows his stuff: both pedagogy and the history of the Chinese in Montana. (He's also a dynamic presenter. If you have a chance to go to one of his lectures or workshops, you should jump at it.)
It was an honor to work with Mark on this footlocker. It was great too to get input from fourth-fifth grade teacher Jodi Delany, a MTHS teacher leader in Helena whose students tested all of the lessons in her classroom. And props also go to MTHS Historian and former classroom teacher Melissa Hibbard. This was a team effort that resulted in one of the best footlockers we've ever produced.
Why is this footlocker so great? The objects are fabulous! Mark brought back dragon marionettes, tomb sweeping offerings, and red envelopes from Chinatown in San Francisco. There are 22 historical photos, scrolls and brushes for practicing Chinese calligraphy, copies (and translations) of letters written by Chinese immigrants in Montana back to their families in China, a teapot and teacups, a rice bowl and spoon, a red lantern, and more. Check out the pictures starting on p. 5 of the User Guide.
The eight lessons--some of which can be done without ordering the footlocker--are engaging, educational, and standards-based. Students:
- Learn about push-pull factors and why Chinese immigrants came to Montana.
- Analyze letters written by Chinese immigrants back to their families.
- Explore pictographic writing and how to write Chinese characters.
- Analyze census data and create or read line plots, graphs, and pie charts to discover what type of people came to Montana from China and the types of jobs they worked.
- Learn about anti-Chinese prejudice and the ways the Chinese and their white allies fought back.
- Participate in a Chinese tea ceremony and discover the cultural importance of tea.
- analyze menus, photographs and advertisements to explore the history and legacy of Chinese restaurants in Montana.
- Discover ways the Chinese maintained cultural and religious practices in the face of anti-Chinese prejudice.
The activities are hands-on. They are fun. Students practice ELA and math skills and engage students with primary sources. And--for middle school and high school teachers, Mark has lessons on his website that cover most of the same topics but at a higher level.
How can you order the footlocker or find the lessons in the User Guide?
Anyone can download any of our user guides--all of which have lesson plans that you can use without ordering the footlocker--free of charge. Find links to all the User Guides here.
You can reserve the footlocker for two weeks by selecting the date you'd like to reserve it and then completing the Footlocker Request Form. Schools pay a $25 rental fee, while the Montana Historical Society covers the cost of shipping to the next venue. After a footlocker
reservation is made, we will email you an invoice with a link to our secure payment portal. Visit our hands-on history footlocker webpage for more information.
Don't forget to sign up for our Social Studies Tuesday PDs! First one is October 21, 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Humanities Montana & the Student led Democracy Project Podcast
Humanities Montana staff and Democracy Project participants were interviewed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils for the new, Humanities = podcast, which showcases individuals, organizations, and communities making a real difference through the humanities. Humanities Montana Programs Manager, Jenny Bevill, Miles City Library Director, Sarah Peterson, and Columbia Falls teen, Emma Wilcox shared the goals, aspirations, and impact of the Democracy Project. The Democracy Project is a teen-led, non-partisan, civic education and engagement program. The Democracy project has been situated in 26 libraries across the state since 2019.
The podcast is a project of the national Federation of State Humanities Councils . By spotlighting programs across the country the project hopes to illustrate the real life impact of humanities programming.
The episode will air in October. You can listen on all major podcast platforms, or stream the Humanities = podcast directly from the site: Humanities = Podcast .
The Mansfield Center is partnering with the National Chamber of Commerce Foundation to host the 2026 Montana Civics Bee for middle school students. Students who participate will strengthen their civics, writing, and public speaking skills, and form friendships with other young leaders along the way!
A brief overview of the Montana Civics Bee:
- 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students must submit a 750-word (max) essay proposing their ideas for improving their community by February 3rd, 2026.
- Top-scoring essays will be invited to participate in a regional bee near them in spring 2026 for the chance to win cash prizes. Finalists from each regional bee will be invited to compete in the Montana State Civics Bee in Helena in late spring/early summer 2026 for the chance to win cash prizes at the state level.
- The winner of the State Bee will be sent on an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC to compete in the National Civics Bee in fall 2025 for the chance to win $100,000 towards college.
The United States is experiencing a crisis in civic education among younger generations, and the Mansfield Center is working to combat this issue by offering opportunities for young Americans to engage with civics and strengthen our democracy moving forward. We are thrilled to gather students from across the state for these exciting events!
To apply, visit the National Civics Bee webpage and create an account to access the application portal. For additional resources to prepare your students visit our resource platform.
Reach out to Kate Koenig at kate.koenig@mso.umt.edu with questions!
Math
Math Webinar Series
Register for the Montana Math Monthly Implementation webinar now! 1 PDU is available for each live session engagement.
You may register at any point in the series, so if you missed previous sessions, don’t worry! Recordings are available.
Register for the November Session Now! 1 PDU is available for each live session engagement.
December: Asynchronous Session
You may register at any point in the series, so if you missed previous sessions, don’t worry! Recordings are available.
Math Website Updates
New Resources have been added to the math standards revision website including:
Math Minute
October's volume of the MT Math Minute is live and ready to view! Each month, our Math Coordinator compiles relevant features, classroom resources, IEFA implementation ideas, and sometimes, teacher spotlights! This month's edition features resources for integrating mathematics learning concepts with the context of hunting, new math standards resources, professional learning opportunities, and helpful classroom resources. Future editions will include district and school spotlights when available. Districts, schools, or teachers interested in being featured in future Math Minute editions can fill out this form.
Want to receive these in your mailbox each month? Subscribe now!
Instructional Strategy Spotlight!
Looking for a new classroom instructional strategy to get students excited about math and engaging in discourse? Check out this quick, 5-minute video on Slow Reveal Graphs!
STEM
MEEA Travel Grants
The Montana Environmental Education Association (MEEA) has opened applications for travel grants and the “Get em Outside Grants” will be opening soon. Watch the website for updated information under Resources.
Montana Science Teachers' Association is looking for passionate science professionals to serve as officers. MSTA offers:
- Leadership Development: Build valuable leadership skills that will benefit you in your teaching career and beyond.
- Networking Opportunities: Connect with science educators from across Montana and nationally.
- Impact: Help shape the direction of science education policy and professional development in our state.
- Support: Work alongside a dedicated team of passionate educators who are committed to enhancing science teaching and learning.
Join our collaborative community! If you are interested in a position or would like to nominate a colleague, please email Suzi Taylor, MSTA executive director, at taylor@montana.edu
Shell Teacher Awards
Do you know an outstanding K–12 science teacher—or are you one yourself? The Shell Science Teaching Awards recognize exceptional educators who inspire students, schools, and communities through exemplary classroom science teaching.
The Shell Science Teaching Award recognizes one outstanding K-12 teacher who positively impacts their students and community through exemplary science teaching. The winner receives $10,000 plus an all-expense paid trip to the NSTA National Conference in Spring 2026.
The next NASA TechRise Student Challenge is expected to open for entries in September 2025. Pre-register now to receive challenge updates!The NASA TechRise Student Challenge empowers teams of sixth to 12th-grade students to design, build, and launch experiments on NASA-supported test flights. Guided by an educator, student teams affiliated with U.S. public, private, and charter schools can submit ideas for experiments to test on a suborbital flight. Winning teams will be selected to build their proposed experiment. Each winning team will be awarded:
- $1,500 to build their experiment
- A flight box in which to build it
- An assigned spot to test their experiment on a NASA-sponsored flight
No experience is needed to participate in the NASA TechRise Challenge! Challenge Flyer Technical support during the experiment build phase from Future Engineers advisors, who will help students learn the skills they need to turn their experiment idea into reality.
Montana STEM Ecosystem
Get involved with the Montana STEM Ecosystem: Reach out to Heather Jameson (heather@mtafterschoolalliance.org), Strategic Initiatives Lead
ExploraVision
The Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competition is back for another year of imagination, innovation, and technological vision! ExploraVision challenges students to form teams and research a current technology, then envision what it could look like ten years in the future and how it might affect the world. It's project-based, NGSS-aligned, and open to students from kindergarten through 12th grade in the United States and Canada.
With ExploraVision, your students develop tools critical to a future in STEM—innovation, teamwork, even presentation skills! See what longtime ExploraVision supporter, Bill Nye the Science Guy, had to say here].
eCYBERMISSION
eCYBERMISSION is a national program, the competition shares free resources with educators.
Here's a brief look at why teachers and students enjoy eCYBERMISSION:
- Teachers have access to:
- assistance from the eCYBERMISSION team
- standards-aligned lesson plans ready for the classroom
- the chance to apply for grants
- Students can:
- have questions answered by eCYBERMISSION staff and STEM professionals
- participate in live, online chats with professionals in STEM careers
- compete to win thousands of dollars in awards
OPI Science Webpage
Find out about more opportunities on the following website!
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Keep updated on:
Find many other resources and opportunities on the Montana OPI Science Page.
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