EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH RESOURCES

America’s 250th anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on our history and learn more about our nation and state. Montana is blessed with a rich and vibrant history. Below are some helpful links to resources for refreshing or expanding your knowledge of U.S. history, as well as Montana Historical Society materials for teaching Montana history, many of which are approachable for the casual learner as well:

Did you know that immigrants wishing to become US citizens must pass a civics test as part of the naturalization process? This test includes questions on US history and civics drawn from a list of 128 created by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). How well do YOU know your country?
Review the 128 questions and answers (recently updated and expanded in 2025!) for the USCIS Naturalization Test, and view the Study Guide.
Additional resources that help students digest the totality of the test include this interactive website from the Gilder Lehrman Institute.
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.
Little Patriots is an all-in-one platform featuring online lessons, at-home activities, patriotic books, and sing-a-longs to teach children about our country’s founding principles.

Visit HERE to learn more!
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.
Click HERE!
MTHS has created numerous interdisciplinary lesson plans. See the Educator Resources website to explore.
Click HERE.
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.
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.
Click HERE!
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.
Click HERE.
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.