P.O. Box 202501 • Helena, MT 59620-2501
Return to the K-12 Content Standards home page.
Check out the Montana ELA & Literacy Standards Revision Overview one-pager for an overview of the proposed revisions!
The English Language Arts and Literacy Content Standards Revisions have completed Negotiated Rulemaking and were presented to the Board of Public Education as an informational item during their May 2025 meeting. Recordings, agendas, and meeting minutes for all NRC sessions, as well as the summary document with an overview of the process and detailed standards proposals can be found on the ELA Standards Revisions Webpage.
For more information, contact Claire Mikeson at claire.mikeson@mt.gov.
The National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention will take place November 20-23 in Denver, CO. Check out the convention website to register and learn more.
Grant Opportunity: A grant from the Rise Up Foundation and its founder, author Alane Adams, offers fifty K–8 classroom educators a scholarship to the 2025 NCTE Annual Convention in Denver. Learn more and apply by August 17.
This award provides English language arts educators from middle to postsecondary levels with funding to advance the teaching of memoir and support student writing in the classroom. Learn more and apply by August 31.
Media Mavericks is a program by Montana PBS Education that invites middle and high school students to explore how they see themselves, their world, and their future. They bring standards-aligned media-making projects to classrooms, help students create original audio, video, and image-based content, and publish their work for showcase on the web. You can learn more about Media Mavericks by visiting their website.
Although Humanities Montana was canceling the Speakers in the Schools program due to the National Endowment for the Humanities loss of funding, Montana poet laureate Chris La Tray said he planned on continuing presenting across the state.
Chris La Tray has two programs: Montana's Poet Laureate and The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians: Métis Buffalo Hunters of the Northern Plains.
If your school has IEFA money available, you can use it to fund his appearance, and he is happy to help you with the logistics and reporting. This is also an option if you want to bring in other Native speakers, including ones who have been working through Humanities Montana, available on their website.
Alternate ELA Standards (Core Content Connectors) are not formally adopted by the OPI but are aligned to and used in coordination with Montana's Multi-State Alternate Assessment.
Involve stakeholders in student learning by providing parents and families with these grade-level guides to the content standards. Each grade level document provides a clear and easy-to-understand overview of what their child will learn and do in their grade. It also includes a side-by-side comparison of vertical alignment with the grade below and grade above to help parents and students understand the subtle differences in ELA skill progression as outlined in the standards. Each grade-level document concludes with a section on specific supports families can and should do to help their students meet grade-level ELA goals.
Kindergarten
Grade One
Grade Two
Grade Three
Grade Four
Grade Five
Grade Six
Grade Seven
Grade Eight
High School
Tech Directors: To access a machine-readable version of the official Montana Content Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy, please visit the 1EdTech CASE Network site. Create a free login, select Montana Office of Public Instruction, and view or download the standards. The CASE version of the standards can be uploaded to student information systems, curriculum mapping programs, and various other uses. Learn more about the CASE Network or view the CASE Network FAQ
Learn to engage students in primary source research for historical thinking and analysis in this two-day workshop led by National History Day educator Jamie Holifield.
Apply now, as spots are limited.
NCTE members can register for free for the following webinars:
Preparing Teachers for Disciplinary Literacy Tuesday August 5, 6:30-7:45 pm ET
Community Conversations for Elementary School Teachers series
Back to School Tuesday, July 29 6:30-7:30 ET
Outdoor Learning Tuesday, August 26 6:30-7:30 pm ET
Cultivating Communities Tuesday, September 30 6:30-7:30 pm ET
The one-stop shop for professional learning opportunities. Take a look at our calendar of upcoming events!
Looking for free, quality, online professional learning? Need more renewal units? Take a look at the Teacher Learning Hub for a variety of online learning courses.
Using Writing to Teach Critical Thinking (1 PDU)
Using Assessment to Enhance Writing (6 PDU)
Write From the Start, K-2 Writing Strategies (Updated) (4 PDU)
Writing to Learn, 3-6 Writing Strategies (6 PDU)
Writing Across The Disciplines in Middle School (6 PDU)
Writing Across The Disciplines in High School (6 PDU)
Supporting Readers with Informational Text (5 PDU)
Reading Between the Lines (3 PDU)
(PreK-2) Double! Not Half. Model Lesson
(Grades 3-5) Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond
(Grades 6-8) Code Talker - A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
(Grades 9-12) Fools Crow by James Welch