Timelines!
I have been asked by the district supervisor to facilitate the next district PLC for World History teachers. My task is to demonstrate a couple of strategies, have participants share a few strategies and allow venting. As I start to wrap my mind around this and begin to prepare, I don’t know what strategies to share. I think I presented my best stuff at the district in-service at the beginning of the school year. I think I’ll do a hands-on timelines. And then I’m stuck? I need another strategy to present? Any ideas, blogging community?
Process for hands-on timeline:
- In advance, the teacher must prepare pieces for a time line puzzle. To prepare the pieces for a timeline, use events/dates you’ve already discussed in class. One piece should have a date and word/clue and the other piece could have a definition, fact or fill in the blank. An example of what I’m talking about is at the bottom of this post.
- As you can see from the example below, there are TWO different ways to approach this exercise. Fill in the blanks or matching clues. I prefer to use fill in the blank statements because of time constraints. Usually, my fill in the blanks are MUCH shorter. The “fill in the blanks” version allows the students to copy everything exactly as is onto the timeline. On the matching clues, I make them summarize it in 5 words or less before placing it onto the timeline.
- I make my pieces in Word, in table format. I try to make all of the pieces the same size.
- I cut the pieces apart and put them in an envelope, zip lock bag or pocket–whatever is handy.
- During class, I give each group a pocket with the cut up pieces. They work together to match dates and events. They must place all of the pieces in chronological order.
- When students finish matching and ordering pieces, they create a paper timeline using the pieces given.
A picture of my students matching timeline pieces.
Possible issues with this activity:
- Students may have a hard time summarizing the event in 5 words or less. That is why I like the “fill in the blanks” version. Yes, I know it is less challenging, but in my experience this exercise will cost more class time when students summarize.
- Using BCE/CE or BC/AD, whatever you want to call it, on the same timeline. My students REALLY struggled with this. . . in high school. We were making timelines of the 3 religions. I had them do the Judaism timeline first. A week later, I gave them the timeline for Christianity. I told them to use a different color for Christianity on the same line as Judaism. Some students found difficult to decide where to put in the dates for Christianity. They were confused. One student asked, “So, 4 BCE goes where?” I was like ” What do you mean?” She says, “I don’t know where to put it, I’m confused. Did it come after 1 CE?” After helping several people, I realized: Students didn’t understand the concept of time (numbers) increasing after 1 CE and (numbers) decreasing as it approached 1 CE.
- Students have never made a time line before. They have only answered questions about the time line. This was shocking to me! Because they had never made a timeline before, they didn’t know WHERE to place events. I asked if they had made timelines in middle school. One student said “Miss Teacha, maybe you should go to the middle school to teach the students.” I laughed and said, “So you saying I’m not good enough for high school?” “Naw, I’m just saying, then high school students would have learned how to do this stuff.” I am bothered by the fact that kids only answer questions about the timelines. Since students have never made them, they do not FULLY understand how they work.
Example of the timeline chart that I cut up into pieces for the puzzle part
|
1960 Sit In |
Diane Nash became a leader of the ___________ movement in Nashville when she and others tried to integrate lunch counters. |
|
1954 “separate but equal” ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court |
Brown v. Board of Education |
|
1955 14 year-old lynched
|
Emmett Till |
|
1956 Segregation on buses ruled unconstitutional |
Montgomery Bus Boycott ends
|
|
1957 Little Rock 9 |
The _____________ desegregated Central High School in Arkansas. President Eisenhower protected them by sending the National Guard. |
Professional Development, Teaching Strategies | Miss Teacha | 
November 14, 2009 9:28 am
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By Margaret, November 14, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
Wow–all I can think of is, I’m so old that I still use BC and AD. Geeze. I have no ideas whatsoever since I haven’t had my coffee yet. I’m off to go make an espresso.
By laniza, November 14, 2009 @ 7:49 pm
I’m curious how one would grade this particular type of group work–do you mind emailing me so we can discuss this without tying up your comments area?
By Angela, November 14, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
Great activity, thanks for sharing! Totally adapting that for my third graders.