Teaching With and Using Timelines

Kirsten 0:00

Hey there amazing educators. Before we dive into today's episode, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on something truly special Black History Month. It's more than just a month on the calendar. It's a celebration of the remarkable contributions, resilience and achievements of African Americans throughout history. For me, I believe teaching Black History Month isn't just about checking off a box on the curriculum. It's about acknowledging the diverse voices and stories that have shaped our nation. That's why I've created a special unit in the Smart and Simple Social Studies guided curriculum, all about the important events and figures in black history, just in time for Black History Month. Imagine having engaging lessons and activities that require minimal prep, but leave a lasting impression on your students. You don't have to imagine anymore. This three week unit dives into the origin and meaning of Black History Month, the Underground Railroad, the civil rights movement, and it showcases famous figures who have shaped American culture. But here's the kicker, it's not a bunch of lesson plans and passages. This resource includes everything you need, from Teacher Guides, guided notes to practice activities, exit tickets, a project and even a unit assessment. Talk about a one stop shop for your black history month curriculum needs. And I made sure that it aligns seamlessly with both the Common Core State Standards and the current TEKS social studies standards. It's like hitting two birds with one stone. This resource is researched for accuracy and cultural relevance because I believe in showcasing all sides of history in a way that's just right for upper elementary students. Don't stress about Black History Month lessons. Let's make it fun, engaging and educational with the smarten Simple Social Studies guided curriculum. The link is in the description and my name is the Southern teach.

This is the social studies teacher podcast a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm curious to know if you southern teach an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies, I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Hello, hello, welcome to another episode of the social studies teacher podcast. This is all about utilizing timelines. This falls right in line with what we've been talking about this month all about nonfiction, such as current events, and biographies and all kinds of good stuff. So timelines would be another text feature that you would probably be utilizing around this time of year. And so hopefully this episode is helpful. We're going to share some tips in teaching with and utilizing timelines in your social studies classroom. So I have six tips for you. Really, in short timelines are super powerful tools in the world of social studies. It allows students to visually grasp the chronological order of historical events, it helps us visual people, like myself, be able to kind of better see the big picture of when things are happening, rather than it just be spoken aloud. This is also really great because it helps them understand a little bit more about the actual historical event. And it makes it more tangible. So again, we're going to be exploring six tips to effectively teach and use timelines in your upper elementary social studies classroom.

So tip number one is to start out with the basics, you got to pre teach some vocabulary. So you want to make sure they understand the concept of time and key terms such as decades, which is, you know, every 10 years, centuries have reached 100 years, also eras or certain eras that might range and thinking about how that kind of correlates in the different timespans. Also use relatable examples and discuss the order of days, months and years and how Of course, we're thinking year first and then also looking at the month next when comparing and then the date. So that's kind of the main thing is if they're trying to reorder and organize different events from first to last. The main thing is the first thing they can't look at the month there's the same month but there's different years, they have to see which one is the earliest, which would be the lower number, the larger number would be the more recent number. Also thinking about where things are organized, thinking about how if you're creating a timeline, the earliest will go from left to right. So earliest to latest left to right, or it could be from top to bottom where the earliest is at the top. And then the latest would be at the bottom. You know, the main thing to also think about when I create timelines with my students in upper elementary, we're really thinking about the dates and the specific events. And we might think about maybe some type of illustration that goes with it if we're building a timeline, or just like a couple, maybe a sentence or two about that specific event. But those are some just basic things to think about. And having this foundational knowledge will help students better understand the purpose and structure of timelines.

So tip number two, is to create interactive timelines, make them interactive, and hands on. Having hands on learning is really vital, especially for really abstract concepts of time. And it's just a really great way to kind of have students really dig deeper into where things are fitting in. You can provide materials for students to create their own timelines using posters, index cards, or you can try to have them do it digitally. You can allow them to physically arrange and manipulate events and fosters a deeper connection. So before they glue down different events, try to have them practice a variety of dates and events on the topic that you're teaching. And then have them work together to practice rearranging things and so that they know where things are supposed to go. And you can always do a quick check to see if they're ordering things in the right way. And once you give them the Okay, then they can actually glue down those events and dates to create their timeline.

Tip number three is to connect timelines to personal lives. A really great way to practice with timelines is to have them create timelines of their own lives. So they would note significant events such as when they were born. That's obviously the very first of their life would be the very first event is them being born. So their birthday, there, maybe really memorable vacations, family milestones, maybe they had a sister added three years after they were born. Maybe they started school at a certain time or certain year, maybe they went to visit some family in another state, and maybe you know their first plane ride, have them create their own timeline. And doing so can give that personal connection to help the concept of timelines be more relevant and relatable. I love doing this activity with my third graders, especially, especially because it's such an abstract concept. This kind of really helped help them understand it a lot better.

Tip number four, incorporate visuals and multimedia. enhancing your timelines with visuals or multimedia elements include pictures, maps, even videos if you're doing a digital timeline, thinking about illustrations, if you want them to draw out the events themselves. This can also help provide context and make historical events come to life and become more vivid. Having this multi sensory approach can cater to different learning styles. And it also reinforces key concepts. Something I'm just thinking off the top of my head is maybe do something different unique 3d Use modeling clay or playdough. That they have to you know, they create their timeline of a certain historical event such as the American Revolution, or the Civil War, or their lies, and they're using different colored playdough or different colored modeling clay to create their sculptures. That's kind of a fun way to make it unique.

exation of Texas happening in: 1845

Alright, here's tip number six, compare and contrast timelines, encourage students to compare and contrast timelines from different historical periods. This is a fun one, discuss similarities and differences, helping them recognize patterns and gain a different understanding of, again, the historical context, maybe you can have some type of timeline comparing the American Revolution with the Texas Revolution, if that's something you want to do, your state's revolution history, I'm not sure of any other state that had a revolution other than the Texas, but maybe some type of state history. And also thinking about how, let's say maybe when your specific state came in to be a state, compared to the entire timeline of US history, so like, when the US became a country, and then when your state became a state, but in regards to the Texas Revolution, versus the American Revolution, if you actually kind of look at the broad scheme of things, the American Revolution was much longer than the Texas Revolution, the Texas Revolution was only a couple of years, the American Revolution lasted for about a decade, and maybe even a little bit longer just because of the conflict happening before the actual war. But that's just kind of an interesting way to kind of see some comparisons and have students kind of see a more nuanced view of history.

So, to sum everything up, I'm going to recap the tips. Number one, start with the basics. Number two, create interactive timelines. Number three, connect timelines to personal lives. Number four, incorporate visuals and multimedia. Number five, use timelines for sequencing and cause and effect relationships. And number six, compare and contrast timelines. Incorporating timelines in the upper elementary Social Studies block can definitely transform your history lessons in to more engaging and dynamic learning experiences. By following these tips. You can help your students develop a strong grasp of timelines, cultivate critical thinking skills, and unlock the interesting narratives of the past. Hope you enjoy these tips and this episode, and I'll talk to you again next week.

Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.

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