My Timeline (Activity)

Objectives:

1. Understand the concept of a timeline.
2. Develope the skills to organize and present events on a timeline.
3. Relate the students personal history with world history.

Assignment:

A timeline is a way to present visually events, discoveries or facts of a particular period.
Draw a line to present some important events of your life including the year they happened and a world event that was taking place at the same time.

Work Process:

1. Identify the years in which these events took place:

• The year your parents met.
• The year you were born.
• The year you began primary school.
• The year you started middle school.
• 3 more events of your life that are important for you.

1. Identify some world events that took place the same year (one world event for each of you personal history events)
2. Draw a draft locating the different events. Calculate the number of segments (parts) that your timeline will have. As you are going to use years as units of time, calculate how many years have passed from the earliest event to the latest one and divide the line in that number of equal segments.
3. On the draft, label the dates on the appropriate segments, left to right. Put the year of each of the events on the correct place (do not label the rest of the years).
4. On the draft, locate the evnts on the timeline by using the chronology of events and dates that you have created. Your personal events should be located under the line, the world events should be located above the line.
5. Decide how you will mark and label the dates and the events so that they are clear and easy to read.
6. Decide the photographs or drawings that you are going to use to illustrate your timeline events.
7. Create the timeline you will present to the class. Be creative. Think how you will organize the timeline, which colours, labels, drawings, illustrations, type and size of letter, etc you will use. Keepin mind that the timeline has to be accurate, easy to read and understand, appealing.