Teaching with Timelines

Timelines are a great way to have your students "visualize" important events in history. Not only are there diverse ways for your students to create timelines but they can be created for any event, topic or person. Creating timelines also appeals to all types of learners; visual, mathematical, and kinesthetic.

Check out the possibilities for Timelines in the Classroom:

EKG Timeline
An EKG is an instrument used in the medical field to check the electrical activity of the heart. If you look at an EKG machine you can see the spikes and dips of the heart beat. Students will use this same idea in creating a timeline. The spikes and dips on the timeline do not represent heartbeat, but rather represent the importance of the event. The higher the spike, the more important the event. This is a great way to assess your students' understanding of the events they include on their timeline.

Timeglider
With Timeglider.com students create a web-based timeline. Students choose a date, write a description and add a picture from the internet. They can also change the significance of the event by making the event larger or smaller. After students create their timeline they simply copy and paste the url link to GoogleClassroom or any other classroom website.

TimelineJs
Another great web-based timeline creator, TimelineJS allows students to add text, pictures and dates. I find it easier to read than Timeglider. Students can also insert GoogleMaps  to indicate locations of events. Many of these web-based timeline creators are so easy to use, I rarely have to give instructions. Many students just figure it out themselves.

Clothesline Timeline
Students work together to create a timeline using note cards, string and clothesline pins. This is a great cooperative activity.

WhenInTime
WhenInTime is a easy tool for students to create professional looking, web-based timeline. Events can be imported and added  to the timeline from a number of social media sites such as Google+, Twitter and YouTube. It also provides several themes and templates for your students to choose from.

I hope you consider incorporating timelines into your classroom using these easy tools. I would love to here more ideas about how your students create timelines in your classroom.

Happy Teaching!