Instructions on How to Make a Time Line
Making a time line helps students see the progression of an event or time period in history. Teachers can utilize the time line as a visual instructional tool to teach key historical periods and dates, for example, the Civil Rights Movement. Students can use the time line to enhance their understanding of a historical sequence of events leading up to any particular change, action or outcome.
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Instructions
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Written Time Line
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Draw a horizontal line that's long enough so you'll be able to read all your planned written text.
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Draw a small, vertical line on the far left side, at the beginning of the horizontal line. This line will represent the beginning of the event, life or certain items you'll track on the time line. The events can be tracked on a time line in days, months or years.
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Write the date reference below the vertical line and write a brief description of the corresponding event above the vertical line.
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Draw another small, vertical line on the horizontal line. As you move to the right on the horizontal line, draw vertical lines to keep track of certain dates and events. Write the date reference at the bottom of each vertical line and write a brief description of the corresponding event near the top of each vertical line you draw. For events with shorter time spans between them, place less space between their vertical lines. Events with longer time spans between them should have more space between the vertical lines. This provides a visual clue that some events took longer to happen than others.
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Label the time line. Use a brief label, such as "The Great Depression" time line.
Online Time Line
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Visit the interactive time line available at readwritethink.org. Type the project title in the "Title" field, for example, "The Great Depression." Type the time line creator's name in the "By" field. For example, by "John Doe." Choose the measure for the time line, such as date.
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Click "Next Entry" at the top right-hand corner.
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Type in the appropriate date, title and a brief description. This entry will represent the beginning of the event, life or certain items that you're tracking with the time line. For example, the date field could be "October 1929," the title field could be "Stock Market Crash" and the brief description could include information about how the stock market crash contributed to the Great Depression.
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Click "Next Entry" at the top right-hand corner. Add the next applicable entry and repeat until all items are typed into the interactive time line.
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Click "Finished." Edits to the time line can be made by clicking on the edit tab, on the far right side.
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Print the interactive time line, by clicking the print button in the "Finished" box or at the far right. Choose whether to print a vertical or horizontal time line, or both formats. Printing is the only way to save the time line.
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Tips & Warnings
Students can use an ongoing time line throughout the school year to track their progress in a particular concept or subject.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit civil war image by Wd Photo from Fotolia.com
