We have come to the time of year when we are looking at time and timelines, this is something we cover both in Mats and History.
I really think it is important to get kiddos up and moving during learning activities to help them. For our first timeline I got the kiddos to write their birthdays on a card and then I taped it onto their shirts. They had to then get in order from youngest to oldest without any assistance from me. It was great to see how they worked together to make sure everyone was in the correct place. This was when we were working on calendars in Maths and on our personal histories.
There was so much discussion about how many days, weeks and months were between people's birthdays and how long between our oldest student and our youngest. So much Maths!!!!
Our next timeline adventure was using clocks! Students were given an analogue clock and they had to write an o'clock, half past, quarter past or quarter to. They then had to get in order from earliest to latest time, again I didn't intervene but just listened to the discussions about time. We then had to make sure we didn't have any double ups and the students decided who would change times and what that would be.
We then followed that up with a discussion about AM and PM and how we would need to write that on the time to ensure it was in correct order.
This is just 2 ways I have used student timelines in the classroom in just the last couple of weeks, there are so many other ways you could use this! The hardest part is standing back and letting them put themselves in order but you need to remember that right there is your teaching moment and instead of correcting THEM, ask them to justify why it is correct/incorrect.
I hope this has given you a couple of ideas to use student timelines in your classroom, to make sure you don't miss any other Bright Ideas make sure you follow me on Instagram or Facebook.
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Love this idea! What a great warmup activity for math class!
ReplyDeleteLove human timelines! I can see this as a great tool for any classroom at any grade level! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThe critical thinking skills in this activity are a fabulous way to encourage deep discussions, especially since they are justifying their thinking to their peers. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHello Mrs Sykes
Great ideas - love that the kids were moving around!
ReplyDeleteKrazy Town
Hi Tania,
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of students timelines, as it is a great warm up activity that can be used in mathematics. It will definitely engage students and promote deep learning.
Douha