Time to Start Thinking Chronologically! By Stefanie Kistler

What does it mean to think chronologically? Thinking chronologically is simply putting facts/ events into sequential order typically from past to present. Introducing the concept of time to young students may be troublesome, so when introducing this topic try and put it into an analogy they’ll understand. For example “It will take as long as Sesame Street” gives children some idea of how long an event will take (Duplass, 2011, p. 274). Knowing how to tell time is a prerequisite of learning sequencing and duration for young learners. Once they get a good grasp of this concept, they can begin chronological thinking. Another goal for teachers is to teach students to move from indefinite to definite time expressions and to clarify confusing time related terms and concepts. Below is James A. Duplass’ table of Children’s Ability to Think Chronologically:

Displaying and creating a timeline can easily introduce the topic of chronological thinking. What are timelines? Timelines are a sequence of events. Historians use timelines so that they can more clearly make observations, draw conclusions, and support propositions about events or trends in history (Duplass, 2011, p. 274). How you can organize this depends completely up to you or the needs of your students! Some may include pictures whilst others may just include dates. Teachers should use timelines to place historical events in the appropriate time periods, sequence, and relative distance from each other (Duplass, 2011, p. 275). Later, different examples will be provided of ways to set up a timeline in your classroom!

           

In Teaching Elementary Social Studies: Strategies, Standards, and Internet Resources by James A. Duplass (2011, p. 276), are outlines rules for an effective timeline. Those rules are:

1.     Properly titled.

2.     Drawn proportionately.

3.     Clearly labeled.

4.     Graphically rich.

More detailed information can be found on page 276

Here is an example of a timeline that emulates Duplass' rules of an effective timeline:

Implementation in the Classroom

When introducing this topic to your students, incorporating their own lives into a project is a great way to make timelines and chronological thinking more concrete. Here are some examples of activities students can do that include making a timeline:

1.     The birthday of each student

2.     Halloween costumes

3.     Their families birthdays

4.     Holidays

Teachers can even have students create a timeline online! This is a great way to differentiate instruction. One online tool to make your own timeline is http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/

           

If your school does not have a specific social studies curriculum, timelines and chronological thinking can easily be addressed in a multitude of subject areas. Students use timelines in math when sequencing numbers (number line), or in science when adding components of an experiment together, or in cooking when combining ingredients for a recipe, even in language arts when learning sequencing. There is a vast amount of options out there for teachers to incorporate chronological thinking and timelines into their curriculum!     Here is a BrainPopJr video that would be perfect to coincide with a sequencing lesson (mentioned around 3.45 minutes in): http://www.brainpopjr.com/readingandwriting/comprehension/sequence/preview.weml During a Morning Message or as a nice transition from recess, teachers can go to http://www.loc.gov/ and searching “Today in History” to find an event in history that happened that very day! Students will be extremely excited to find out that that very day, something happened in history that made an impact! Try it, and just see the impact it has on your students…

           

References

Duplass, J. A., (2011). Teaching elementary social studies: Strategies, standards, and internet resources. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning (274-276)

                    "Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum." Franklin D. Roosevelt

Presidential Library and Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/education/resources/timeline.html>

"Library of Congress Home | Library of Congress." Library of Congress Home | Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. <http://www.loc.gov/>.

"Sequence." BrainPOP Jr.. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.brainpopjr.com/readingandwriting/comprehension/sequence/preview.weml>.

"Timeline." Timeline. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/>.