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| Overview |
Timelines help students organize and remember what they have learned. In this lesson, teachers model comprehension skills to help students identify major historical events and put them in a logical order. Students study the basic elements of Mexican history. They then use online resources to gather the information they need to make an illustrated timeline. The timelines use a different card for each event; students mix up their cards and challenge other students to put them back in order, teaching each other what they have learned. The amount of research required can be adapted for each student's ability.
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| From Theory to Practice |
Pressley, M. (2001). Comprehension instruction: What makes sense now, what might make sense soon. Reading Online, 5(2). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/art_index.asp?HREF=/articles/handbook/pressley/index.html.
- Reading researchers have developed approaches to stimulating active reading by teaching readers to use comprehension strategies. Of the many possible strategies, the following often produce improved memory and comprehension of text: generating questions about the text while reading, constructing mental images representing ideas in text, and summarizing.
- The starting point for the development of many comprehension skills is teacher modeling of those skills.
- Teaching comprehension strategies and reading more diverse texts, especially texts full of important world knowledge, can enrich primary education.
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| Student Objectives |
Students will
- Learn about the purpose of timelines by reviewing and discussing them and then using information they locate to create their own
- Learn about the history of pre-Hispanic Mexican cultures by doing online research
- Read for a purpose as they identify main events in history to graph on a timeline
- Visualize what they read by adding illustrations with descriptive captions to each event
- Work in cooperative groups to share their work by playing a game that involves logic and reasoning
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| Instructional Plan |
Preparation
| 1. |
Review The History of Mesoamerica website. You will want to look at every section of the timeline that is included in this section, familiarizing yourself with the text and the history. In particular, focus on the pages describing the Preclassic and Classic periods as you will review these with students. If you would like to view this information in Italian, French, or Spanish, visit the Mexico for Kids homepage and click on the appropriate link. You should also look at the Mesoamerica Answer Sheet and the Timeline Samples to get an idea of what students will be expected to do.
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| 2. |
Think about how much research your students are prepared to complete and how much information you want them to synthesize to create a timeline. You may choose to have students use The History of Mesoamerica website only. Or you may choose to assemble other materials about Mexican history, including textbooks, encyclopedias, library books, and additional websites. If your class is highly heterogeneous in terms of varying language and reading abilities, consider each student's needs and tell individual students how he or she should proceed with the lesson, either using varied research materials or just the main website.
Additional Web resources that could be used with this lesson include:
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| 3. |
If you do not have computers with Internet access for students to use in your classroom, reserve five 45-minute sessions in your school's computer lab (see Sessions 1 through 5). Bookmark The History of Mesoamerica, HRW World Atlas: North America, Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries: Pre-Columbian Timeline, World Almanac for Kids: U.S. History Timeline, Jump Back in Time: America's Story from America's Library, The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden, the interactive Timeline, and any other websites your students will use for research. If possible, arrange to use a computer with Internet access and an LCD projector during Sessions 1 through 3.
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| 4. |
Find two printed timelines to use with students as samples, and either copy enough for each pair of students or, if they are in a class textbook, make sure there are enough books for each pair to refer to one. If you have one posted on the classroom wall that would work too.
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| 5. |
Print and make double-sided copies of the Timeline Survey sheet, making a total of four surveys for each student in your class.
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| 6. |
Make one copy of the Mesoamerica Review Questions, the Timeline Assignment Sheet, the Timeline Grading Checklist, and the Student Evaluation for each student.
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Instruction and Activities
Session 1
| 1. |
Ask students to remember for a moment what they know about Mexico. Point out where Mexico is on a map of North America. Then have them do a pair-share, taking turns telling their partners what they know. After a couple of minutes, ask for a few volunteers to tell the class what they discussed with their partners.
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| 2. |
Explain that they will be studying, researching, and writing timelines of part of Mexican history using the Internet and other materials. They will then play a mix-up game with each other's timelines to learn from each other's work.
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| 3. |
Share a sample timeline (see Preparation, Step 4). Ask students if they know what it is and when and why they think a timeline might be useful. Explain that timelines are a way to organize information and make it easier for us to visualize and understand when different historical events happened in relation to each other. Pass out the Timeline Surveys and help students fill out the first one using this timeline, discussing appropriate answers to each question.
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| 4. |
Have students fill out the second survey with a partner using another one of the timelines you have prepared.
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| 5. |
Ask students if they think timelines are useful if you want lots of details about how people lived in a certain time or if you want to know when important events occurred in history. Talk about the fact that timelines are meant to summarize history and generally cover major events or trends.
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| 6. |
Explain that they will be reading to gather information on important events to make a timeline, which will help them to share what they learned with their classmates. Ask them why a timeline might help them to more easily explain what they learn about history, writing down their responses. You want to work towards the fact that reading about history is not always easy, but that it's easier to read when we have a purpose. In addition, when we organize information in a visual way, like a timeline, a graph, or a Venn diagram, we remember it better and are able to share it with others more easily.
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Sessions 2 and 3
| 1. |
Use classroom computers or have students take their Timeline Surveys to the computer lab so they can fill them out for two of the online timelines that you bookmarked (see Preparation, Step 3).
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| 2. |
When students are finished, ask a few volunteers to tell the class about one of their timelines. They might say what it is about and the time period it covers, show a picture they drew and describe it, or tell of an interesting historical fact they learned. Collect the surveys and give points for work completed correctly.
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| 3. |
Have students go to The History of Mesoamerica website or show it using an LCD projector if you have one available. Ask if they think the pentagonal graph is a timeline. (The answer is yes, despite its shape, because it summarizes the main historical periods in Mesoamerica.) Talk about the entries on the timeline and ask students what they mean. Ask students why the term Discovery of America is used here. Do they see a problem with this term? (If you already lived in Mesoamerica, you wouldn't consider this to be a "discovery" — this term represents only the point of view of the Europeans who did not know America existed.) What other term could be used instead to not show just one point of view? (Perhaps the term European discovery of America would be more appropriate.)
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| 4. |
Ask students to look at the area on the map labeled Mesoamerica. Then tell them to compare it with another map of the same area showing the names of the present-day countries. (You can use a classroom map of North America, Xpeditions Atlas: North America, or HRW World Atlas: North America.) Ask a volunteer to explain where Mesoamerica is (central to southern Mexico and part of Central America). Ask students to guess what the prefix meso means based on where Mesoamerica is on the continent. Lead them to deduce that it means middle and have a student use a dictionary to verify it. Then have a student look up the word arid. Explain that the area labeled Aridoamerica on the map is so named because it is a dry, desert land.
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| 5. |
Have students click on the Preclassic Period link on The History of Mesoamerica website. Read aloud as students follow along (or ask volunteers to read). Ask students which important events mentioned could be put in a timeline for this period. Draw a line on the board or overhead and read the online passage again, stopping to add important events to the line (see the list of events for this period on the Mesoamerica Answer Sheet for ideas).
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| 6. |
Think aloud with your students about the correct order for the timeline, commenting that exact dates and years are not given here; perhaps it was so long ago historians do not have exact years. Say that logic must be used to put the main events on the timeline. For the first two main events, talk through how you imagine the agrarian societies evolving into a great civilization and the population growing. Ask students which of these two things they think happened first. Did the population grow because they had food and lived longer, then a great civilization evolved? Or did the population grow because the great civilization had better health care and nutrition? Encourage students to express their opinions and come up with theories.
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| 7. |
Sum up the discussion, paraphrasing the opinions of students who spoke up. Conclude that evolution means the process happened gradually, so on your timeline you think it is more logical to mention the evolution of a great civilization first, then the population growth. This discussion should lead students to see that there are different ways of interpreting historical facts. Point out that different interpretations might make for different ordering on timelines when dates are not available and they will have to use logic to explain how they ordered events.
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| 8. |
Continue to think aloud about this civilization as you read to gather main ideas and paraphrase them in a logical order. Model paraphrasing by thinking aloud about what each phrase means and stating it in a different, more succinct way.
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| 9. |
Read all of the text and click on all links. Identify main events together until you have at least five entries on your timeline.
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| 10. |
Have students skim the section again to choose an illustration to fit with each event. Tell them that illustrations are a way to mention some interesting details about how people lived on a more general timeline. Draw a rough illustration under each event (or have students volunteer to draw) and write a caption describing each one.
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| 11. |
Do a similar read-aloud and discussion as above for the Classic Period while making a rough timeline on the board. Point out that information about when anthropologists discovered important findings would not be put in a timeline about that period because the discovery likely occurred much later, in a completely different era.
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| 12. |
Erase or cover the timelines on the board. Pass out the Mesoamerica Review Questions and have students fill them out using the website to find answers. Go over answers together, using the Mesoamerica Answer Sheet for reference.
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| 13. |
Read the Timeline Assignment Sheet together and explain that during Session 4 they will begin this part of the lesson, so they will need to bring this sheet.
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Sessions 4 and 5
| 1. |
Organize students into groups of three and assign each group member a different historical period: Postclassic Period, Discovery of America, or The Conquest of America. Have students make a horizontal line in the middle of a sheet of paper and write the name of their period on top. Remind them to look at all links for their period on the website and write important events and years (if available) on their lines. Have them number each event showing which happened first, second, and so on, in a logical way. Tell them to also draw or print illustrations for each event and write a caption explaining each one, like they did on the Mesoamerica Review Questions.
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| 2. |
Pass out the Timeline Grading Checklist and go over it with students, explaining that this is how the timelines will be graded.
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| 3. |
Students should use The History of Mesoamerica website to start reading about their period and making a rough draft of their timeline. They will need five or six important events.
Students who are more advanced can use the materials you assembled and the other websites to supplement their research (see Preparation, Step 2).
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| 4. |
When students finish their research, they should use their notes to type a draft of their timelines using the interactive Timeline tool by following the steps described on their Timeline Assignment Sheets. Ask them to place all work in a folder and turn it in at the end of the session.
Note: Before Session 6, mark corrections, suggestions, and observations on students' drafts. Use the Timeline Samples as a reference to make sure they covered the main events of their period and use the Timeline Grading Checklist to review the requirements. Use terms such as "paraphrase" when text is copied exactly and "write only main events" when a minor detail is included. Mention main events that might have been left out. Meet with students individually as needed to question them about their decisions regarding events and how they are ordered.
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Session 6
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Pass back the timeline drafts with your comments to students. Give them time to review them carefully and make handwritten corrections as needed.
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| 2. |
Have students cut out rectangles from heavy paper. You might use file folders and have students cut them into four equal rectangles. Have quicker students cut out extras so that each student has six or seven rectangular cards (you will need the extras later for the title cards). Then have students use rulers to make three parallel lines along the top of each card. At the beginning of the top line, have them write Event. The rest will be for the illustration.
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| 3. |
Students should begin transferring information and illustrations very neatly from their timeline drafts to their cards. Tell them to leave out dates for now so it will be harder for other students to figure out the order; if a date is available for an event, they can just write Date: _______ at the end and fill it in after their peers have had time to play the game. They should write their names on each card and make the cards attractive, adding colorful borders, motifs from their time period, and other artistic details.
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| 4. |
Have students make an answer sheet listing the correct order of their cards, using the first five words from each card and the correct date (if available) that they will add later. Students should then mix up their cards and save them for Session 7.
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Session 7
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Have each student take out a blank sheet of paper, title it Score Sheet, write his or her name on it, and draw two lines down the middle to make three columns, one labeled Student author and time period, the other Number correct, and the third Signature. Tell students they will turn these in at the end of the period.
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| 2. |
Tell students to take out their timeline cards. In their groups of three, have them exchange sets of cards and make educated guesses to try to put their classmates' cards back in order.
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| 3. |
As students complete the game, the author should check against the answer sheet and say how many are in the correct place. The player should use the score sheet to record the name of the student author and time period, and how many were correct; the student author will sign.
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| 4. |
If time permits when students have finished playing with their group members, they can walk around to other tables and play with other students, keeping track of the results on their score sheets.
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Session 8
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Have students finish their cards by adding the dates and years that are available. Pass out an extra card to each student and have them make an attractive, colorful title card for their timeline with the name of their historical period and their own name on it. As they finish, pass out tape so they can put their timelines in order, title first, on the wall of the classroom or hallway. Each group could be assigned a space to put their timelines up together.
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| 2. |
Have each student fill out a Student Evaluation. Discuss answers to each question as a class.
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Extensions
- Students can make a poster depicting some aspects of Mexican history.
- Take students on a field trip to a local museum with exhibits on Mexican history.
- Have students make PowerPoint presentations of their timelines.
- Students could be offered extra credit for cooking a Mexican dish and bringing in samples to share. Recipes from Mexico are available at A Traditional Mexican Comida: Do-It-Yourself.
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| Student Assessment/Reflections |
- Informally assess students' prior knowledge of Mexico during the discussion in Session 1. Address any misconceptions and add basic information as needed.
- Collect and evaluate the Timeline Surveys, Mesoamerica Review Questions, and timeline drafts to check for individual understanding.
- Evaluate the final timeline using the Timeline Grading Checklist.
- Observe students while they play the game during Session 7. Did they understand the mechanics of the game and set up their cards properly? Are they able to complete their peers' timelines?
- Written and oral reflections in Session 8 will help students remember and think about what they have learned. This is a good opportunity for metacognition, as students realize that they read and remember facts better when they use techniques such as reading for a purpose, visualizing, graphing, and explaining what they learned to others.
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1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
7 - Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
10 - Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of content across the curriculum.
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