Activity

Make a Timeline of an Influential Person

A helpful way to learn facts and important information about people is to create a timeline. As your child reads a biographical text, they can use the storyboard worksheet to draw and record important information or dates about the person. Then, they can place the dates and events in a timeline to show their understanding of important facts in chronological order. Challenge learners to support their choice of details to get them to think critically about them. This activity is perfect for studying influential people during Women’s History Month, Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and beyond.

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Grade

Subject

Reading & Writing Reading Reading Comprehension Strategies Summarizing Summarizing Nonfiction Texts Identifying the Main Idea Identifying the Main Idea in Nonfiction Using Text Features Nonfiction Text Features Comprehension Questions Nonfiction Comprehension Questions Reading Genres and Types Nonfiction Social studies History

View aligned standards

RI.2.10 RI.3.2 RI.3.10 RI.4.2 RI.4.10 RI.5.2 RI.5.10

English Language Arts and Reading Grade 1 1.10.C 1.2.D 1.9.D.ii Grade 2 2.10.C 2.9.D.ii Grade 3 3.6.H 3.10.C Grade 4 4.6.H 4.7.D Grade 5 5.6.H 5.7.D

English Grade Three R.3.6.f R.3.6.g Grade Four R.4.6.d R.4.6.c Grade Five R.5.6.d R.5.6.c Grade One R.1.10.d R.1.6.b Grade Two R.2.8.a R.2.6.e

English Language Arts Grade 2 3.3 Grade 3 3.3 Grade 4 1.1 Grade 5 1.3

English Language Arts Grade 2 3.2.B.1 3.3.B.1 3.1.A.2 Grade 3 2.2.B.2 3.2.B.1 2.1.C.1 3.4.A.2 3.3.B.1 Grade 1 3.2.B.1 Grade 4 2.2.C.2 3.2.B.1 2.1.C.1 3.3.B.1 Grade 5 2.1.C.1 2.1.A.2

English Year 3 ACELY1680.d ACELA1790.a ACELY1678.a Year 1 ACELA1450.a ACELY1660.a Year 2 ACELY1670.e ACELA1466.b Year 4 ACELY1692.e Year 5 ACELA1797 ACELY1702.c

English Level 3 RV.VCELY257.4 RV.VCELA247.1 Level 2 RV.VCELY222.5 RV.VCELA213.2 Level 4 RV.VCELY289.2 Level 1 RV.VCELA177.1 RV.VCELY186.1 Level 5 RV.VCELY318.3

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What You Need:

One or two copies of the Storyboard worksheet
Biography of someone you would like to research
Construction paper

What You Do:

Give a short description of the person your child chooses to study.
Have your child read a biography about the person. For younger researchers, read a picture book biography or autobiography.
Discuss the details of the person’s life and why they are famous or remembered.
Reread the book or text with your learner and have them write down notes on the Storyboard worksheet. Support your learner by allowing them to draw pictures first and then go back to add sentences.
Have them cut out the details and place them in a timeline. If your child did not include dates in their events, encourage them to do so now to help them place the events.
Review the event placements with your child. Ask them some of the following questions to get them thinking about the importance of each of the details they chose:
- Which detail is the most important?
- Which detail is the least important?
- Why would you choose to add this detail over another?
- Would this person’s life have been different if you eliminated one of their important life events?
- How did one event impact another event?
Throughout all the discussions, allow your child to disregard or add different events if they choose to.
Ask your child to summarize the person’s life using their timeline as a reference.
Once they have all their finalized events in place, learners can glue the events on construction paper.

Creating timelines, whether biographical or personal, is a helpful way to organize important information. Enjoy great conversations with your researcher to help them develop critical thinking skills with this activity.

Activity

Make a Timeline of an Influential Person

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Make a Timeline of an Influential Person

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