Monday, May 7, 2012

In Praise of .... the humble timeline


Simple things are often the best. Timelines were one of the first things I learnt on my initial teacher-training course and they are still one of my favourite tools to use in the language classroom. Timelines are usually seen as ways to teach grammar and good timeline can say more than 1000 words. It helps to create meaning is a student’s mind and can be used either as a visual aid to an explanation or as a way of helping students to work things out for themselves, (guided discovery). But enough of me writing about them here are two examples of how to use timelines in the classroom. 


http://screencast.com/t/w6fVazkS0
http://screencast.com/t/ymPJomuKD

4 comments:

  1. I do love timelines. I really can't imagine teaching without them!

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    1. Thanks for the comment Chris. I think the day that I realised I could draw and use a timeline 'off the cuff' was the day I started to believe in myself as a teacher.

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  2. And in an age of technology and computers sometimes the simple things get forgotten!

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  3. What a great idea!!! I´ve never used them this way!!! How could I live ??? :)))Thank you !!!

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