1st Day of School Activity US History Timeline Activity Class Introduction 8th

Are you an US History teacher looking for a 1st day or week of school timeline activity that gives students a visual preview of your course? This activity was "born" from the frustration of all things "chaos" the 1st week of school. It covers early US History through the Civil War.

From schedule changes, to assemblies - that 1st week is nuts. I wanted an activity that would get students excited about what we would learn in class - beyond the normal "get to know you" activities that happen that 1st week.

It covers topics from the Jamestown to the Civil War.

There are several ways to use this activity.

Stations Activity:

• 1st determine how many stations you need to have. You could put one or two of the (8 included) mini timelines at each station.
• Optional recording page included
• Students would rotate from station to station.
• You could also have other activities at various stations and just include several of these mini-timelines at one or two.

Group attack: This is the one I use every year.

• Each group gets all 8 mini timelines.
• Copy each timeline off on a different color of card stock or paper. Each timeline goes in a separate sandwich sized baggie. Put all 8 baggies in a gallon sized baggie. One per group.
• You call out the color of the timeline and say go! Students then discuss and place the images in order.
• You reveal the answers (and do your teacher thing to debrief), students put those images back in the baggie. You call the next color timeline and they repeat.

Wall timeline:

• If you have advanced students - or really want to challenge a class, have them tape up the images in order - or do a human timeline. The images do not repeat.

Why do I love this activity:

• Students are discussing history on day one. No boring syllabus!
• It's hand-on and interactive!
• It gives students a "taste" of what they will learn in your class.
• You get to see who are your "history stars" one day one - which is valuable info for the rest of the year.

What's included:

1. 8 mini timelines - EVERYTHING IS EDITABLE in PowerPoint
2. 2 versions of the key
3. Optional student recording sheet
4. Detailed instructions