• Oct. 4, 2007
Timeline
I wanted to tell everyone about the timeline we made. It is just so nifty and I thought it might be helpful to someone else as well.
I wanted a timeline that we could stretch out and see the big picture. But I also wanted to be able to put it in a notebook when I needed the wall space for something else. So this is what I came up with.
I bought a package of white cardstock. You need 27 pages. This will be put into 2 seperate sections. (Unless you have a wall that is 27ft long!) Cut 1 1/2 inches off the top of 23 of the pages. Leave the other 4 pages the original length. These are your end pieces. This is so that when the timeline is folded up, it can go into a notebook and turn pages easily. You will however need a notebook that holds the pages horizontally instead of the usual way.
After your pages are cut, you need to draw a line near the top of each page. My hubby did this for me. He used our countertop to put as many pages in a row that would fit and then used his big level to draw the line. A yard stick would also work.
When your main line is drawn, you need to mark it off. Here is the scale that I used.
Each mark is 2 inches apart.
3100 BC-1400 AD each mark is 100 years
1420 AD-1620 AD each mark is 20 years
1725 AD-2030 AD each mark is 5 years
I also color coded my line marks by time period, but that is certainly optional. Here is my key.
Creation-600 BC Ancient Civilizations (Dark Green)
500 BC- 499 AD Classical World (Red)
500-1100 AD Early Middle Ages (Purple)
1101-1460 AD Middle Ages (Black)
1461-1600 AD Renaissance and Reformation (Blue)
1601-1707 AD Trade and Empire (Pink)
1708-1835 AD revolution and Independence (Green)
1836-1914 AD Unification and Colonization(Orange)
1914-1949 AD World at War (Lt. Green)
1950-Today Modern World (Red)
(Note: I numbered my pages on the back to help keep them in order. It is also helpful when it comes time for laminating.)
I began with a page for creation. This will be one of the longer pages. This one is not labeled with dates. The next 12 pages will be the shorter ones. The 14th page is another long one. My last mark for this first section was 1720 AD (lt.green for those of you using the colors)
(Yes, I did put my 1st section on the bottom instead of the top. That is what we're studying this year. It's easier for Taylor to reach that way.)
After your 1st section is marked off, you can begin your 2nd section. Remember to start with a long page. My 2 sections ended up being the same length, but if you'll look closely in the picture you can see that I added an extra page because I numbered the same time period twice. Sigh. So anyway your second section should have 11 short pages and 2 long pages.
Once ALL the labeling and color-coding is done, you're ready to laminate. If you have a small laminator or know someone who does it is so easy. Just feed the pages through IN ORDER and leave a small space between pages. (For when you want it folded up.) Do not cut until one whole section is through.
If you don't have access to a laminator you can either leave it unlaminated (which you're not going to want to do after putting all this work into it), or use clear contact paper and do each page individually. The you can use packing tape to hook the pages together. Again, be sure to leave a small space between each page.
That's it! Hang it up or put it in a book! Now your ready to add figures.
