By:

Rachel Baucum, McKayla Dafoe, & Tesia Friederich 

Albert Einsteins Life Using Timetoast

What exactly is a Timetoast?

http://www.timetoast.com Timetoast is a free and easy online tool that enables users to create a timeline of anything, and anyone.  Once finished, your timeline is viewable by anyone around the world, and it is ideal for the classroom setting.  Students can easily create their timelines, and share them with the rest of the students in your class, and even the rest of the school.  Students can even insert things like text, pictures, videos, and links into their timelines, making them even more effective. 

A great way to understand how exactly you use Timetoast is to watch this extra informative video: 

How can I use a Timetoast in my classroom? 

First: As the teacher, you will need to create an account that the rest of the class will be able to access.  This includes setting up the username, and password.  REMEMBER: Make the username and password student friendly, and something that will be easy for them to type and remember. 

Second: Decide whether or not you want your students to be able to search the internet for pictures.  If this is not something you think you will want, create an easy access folder for them to choose pictures from. 

Third: Have a mini-lesson on how to log onto Timetoast, how to create an event, and how to insert pictures and files.  Really make it easy for your students so that it is as stress-free as possible!

Fourth: Check the students' work, and if it is complete, have them publish it!  That way the rest of their classmates can view each others' timelines.  

Fifth: Give them a grade for their hard work!

How can I use a Timetoast specifically for social studies?

The great thing about a Timetoast is that it is PERFECT for social studies!  Students can create timelines of specific people in history, specific events in history, or even a broad time span of history.     

Example of Timetoast for social studies:

vhttp://www.timetoast.com/timelines/albert-einstein--67 - (Content: Social Studies - Albert Einstein) This is a wonderful timeline of Albert Einstein's life.  It explains his entire life including his main discoveries.  You can view the timeline in text form if that is easier for the students.  Also, when a student clicks over a certain date it gives you more information about that event.  This will be very handy if students are learning about Albert Einstein's history.  Also, he was a big part during WWII, so when students are learning about this era they can learn about him.  It gives background to his life in Germany, him traveling to the United States and how he helped out during the war.  

Additional examples of Timetoast for social studies:

World War II - http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/world-war-two-timeline--42 - This is a great timeline because it shows students about World War II in a very interactive way.  It has all the important dates and what happened on those dates.  Students can click on certain dates and learn about what happened at that time.  This is a great introduction to World War II because it gives some detail but it does not overwhelm students.  Then as more students gain more knowledge about World War II they can either add to the timeline or make their own timeline. 

Cheyenne Indians - http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/cheyenne-indians--2 - This is a good timeline to discuss the life of Native Americans.  I know that students learn a lot about them, so it would be nice for them to have a timeline to see when it all happened.  Then as students learn more about these Native Americans they can fill in notes and other important events.  Also, the timeline goes into detail if you click on a certain event.  This will help students get a summary of the life of Native Americans.  Using a timeline will be a good start for the children and then they can add in their own thoughts.   

What are some other ways that Timetoast is used to support learning?

http://www.eduplace.com/ss/act/celtime.htm - This is a lesson plan for a second grade timeline. It is focused on holidays and major events in a year and helps students develop a sense of linear time and distance between events. The materials section calls for paper and other items to make a physical timeline, however, the same basic structure could be used for creating an online timeline, either individually or in groups.  

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/history-culminating-activity--2 - This is an example of one student’s final project for a history unit, completed on Timetoast. Something similar to this could be used as a culminating activity, though anything this extensive should probably be reserved for grade 5-6, and possibly going into Middle School. This timeline is focused on American History, from the Great Depression through the nineteen-seventies.

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/ben-franklin-timeline.cfm - This is a timeline lesson plan for a whole-class project around the life and accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin. This plan is for any grade between k-5, and has each student or group researching a particular accomplishment, which the class then puts together into a finished work. While the lesson plan call for a paper finished timeline, the basic structure could easily be turned into a computer-based assignment.

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/famous-fourth-grade-people - This is a timeline put together on Timetoast by a fourth grade class. They focused on important historical figures. This could be a good starting point or idea for most grades, depending on the depth and group size being used. Some of the people this timeline focuses on include Christopher Columbus and Sacajawea.  

https://www.mycapstonelibrary.com/PDF/Timeline-LessonPlan.pdf - This is a link to a lesson plan for grades 4-7. It is designed to help students develop a better understanding and greater interest in history. While this particular lesson plan uses a worksheet that students fill out, it could easily be modified to use the Timetoast website or any other site for making timelines. 

Sources used:

www.sites4primary.com 

http://www.timetoast.com