Timelines with Jamboard

More fun with Jamboard!    Contributed by Ginny Steinhagen

In German 1004, I usually do an in-class activity where I give each student a sheet of a paper with a historical event on it, and ask them to move themselves into chronological order. I call this a "living timeline."  This semester, I'm using Jamboard to create a timeline of events mentioned in their textbook. Even though students have seen these events in a timeline in their textbook, they often still struggle to remember when the various events happened.  

To recreate the “hands-on” aspect of students organizing themselves into chronological order, I made a timeline on a Jamboard and had them work in small groups to put the events in the proper order.  

To make the background image, I used Google Slides

1. In Google Slides, go to the Insert menu, click on “diagram”, and you will have several choices.

  

2. I created the timeline, and then saved it as a JPEG file. Go to File menu, click on download, and save as JPEG.

To make the timeline for my course, I used Jamboard

1. On my “German history” Jamboard, I uploaded the image of the timeline. 

2. Then I created sticky notes with various events on them.  

3. Finally, I made copies of this frame for each small group of students to use in class to organize their own timelines.  

  

When students were done ordering the events, I asked them to brainstorm additional information.  They could add a specific date for an event, information on who was involved, or the significance.  

This is a good warm up activity for a discussion of these events as it gives students  a chance to discuss what they know in small groups, and more students are willing and able to contribute to the discussion.