The space where the walls meet the ceiling is often an unused space yet it lends
itself to being decorated with a time line
(see photograph). Cutting self-adhesive
paper into strips, marking decades with
either stickers or electrical tape, and then
using dye-cut numbers to label each mark
enables any teacher to create a time line
inexpensively. Content can be added
collaboratively with students, reflecting
topics in the official curriculum as well as
historical and current events that intrigue
the children.
Co-constructing a time line (rather
than simply purchasing one) can foster
cross-curricular connections and make
history a part of everyday conversations.
For example, when a school-wide celebration of Dr. Seuss takes place, we note on the time line the year that Theodore
Geisel was born (1904) and when particularly beloved books by him were
published. Similarly, to acknowledge
community cultural celebrations such
as St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo,
teachers can move beyond the leprechauns and piñatas that are associated
in popular culture with these events to
study their historical origins and cultural associations. For example, students
can affix images of potatoes to identify
the years of the Irish Potato Famine,
or images of corn to identify when the
armies of Mexico defeated those of
France. Such activities use celebrations
to introduce the concept of immigration
as a characteristic of our society and thus
foster conversations about why people
move. This country has been created by
groups of people who have shared ideas
and aspects of culture, creating things
that are uniquely American, like jazz.
Even young students can observe and discuss our changing cultural landscape.
For example, since 2000, U.S. consumers have been buying more salsa than
ketchup. Now why would that happen?
Having a large co-constructed time
line high on the wall sets the scene for
adding smaller visual representations of
time around the room, such as calendars
(a modern one as well as a Mesoamerican
365-day agricultural calendar, or xiuhpohualli),8
and personal time lines (on
paper or as Mesoamerican talking knots
or quipu, such as those described in
Knots on a Counting Rope.)9
Having a
time line always on display provides a
scaffold for children’s sense of time by
giving them a concrete frame of reference.
Comparing illustrations in books they
are reading with pictures on their time
line helps them determine the historical
contexts of stories—and, perhaps more
importantly, makes “When did this happen?” a question they ask when reading.