Overview

How to develop pupils’ understanding of chronology at key stages 1 and 2

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Section 6: Examples of classroom activities that can be used in day-to-day lessons to reinforce and challenge pupils’ chronological understanding

This section presents a sample of activities that can be used on a day-to-day basis to reinforce and challenge pupils’ chronological understanding. Most are intended to be short, active and multi-sensory, and they include such tasks as creating lists and timelines in writing, physical representation and movement, card-sorts, constructive talking and listening, completing diagrams, use of ICT and a variety of other techniques.

Select the ones that are most appropriate to the needs of your pupils, but only use them as part of a longer-term, coherent plan for developing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of chronology.

Key stage 1 activities

Activity	Related vocabulary	Year
1. Old and new – sorting Pupils can be asked to bring in objects. The class can then discuss differences between the objects. Pupils can then be asked to place each object in one of two hoops labelled ‘old’ and ‘new’.Pupils can also have specific collections of artefacts, such as toys or household objects, which they can sort in the same way.	Old, new	Foundation stage/Y1
2. Sequencing three-dimensional objects (1) Pupils can be presented with three or four three-dimensional objects, such as teddy bears, toys or household objects from distinct periods that are distant from each other. Pupils can be asked to organise the objects by placing the oldest one on the left through to the newest object on the right.	Old, new, oldest, newest, before, after, a long time ago, a very long time ago	Y1
3. Sequencing photographs (1) Pupils are presented with a collection of four photographs of familiar objects such as toys, household objects, cars from distinct periods that are distant from each other. Pupils can be asked to organise the objects by placing the oldest one on the left through to the newest object on the right.	Old, new, oldest, newest, before, after a long time ago, a very long time ago	Y1
4. Sequencing three-dimensional objects (2) Pupils are presented with three or four three-dimensional objects, such as teddy bears, toys or household objects from distinct periods which are closer together in time. Pupils can be asked to organise them by placing the oldest object on the left through to the newest one on the right.	Old, oldest, older, new, newer, newest Now, then, first, last	Y1/Y2
5. Sequencing photographs (2) Pupils are presented with a collection of four photographs of familiar objects such as toys, household objects that are closer together in time. Pupils can be asked to organise the objects by placing the oldest one on the left through to the newest one on the right.	Old, oldest, older, new, newer, newest Now, then, first, last	Y1/Y2
6. All about me Pupils can bring photographs of themselves as a baby and a recent photograph. The class can discuss differences between babies and 4 and 5 year olds. Pupils can be asked to make a book to illustrate the differences they have identified. It is often a good idea for the class teacher to bring in photographs as well. In addition, the book Jack’s Basket by Alison Catley (ISBN 0099596806) offers support for this activity.	Young, before, after, now	Foundation stage/Y1
7. Familiar adults and change (1) Pupils can be asked to bring in photographs of their parents/guardians at different stages of their lives. These activities extend pupils’ understanding of change over time from themselves to other people. Pupils can discuss the differences in a set of photographs, such as hair and clothing styles. Pupils can be asked to sequence pictures of babies, schoolchildren, young adults, middle-aged people and elderly people. Pupils should be asked to organise the pictures by placing the oldest object on the left through to the newest object on the right.	Old, young, before, after, older, younger, first, last, beginning, middle, end	Foundation stage/Y1
8. Familiar adults and change (2) Pupils can be asked to sequence objects belonging to people of different ages, eg a rattle, a skipping rope, shoes, an umbrella. Pupils might also be asked to match objects to people, eg a baby to a rattle.	Old, young, before, after, older, younger, a long time ago, a very long time ago	Foundation stage/Y1
9. Familiar adults and change (3) The adults that make up the school staff can be asked to bring in two photographs, one that depicts them as a baby and one that has been taken recently. These photographs can be displayed on a large display board. The pupils have to try to guess which baby photograph goes with which adult.	Old, young, before, after, older, younger	Y1/Y2
10. Chronology walk Pupils can be taken on a walk around a safe locality and asked to locate objects that are old and those that are new. Street furniture provides a good opportunity to complete this activity: look out for post boxes, telephone boxes, lamp posts, houses etc during the walk. Photographs can be taken that will be useful for further sequencing work back in the classroom.	Old, new, before, after	Y1/Y2
11. Sequencing stories/nursery rhymes Pupils can be asked to order the events of a story or nursery rhyme. The story or nursery rhyme can be turned into a picture story, with each specific event being depicted in an A4 picture. The children are given the pictures and have to organise these in the correct chronological sequence. A more difficult activity can be to give the pupils the text of the story that has been placed in the wrong order. Pupils can work in small groups to try to put the story or nursery rhyme back into the correct order.	Old, young, before, after, older, younger, first, last, beginning, middle, end	Y1/Y2
12. My day Pupils can be asked to sort pictures under headings, eg what happens in the morning, afternoon and evening. Pupils can then be asked to create a picture book of their day.	Morning, afternoon, night time, before, after
13. Chronology role play The pupils are introduced to a scene from a familiar story or nursery rhyme, which they have to act out. The pupils are then asked to formulate a drama sequence that demonstrates what came immediately before or after the given event.	Before, after, first, last, next, past	Y1/Y2
14. Sequencing events in history stories The topics contained within key stage 1 detail the history of significant people such as Florence Nightingale or Mary Seacole. Pupils can listen to these stories and then be asked to prepare a chronological sequence of the main events of these people’s lives.	Before, after, first, last, next, past	Y1/Y2
15. The lost suitcase or time box The teacher can start the lesson by presenting the pupils with an old suitcase (‘time box’) which they have ‘found’ when tidying out their attic (or when digging in the garden). The pupils take out the objects within the suitcase one by one, discussing each one in turn. The pupils can then be asked to sequence the objects in a chronological order and to guess when the suitcase was lost and who it might have belonged to.	Old, young, before, after, older, younger, first, last, beginning, middle, end, a long time ago, a very long time ago	Y1/Y2
16. Our day/week Pupils can discuss what happens on different days in school. Pupils can make charts showing the activities that happen on different days. They may also be asked to create their own weekly timetable of activities that they would like the class to do if they were in charge.	O’clock, hours, yesterday, today, tomorrow, days of the week	Y1
17. Seasons: timeline of seasons Pupils can draw pictures showing what happens during different seasons. They can sort pictures of the seasons and relate these to the months of the year. Poems, songs and stories can be used to extend pupils’ ability to describe what happens at different times of years. Further work could involve pupils investigating how festivals, eg Christmas, Easter, link with seasons.	Spring, summer, autumn, winter	Y1/Y2
18. Timeline: months of the year (1) Pupils can indicate their birthday on a class graph. The teacher can employ the graph to discuss how many children have a birthday in each month. Pupils can discuss what happens in different months, eg the weather, holidays, religious festivals such as Divali. The pupils can learn the rhyme ‘Thirty days has September…’. They also might be taught the origins of the names of the months.	Months of the year, this year, next year	Y1/Y2
19. Timeline: months of the year (2) Pupils can be introduced to photographs from a range of commercially produced calendars. They can discuss the choices of pictures in each of these calendars to observe whether any reasons exist for the selection of specific pictures, eg newborn lambs for March or April; snow-laden trees for December. Additionally, children might be given a selection of pictures they can employ to create their own season calendar that uses the months of the year.	Months of the year, this year, next year	Y1/Y2
20. Clock time and links to mathematics Many activities completed during the numeracy hour link directly to the development of chronological understanding. For example, pupils can order their day using the correct mathematical terminology. They can use clock faces and appointment times to draw a linear timeline of their day.	O’clock, mid-day, morning, afternoon, quarter past, half past	Y2
21. Washing line and chronology A washing line can be strung across the classroom. This provides a valuable resource that can be used to sequence all manner of objects and pictures. This resource can be used for question-and-answer sessions and may also be used for developing technical chronological language.	Old, young, before, after, older, younger, a long time ago, a very long time ago	Y1/Y2
22. Timelining familiar objects (ICT) Many of the timeline activities indicated above can be completed using programmes such as Softease. Programmes such as these also contain many sets of graphics that the pupils can employ to create timelines. An extension of this activity is for the pupils to create questions with which their peers might interrogate a database or completed timeline. For example, ‘By looking at the completed timeline, please give the colour of the oldest iron.’	Old, young, before, after, older, younger, first, last, a long time ago, a very long time ago	Y1/Y2
23. The development of technical vocabulary Young pupils are capable of understanding the technical vocabulary of chronology. It is very important that the teaching of this technical vocabulary begins early. There are numerous activities to support the development of this form of chronological understanding.	Decades, centuries, millennium, eighteenth century meaning 1750, AD, BC	Y1/Y2

Key stage 2 activities

a) Timeline activities

Many primary schools use timelines in an effort to promote chronology. However, timelines do not serve any useful purpose in the promotion of time concepts if merely used for display. Outlined below are activities that may be profitably employed to ensure that timelines become effective teaching tools within the primary classroom. It is important that before any of the outlined activities are commenced pupils have a secure understanding of what AD means. AD should be referred to as meaning after the birth of Christ.

1. Class teacher’s timeline

Events from your own life are a good starting point for the completion of an interesting timeline. The photograph of the teacher as a baby on the ubiquitous blanket never ceases to capture pupils’ imagination and can provide a stimulus for discussion. Many pupils have difficulty understanding where an adult’s lifeline fits into their own experience. Their understanding can be improved if pupils are given the dates of their teacher’s lifeline so that they might compare it with their own.

2. AD timelines

It is important when you introduce the AD timeline that pupils are allowed to discuss what the line shows and how it is organised. The issue of placing the past on the left needs to be discussed and taught. Also, it is important for pupils to realise, when using the AD timeline, that the numbers become larger the closer that the dates are to the present.

3. Children’s personal timeline

Figure one
A useful follow-up to the teacher’s timeline is to allow pupils to construct their own personal timelines that employ dates. Your pupils can place pictures (either photographs or drawings) of events such as their birthday, first day at school etc onto a timeline (see figure 1). These lines can be extended to take in the lives of both parents and grandparents. This activity is useful in that it begins to develop the idea that time existed before the pupil was born. Many pupils are aware of events ‘beyond their living memory’ but have difficulty organising these into a coherent whole, and this is where timelines can be useful. Timelines should be an ongoing feature of a pupil’s work; their personal timelines can be affixed into history books or indeed into their Record of Achievement folders. Subsequent work can then be added to the timeline as children encounter new historical periods, events and people. This work slowly develops their chronological understanding and allows pupils a practical reference tool for the coherent sequencing of their historical knowledge.

4. Large class AD timeline (1)

A class timeline is a beneficial teaching tool because it enables a clear representation of the past to be seen by large groups. Although many commercial timelines are available, care should be taken in their selection. Horizontal rather than vertical timelines should be used, as these appear to cause less confusion than spiral helixes or zig-zag lines. It is important from the outset to represent centuries distinctly on the timeline. This can be done effectively by colour coding these dates. Through discussion it can be explained to the pupils that the chances of a person living through more than one hundred-year period is highly unlikely. This coding approach is useful and does not necessarily have to involve dates. By constantly referring to these lines, pupils quickly realise how the passage of time makes it impossible for certain people to still be alive. Pupils often believe that grandparents, because they sometimes look very old, were alive at the time of the Romans. By asking your pupils to count how many lines there are between now and when the Romans left Britain they will quickly realise their mistake.

5. Large class AD timeline (2)

An extension to the above activity is to collect photographs of older people who are living today and people who died in the 1800s (photographs of politicians and celebrities, for example, are easily downloaded from the internet). Label each photograph with the person’s date of birth. Then, inform the pupils that it is unusual for any person to live for more than a hundred years. Now ask them to work out, by using the century colour lines, which of the people might still be alive today.

6. Large class AD timeline (3)

Another beneficial activity is to construct a large timeline and place it in the school hall. Assemblies can be based around each year group bringing out their history work and sequencing it on this large timeline, discussing some of the facets of that period.

7. AD ‘time rulers’

Smaller AD timelines can be stuck onto a pupil’s ruler, providing a ‘ready reckoner’ when referring to historical periods. They are helpful for ‘quickfire’ questions such as ‘Who came first in time, the Vikings or the Victorians?’ or more difficult questions such as ‘How long is it since the Romans invaded Britain?’ Pupils can use these rulers as a guide to sequence the topics that they encounter. When pupils place periods upon a timeline it is important that you discuss the relationship of each unit to the others. If units are taught in isolation it can lead to some quite remarkable mistakes, such as pupils thinking that the Second World War came before the Vikings because the picture shown of the war was in black and white while that of the Vikings was in colour.

b) The usage of dates

A common misconception is that primary aged pupils cannot understand dates and so they should not be taught. However, more recent research has developed activities that seem to enhance children’s abilities in dealing with dating conventions.

AD dating activities

1. AD people’s cards

A set of cards can be made quite easily if you use a computer and scanner and download pictures from the internet, or indeed by pasting and sticking pictures onto blank playing cards. The set of cards could include three or four people from the teacher’s own life and that of the school’s. As indicated below, each card should contain several AD dates: a birthday, first day at school and occasions such as a wedding. If the card contains these options it can be used several times. At the most basic level pupils can sequence the cards using each date in turn. The activity can be made more challenging by adding further people, such as those indicated in the national curriculum, as well as ‘ordinary’ people from the children’s locality.

2. AD period cards

Further sets of cards can be constructed that deal with historical periods such as those of the Vikings, Saxons etc, and then similar sequencing activities as outlined above could be employed. When pupils are confident in these activities the next step is to look directly at specific dating conventions.

3. AD people cards – decades

A number of activities appear to work well in the development of the decade dating convention. For example, pupils can be asked to group their cards, for instance all people born in the 1920s or all who died in the 1930s.

4. AD people cards – centuries (1)

In this activity pupils can be asked to group their cards by century, eg by grouping all those people born in the 1900s or those who died in the 1800s. The employment of centuries should be introduced gradually and reinforced constantly if pupils are to correctly understand the temporal terminology.

5. AD people cards – centuries (2)

By using the large class timelines, explain and discuss how the years in the 1900s can be labelled as the ‘twentieth century’, making specific reference to the colour-coded sections of the timeline (eg ‘these years here that are labelled in green relate to the twentieth century’). Pupils can be asked to group their cards according to who died in the twentieth century and who did not. When the pupils are confident in the usage of the twentieth century, they can be introduced to the eighteenth century and so on.

6. Quick-fire chronology starters and plenary activities

Introduce quick-fire starter/plenary activities to your lessons. An activity that is beneficial as a quick starter is ‘time snap’, in which you explain to pupils that a ‘snap’ can occur with any card that has, say, a birth date in the 1950s or, if using centuries, in the 1800s or the nineteenth century. Start by showing your people cards in rapid succession, and give points to the individual pupil or team who provides the quickest correct answer. This game fosters discussion about time, especially when the pupils argue out the reason why they think their card is right as opposed to the card selected by their peers.

7. Human timelines

Give each of your pupils a card with a person or object that lies on the AD timeline. The pupils can be asked to come out table by table and organise their cards (and themselves) into the correct chronological order.

BC dating activities

When you feel that your pupils are confident with the usage of AD dates, BC timelines can be introduced. Again ‘time’ must be taken and discussion used to explain what BC means; your pupils will quickly realise that this term means before Christ. Care should be exercised with the term BC; although specifically stated in the national curriculum it may not be a wholly appropriate term to use in isolation in your school. It is advisable when first introducing the BC timeline to limit it to 2000 BC. As the full BC timeline goes back some 15 billion years it would be somewhat confusing for pupils to encounter this amount of time straight away. When you introduce this timeline, allow plenty of opportunities for discussion. When pupils freely discuss their first impressions of this line, it is amazing what concepts they are able to develop without the aid of direct teacher intervention.

1. Shortened BC timeline

As with the AD timeline, similar cards can be made for BC people and events. It is also useful to give pupils their own BC time ruler. Pupils can be asked to complete similar activities as outlined above. Care should be taken to constantly reinforce the manner in which the BC dates are ordered, ie that 500 BC is closer to the present than 1000 BC. Work on this shortened BC timeline should not be rushed, and several weeks can be profitably spent completing sequencing and sorting activities using the shortened timeline.

2. BC timeline – a till roll activity

Introducing the ‘full’ BC timeline requires care, because pupils can be very easily confused by it. Many pupils believe that time starts when they are born and they have little comprehension of the vastness of time. To give some idea of how vast time is can be very difficult. However, if you purchase a number of till rolls and have a dry day and access to a playground, you can make a valiant attempt at it. Before starting this activity it is worth telling your pupils that you are going to take them on a journey back to the start of time. You give one pupil the end of the till roll and tell children that this end represents the current year. Then you carefully wind out about 30cm and say to the pupils this is when Jesus was born. It is at this point that you can start to ask numerous questions based on the people who appeared in your people card sorting exercises. For instance, ask ‘Where would Queen Cleopatra come?’ As you obtain answers you roll the paper out a little more, until you reach 2000 BC. At this point you can ask the pupils when they think the dinosaurs died out. Explain that they died out 65 million years ago, and then begin to wind out the tape. This can take some time and a number of children. Add in various periods of history that the children have studied – for instance the Egyptians – and use examples such as the dinosaurs to effectively demarcate the timeline. Physically you cannot create the full timeline. One estimate is that the roll of paper would need to go around the earth at least once, if not twice. However, this activity is a fun way of introducing BC dates, and allows some physical representation of the vastness of time. Moreover, pupils seem to remember this activity and use it to help them represent, in their own minds, how historical periods fit together.

3. BC timeline – people and period cards

The ‘till roll’ activity can be followed up with card sorting exercise as previously discussed, but this time using cards that span a greater period of BC time. Pictures of dinosaurs, Queen Cleopatra, Archimedes, the development of early peoples and the ‘Big Bang’ are good examples of cards that pupils respond well to.

4. AD and BC timelines

Once pupils have an understanding of the ‘full’ BC timeline, all the timelines can be joined together. It is important for pupils to discuss what happens at the join of the AD and BC timelines. You will need to combine the people and period cards employed previously. Initially start with four cards, two for BC and two for AD, and then over the next few lessons gradually build the cards up to a set of ten. The pupils can be asked to complete sequencing and sorting activities as outlined above.

5. AD and BC Timelines – Red Herrings

Produce a set of BC cards in colour and a set of AD cards in black and white and ask the pupils to complete sequencing activities as outlined above. This activity can cause extreme confusion at first and a lot of discussion as some pupils will incorrectly think that the black and white cards are the oldest. Through careful discussion and practical activities such as these pupils gradually became better at dealing with these ‘red herrings’.

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How to develop pupils' chronological understanding at key stages 1 and 2

How to develop pupils' chronological understanding at key stage 3

How to teach about interpretations at key stages 1 to 3

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