Timeglider

What I did:  Family history is one of my hobbies. I chose 1864 to chronicle because, like most US families, mine was in crisis.  The Little family lived in southwestern Pennsylvania.  They were ordinary people:  coal miners and farmers.  The cruel war hit them hard. Sometimes I think how hard life was for them.  Daniel Little, my great-great-grandfather was a soldier in the Civil War.  At the same time he was caring for his family and his brother Mathew's family. Mathew died in the war in September of that year, shortly before Daniel had to begin his service. No doubt Daniel was also caring for his elderly parents nearby and his sister's family.  Daniel's sister's husband was missing in action, never to be heard from again.

This was a fun project and I'm pleased with the way the presentation turned out.  As the year 1864 progresses, we can see these dramatic events unfolding and empathize with the family. We can see events overlapping, and understand how overwhelming it must have been for them.

What I Learned:  I learned how to use Timeglider.  It's a free program. I had never heard of it.  This was an orderly way of presenting historical information that I've been collecting. I chose to just do one year in the life of this family, but I could have made it much broader by changing certain settings.

NETS-T:  This project aligns with
-Standard 2a, which states that teachers are to "design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity."  This application adds an element of interest rather than just a presentation of "dry facts".  History can be very dry to students unless they are encouraged to think about human aspects.
-Standard 3a, which states that teachers are to "demonstrate fluency in technology systems..."  This is an application that the teacher should model for frequent use in the classroom, and teach students how to use.

How It Can Be Used:  3rd and 4th graders are required to make timelines, but they usually hate it.  It's fussy and cumbersome for them to handwrite. They would enjoy doing a timeline this way.  It requires them to research dates for accuracy and to prioritize events as to significance.  It is fast and easy.

To navigate through Timeglider:  Click the green start button.  Locate the double blue arrows to go through the presentation.    >>forward,        << back. Significant events are in bigger letters.  Hold the cursor over the event to see. Click and a text box will appear with background info. Click the X to close the box.

I don't think it's done yet, because I haven't figured out how to get images on the Timeglider  I'll work on that more tomorrow.  Also it's saying I don;t have the right Adobe.  I'll have to play with that..

UPDATE:  I downloaded the latest Adobe, hoping that would do the trick.  It didn't.  I couldn't get any images to upload, from my computer or from Google.  I do think my date and events look nice.

Use this link to learn more and get started in Timeglider
Use this link to view my Timeglider history:  Oh, What a Year! 1864