The Context Timeline

Each year I find my students' gaps in historical perspective astounding. They're frequently interested in Black History, and we often read poems by authors such as Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Sorjourna Truth and the speeches and letters of Dr. King. Yet, it's rare that a student can tell me when (approximately) slavery ended, or when and why segregation ended, or how the two relate. This year, when asked, "Who knows anything about the Civil Rights Movement?" One student raised his hand and said, "When they dumped the tea into the harbor?"

It is important that my students understand the historical context within which these - and other works of different historical significance - were written. Not only that, but it is important to understand the historical distance between various time periods from each other and from the present. I have the "Context Timeline" running along the back wall near the ceiling. As we read works that are either set in a particular historical period, or that were written within a particular historical period of significance, we'll hang these colored index cards on the timeline to put an order to history.

Incidentally, it's also a good springboard for mini-lessons on why the 18th century isn't the 1800s, the more inclusive purpose for using C.E. and B.C.E., and the youth of our nation. While I know I don't teach social studies, I think it's important for teachers to cross curricula whenever they can.