This Is My Life

Teaching Theme of the Week

by Gary Hopkins, Editor-in-Chief, Education World®

What will your students' lives be like in the future? Encourage them to create a time line of their lives that extends 50 years into the future.

Subjects: Language Arts, Health, Family Life, Vocational Education, Business

Grade Levels:K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Objectives
Students will:

• explore a time line of American women,
• explore their own dreams and goals, and
• create a time line of their lives from the perspective of 50 years in the future.

Keywords
women's history, United States, current events, trivia, biography, women, game

Materials Needed

• computer with Internet access (optional)
• Women in American History; if students are not able to view this Web site on their own computers, the teacher might use a projector to project the pages on a screen, print out selected time line pages to use as a student handout, create overhead transparencies of selected pages, or share other time line teaching materials
• print or online biographies of a famous American woman; some online resources include those found at Heroine Worship, Women's History Month Biographies, WW Women: History, or The First Ladies Gallery
• large sheets of drawing paper
• crayons or markers, pens

Procedure

Explore with older students the Women in American History time line from Encyclopedia Britannica or other time line resources. Discuss the purpose of time lines: to highlight significant events in chronological order.

With younger students or students without Internet access, read aloud a biography of a remarkable American woman and create on the chalkboard a time line of that woman's life. (See biography resources in the Materials section above.)

Invite students to create a time line of their own lives and to extend that time line 50 years into the future. Explain that the time line should depict their lives as they want them to be.

Encourage students to explore their talents, goals, and dreams before creating the time line. They might visit such Web sites as Find Your Ideal Career Track, Choosing a Career, Deciding Your Goals, and so on, before creating their time lines.

Encourage students to use their own time lines to develop plans for reaching future goals.

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