DonnaYoung.org

Forms for Creating Timelines

Choose the format(s) that you like best and print on heavy paper. If you wish to color code your timeline, print on heavy colored paper. Although the files are shown as horizontal, turn them any way that is best for your timeline book.

To Use/Choices:

  • Write the dates on forms as you use them.
  • Place them in a 3-ring notebook or have them comb-bound.
  • Seek or draw figures from history to use on the forms. (:::Some purchase timeline figures, some cut them from old books, some find figures on the internet, some draw figures, some use captions without figures.:::)
  • Write captions on images or on plain paper. If timelines are white, write captions directly on forms. If printed on dark colored paper, write captions with gel pens.
  • Use rubber cement to glue figures to forms. (Rubber cement preferred because of its neatness, disliked because of its smell.)
  • Use the timeline resources list below to find concurrent events or research them at your library. Form TL2 is especially good for recording concurrent events. Suggested headings for concurrent events: Politics (list wars, leaders, political policies), Literature/Arts (list plays, literature, arts (paintings, sculptures, etc), architecture, and music including advances in said topics), Religion, Philosophy, Education, Daily Life (list events regarding religious rulers, births and deaths, etc, things of daily life, - plagues, things that improved life or worsened it, etc), Science, Technology (list advances in all sciences, including scientists (birth and deaths) inventions, scientific books, etc.)

The outline below is a general suggestion on how you could date your timeline templates. Remember that you do not have to date them until you are about to use them.

Numbering the templates:

  1. 5000 BC-1000BC ---1000 years per template
  2. 1000BC- 100BC ---100 years per template
  3. 100BC-1000AD ---50 years per template
  4. 1000-1800 --- 20 years per template
  5. 1800-present --- 10 years per template

Timeline Resources:

An excellent resource for timelines is:
The Timetables of History, New 4th Revised Edition A Horizontal Linkage of People & Events
By Bernard Grun / Simon & Schuster

Online images resource:
Historical Figures
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