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Students make human timeline

* Education - * Academics

Written by Carrie Alexander

Thursday, 19 February 2009 01:00

Class learns about history, language

Fourth-grade teacher Mandy Shanks is always looking for new and innovative ways to engage her students in their lessons. Recently she took advantage of Presidents Day to teach her students about transition words. Carrie Alexander/The Kearney Courier — Fourth-grade students in Mandy Shank’s classroom arrange themselves in order to create a human timeline of President Barack Obama’s life. Shanks used the timeline to teach her students about transition words, American history and current events. Students were instructed to place themselves in order with out speaking to one another.

Carrie Alexander/The Kearney Courier — Fourth-grade students in Mandy Shank’s classroom arrange themselves in order to create a human timeline of President Barack Obama’s life. Shanks used the timeline to teach her students about transition words, American history and current events. Students were instructed to place themselves in order with out speaking to one another.

To achieve this she explained how words like “first,” “then” and “finally” can be used to demonstrate the order of events or how things should take place by having her class create a human timeline of America’s newest president, Barack Obama.

Each student was given a significant date in the president’s life from birth to being sworn in as president. Without speaking to one another the students had to put themselves in chronological order depending on their event.

Afterward, the students continued the lesson by creating timelines of presidents they had been studying and researching. Shanks said students not only learned about transition words but also about current events and American history.

“It’s just something different that the kids enjoy doing,” Shanks said. “By involving and engaging them they are more likely to retain the information.”

Staff writer Carrie Alexander can be reached at 628-6010 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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