History Review Lesson
Lesson Idea: Time Line-up
Level: intermediate
Purpose: A culminating activity to
review historical events from early US settlement to the present.
Materials: construction paper, markers
Time: 25 minutes to an hour
Activity:
1. On construction paper, in large letters, write the names of important
historical events that the class has studied. Here are some examples:
Christopher Columbus came to America.
Pilgrims sailed on the Mayflower.
Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
The US Colonies won the Revolutionary War.
George Washington became the first president.
The North and South fought the Civil War.
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
The allies won World War II.
The United Nations was formed.
Alaska and Hawaii became US states.
Martin Luther King led the Civil Rights Movement.
2. Mix up the pages, pass them out to individual students, and have
them stand up at the front of the room. Challenge the group to arrange
themselves in chronological order, that is, "make a line that shows
what happened from the beginning to the end." If necessary, have
students identify which event happened first, and place that person
at the beginning of the line. Then ask, "What happened after that?"
Students should be able to take it from there. Students who have not
been assigned a historical event can participate by helping the other
students to arrange themselves.
3. When the line is complete, have any students who are left at their
seats (or the line as a whole) review it and check to see that all of
the events are in the correct order.
4. Do a quick run-through of each of the events to see if students
can recall a date or decade for each event, and the key people and places
involved.
5. If you wish to extend the activity, have the line remain standing
where they are. Tell students that you are thinking of a particular
event, and give hints to describe it. When students guess the event
correctly, have the person holding that particular event page sit down
until all of the events have been selected. Some examples:
There were 48 states before. Now there are 50.
(Alaska and Hawaii became states)
The leaders of the 13 colonies sent a letter to the King of England.
(Declaration of Independence)
It happened in 1492.
(Columbus came to America.)
Test practice
Set up mini-interview role plays and review the history questions from
the INS sample questions list. Ask each "examinee" five questions.
