Crafting My Story

Overview

In this fourth lesson of Exploring Personal Histories, students transform their previously written personal timelines into visual timelines. They select meaningful events, represent them with drawings or photographs, and practise placing events in a clear sequence while expressing their own identity and experiences.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• turn information from a written timeline into pictures and simple labels
• sequence personal events from earlier to later
• use drawings or photographs to represent significant experiences
• share a personal story respectfully and listen to others

Success criteria

• I can choose important events from my timeline.
• I can put my events in the correct order.
• I can draw or attach a photograph to show each event.
• I can tell someone what one picture on my timeline means.

Curriculum links

• Sorting and recording information using pictorial timelines and pictorial representations.
• Collecting, sorting and recording information from provided sources, including unscaled timelines.
• Using photographs, drawings and personal objects as sources of information about the past.
• Creating a visual representation that communicates information about a person or significant event.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Reconnect and hook. Teacher displays the opening image and asks, “How can a picture tell part of someone’s story?” using the story-picture introduction. Students turn and talk about what the image might show and recall that timelines help us put events in order.

2. 5–12 min · Model a visual timeline. Teacher revisits the learning intention on the learning intention and example timeline slides and models choosing three events from a simple written timeline, drawing or adding a photograph for each, and connecting them with a line or arrows. Students help identify which event happened first, next and last, and suggest a suitable picture or label.

3. 12–17 min · Explore choices. Teacher shows examples of drawings and photographs on the choice-and-sequencing slides and explains that students may use drawings, printed family photographs, or a combination; students do not need to share private information. Students quietly look through their written timeline and identify three or four events they would like to show.

4. 17–35 min · Create visual timelines. Teacher distributes the personal visual timeline template and supports students to transfer their selected events, drawing or attaching one image for each and adding a word or short sentence. Students create their individual timelines, using arrows or a line to show the sequence; the teacher conferences with students, checking that the order is clear and recording observations.

5. 35–41 min · Partner storytelling. Teacher displays the sharing prompts on the partner-sharing slides and pairs students thoughtfully, reminding them to ask permission before looking closely at a photograph. Students take turns explaining one or more timeline pictures using the stem, “This shows … It is important to me because …”, while their partner listens and asks, “What happened next?”

6. 41–45 min · Reflect and review. Teacher returns to the success criteria on the reflection and closing slides and invites several students to share a strategy that helped them show time passing. Students hold up or point to their first event, then complete a brief oral exit response: “My timeline shows …” or “One picture I chose was … because …”.

Resources

• the complete visual timeline slide deck
• the personal visual timeline template
• Students’ written timelines from the previous lesson
• Optional family photographs supplied by families
• Glue sticks, pencils, crayons, textas and coloured pencils
• Scissors and blank paper for students who need additional space
• Teacher example of a completed visual timeline
• Document camera or interactive whiteboard
• Individual folders for storing completed timelines

Assessment

• During modelling, ask students to identify first, next and last events and explain how pictures can represent information.
• During independent work, check that each student selects meaningful events, sequences them correctly and includes a drawing or photograph with a label.
• During partner sharing, listen for students explaining the meaning of an image and using time-order language. Record students requiring further support with sequencing or communicating their ideas.

Differentiation

• Provide a reduced template with three large boxes, visual prompts for “first”, “next” and “last”, and a teacher or aide scribing labels for students who need fine-motor, language or writing support.
• Offer sentence starters such as “First …”, “Then …”, “Finally …”, and “This picture shows …”. Allow students to draw, dictate, use copied words or attach a photograph rather than write independently.
• For EAL/D learners, preview and gesture key words such as first, next, last, before, after, picture and important. Invite students to explain their timeline using home language, gestures or a bilingual peer before sharing in English.
• Students who finish early may add a title, a key describing symbols, or a fourth event, then explain how their timeline would change if one event were moved.