CREATING A TIMELINE WITH TIMETOAST

 

Creating a timeline is in my opinion very useful and helpful when reading a text.

After reading a text on the life of Shakespeare students are asked to create a timeline.

In order to do do so, they must understand the main events of his life. With this activity, my aim is for them to realise that they do not need to understand every single detail of the text but the most significant events of the life of Shakespeare. Besides, by adding images they will find it easier to remember important information.

They also learn to organise events in chronological order and I am sure that the use of Timetoast will be easy for them.

This is a very interesting task when reading not only a biography but a narrative too.  It helps them learn and separate the sequence of events.

I would also like to work this activity the other way round. That is, I give them the timeline and they must write a story or a biography from those events, so that’s another way of working on their writing skills. Another activity with Timetoast that could be interesting in the classroom would be for the students to prepare a presentation orally  (a biography, a historical event, etc)and a timeline that would show their classmates while speaking, so the rest of the class would find it much easier to understand it.

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/2433408

The text from which I have created the timeline is the following:
William Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, in England. His father was a glove maker, and they were not poor. His father became an important person in the town. William was the eldest boy in the family, so he had to help his father. One day, he went to a market with his younger brother, Edmund. Edmund slipped because it was muddy, and a young woman helped him to stand up. Her name was Anne Hathaway. After this meeting at the market, William and Anne fell in love, and they married in 1582. Anne gave birth to their first child, Susanna, in 1583. At first, William and Anne lived with William’s parents, but they moved to another house in 1584. Their son Hamnet, was born in 1585, but sadly he died when he was only eleven. In 1587 William moved to London. He asked his brother to look after his wife and children, and he sent money home to Stratford and visited when he could. During his career, he worked as an actor, and he also wrote thirty seven plays: seventeen comedies, ten histories and ten tragedies, as well as poems. Shakespeare became rich and famous, and he had enough money to buy an expensive house in Stratford, called ‘New Place’. His company of actors had enough money for a new theatre, The Globe, built in 1599. During a play in 1613, a fire started and The Globe burnt down. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but Shakespeare seems to have written less in the years after the accident. William only came back to Stratford for the last five years of his life. He died on his birthday, aged 52, in 1616, and was buried in a church in Stratford. His daughter Susanna inherited most of his money and possessions.

 

READING STRATEGIES

I am a secondary teacher and I teach students from about 11 to 18 years old. I usually work on the four basic skills in every class. In order to practice reading, I usually choose the texts from the textbook, although I often work on other texts I find interesting and appealing to them. 

First of all, we comment on the photos that accompany the text as well as the title and we try to predict the content of the text. We do this orally so as to practice speaking skills too. Prediction is really important before reading a text and also use our previous knowledge on the subject to think about the topic.

Then, we skim and scan the text, trying to ignore the vocabulary they are not familiar with and summarize orally the content of each paragraph, to check they are understanding the basic ideas of the text. For me, it is important for them to realise that they do not need to understand every single word in the text. Students often get frustrated when they don’t know the meaning of all the words. This way, I try to encourage them and show them that you can perfectly read a text without a dictionary.

After that, I ask my students to read the text again individually trying to remember as much information as possible. We write down the new words and summarise the text orally again and reflect on the ideas in the text and relate what they have read to their own experiences and knowledge.

Along this process, we have worked on reading and speaking. Afterwards, I let them some time to do some exercises related to the text in their notebook (answering questions, finding words or phrases in the text and so on).

To sum up, I could say that predicting, skimming, scanning and in-depth reading are the strategies I mainly use in my classes.

MY REFLECTIONS ON READING

Many reading habits of mine have changed since I finished school. When I was a teenager I used to like reading but it wasn’t one of my favourite hobbies. I was too “busy” meeting friends, studying o reading the mandatory books at school. However, in summer I used to read books that I chose, and definitely those did I enjoy.

Now, reading has become an important part of my life, and I enjoy reading both in Spanish and in English. The funny thing is that I don’t read the same kind of books in one language or the other. When I read in Spanish, I prefer reading thrillers or suspense novels, whereas when I read in English I tend to opt for more light-hearted novels, such as romantic or science-fiction novels.  I guess this is because when I read in Spanish I feel much more confident and I am sure I won’t miss any important details.

As we can see in the photos, not everybody reads for the same reasons. Many people read the newspaper to stay informed, whereas children usually read the books that teachers ask them to. Some prefer novels in order to be transported to a different place and time, whereas others read manuals or scientific books so as to study or for professional reasons.

The feelings when reading may vary significantly depending on the reasons why people read. If we talk about students reading the very same book chosen by the teacher, they will probably feel bored and not at all motivated. However, when you choose a book voluntarily your emotions can vary depending on your reasons.

In the first photo we can see a woman reading on an e-reader. I remember a few years ago, I used to criticise those devices. I definitely was an advocate of paper books. However, I got one for my birthday and my opinion changed drastically. They are much more practical. You can keep lots and lots of books “inside” and you don’t need extra room on your shelf. Also if you read in a second language you can use a dictionary that is already integrated on the device. Besides, books are much cheaper in this format. On the other hand, sometimes I feel nostalgic and I can’t help buying a paper book.

In the second picture, we have a very different reality which reminds me of when I was a student but also a very common image from the perspective as a teacher. Students reading a book which has been chosen for them has both a positive and a negative side. On the one hand, teachers choose a book suitable for their students’ age and also important to have a basic knowledge on literature. On the other hand, if they don’t like what they read they won’t make reading an enjoyable habit.

When reading I just have one rule for myself. If I don’t feel trapped by the story after reading about 40-50 pages, I quit the book. For me reading must be a pleasure, not an effort to make!

                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                           
                                                           

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