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How Time Flies!

Students will reflect on changes that occurred around them over time and document them in an illustrated layered book.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

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  • Paper
  • Stapler and Staples

Steps

  • Step 1

    Have students think about the passage of time and changes that have taken place around them. Are their surroundings different? Do they have a younger sibling they've watched grow over the years? How are they themselves different? How much have they grown? How have their clothing styles changed?

  • Step 2

    Ask them to choose one area to focus on and document the changes over time. Then have them create a layered book by cutting several pieces of paper into progressive lengths so that when they're stacked smallest to largest and in chronological order from earliest to latest, the edge of each piece can be seen. They can put an indicator of the time or date in the upper righthand corner.

  • Step 3

    Have students illustrate the pages of the book to show the progression of changes over time chronologically. They can finish by stapling the pages together.

  • Step 4

    Ask students to present their books and discuss the time period and subjects they depicted.

Standards

SS: Time, Continuity, and Change: Read, reconstruct, and interpret the past. Imagine the future. Place oneself in various times and spaces and reflect on change.

MATH: Elicit evidence of thinking about time as a measurement.

Adaptations

During a school day, pause every hour and have students take a few moments to look out the window and draw what they see. Are the clouds drifting? How do the shadows change? Who comes and goes? Compile them in chronological order at the end of the day and discuss all the changes that occur right outside their window.

Have students watch a time-lapse video online. They might choose the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly or a seed being planted and developing into a flower or any other event that intrigues them.