Critical & Creative Thinking Skills – Activity:
Timelines and Plot Profile

A Cooperative Learning Strategy

Introduction to Timelines
How to Creat a Timeline

• Creating a timeline with paper
• Creating a timeline with Google Document
• Creating a timeline with Microsoft Word
• Creating a timeline using Canva

Introduction to Plot Profile
How to Start Plot Profiles
Adaptations to Plot Profiles

Presentation
Resources
Examples within On the Job website

This page will include both Timelines and Plot Profiles separately and together.

Introduction to Timelines

Graphs, charts and tables are useful tools to measure progress or display information. Timelines are a basic, popular method of charting milestones, goals and important events that happen over a specific time.

A timeline is a diagram showing important events or milestones during a specific interval of time. The events appear chronologically along a line, usually from left to right on a horizontal line. This diagram can show large or small periods, but they typically focus on specific times where relevant events occur. You can use timelines to teach history by showing how and when important events happened in the past, but you may also use them to track future project milestones in IT projects or Hospitality events.

Creating a timeline can be useful when you need a visual representation of a sequence of events. This strategy can be used in English Literature to outline events and characters.

How to Creat a Timeline

You can easily create a timeline in only a few simple steps on paper or a computer program with specific chart and graph tools. A variety of software and templates are also available online. Since these diagrams are so basic, it's easy to customize them or change them to fit your needs, so pick a medium that works best for you.

Here are four ways to create a timeline:

Creating a timeline with paper

• Determine your purpose. Begin by thinking about what you want your timeline to accomplish. After you've decided on a purpose, gather your materials and do any necessary research.

• Get a writing utensil and paper. For quick timelines, a pencil or pen and paper are fine. Consider poster boards and markers to make your timeline large enough for your class mates to read for bigger projects or presentations.

• Draw a straight line across the page. A ruler can be helpful in guiding your line neatly. Remember to think about the placement of your line before drawing with markers or pens that you can't erase.

• Specify your time period. Write the intervals of time that your diagram measures. For example, if you measure from 1850 to 1950, write the name of each month at equal intervals along your line.

• Mark important dates and explain. For each event or goal, draw a line to the corresponding time it happened or should happen. Write the exact date or a close estimate and briefly explain the event or goal.

• Customize. Use colours, borders and shapes to customize your timeline. This can help differentiate information for readers and make the diagram more engaging.
  

Creating a timeline with Google Document

• Determine your purpose. Just like for a paper timeline, consider the purpose of your project before you start, and then gather the information you need to create the diagram.

• Open the program. Find the icon for Google Documents on your computer. When you click it, a new, blank document will open.

• Set the page's orientation to landscape. You want as much space as possible for your timeline. Since Google documents are default set to portrait (vertical orientation), you'll have to change the page's orientation to landscape (horizontal orientation). Click on the File menu in your Google document, then select "Page setup."

• Open the drawing tool. You can use the drawing tool, which is also Google's chart maker, to create a timeline. The built-in tool lets users draw lines, manipulate text and shapes, and add colour. To start, click on the Insert menu in your document. Select the Drawing option, and then click "+ New" to open a blank canvas, which will appear on top of your document.

• Create your timeline. From the top toolbar of your drawing canvas, click the drop-down button next to the Line tool, then select the Arrow option from the drop-down.

• Next, starting at one end of your canvas, click and drag the line horizontally to create the main timeline. To put arrows on the ends of your line, click on the Line start icon on the toolbar, and then pick an arrow type from the drop-down menu.

• Add timeline events or project tasks. Click on the boxed "T" text box tool, click on an area above or below the horizontal line, then type in a time or an event. Drag a corner or side of the box to resize and reposition the text box as needed. Copy and paste the first text box to duplicate the styling and format. Then edit the text as necessary. To connect tasks or events to their time points with vertical lines, go back to the Line tool in the toolbar, then select "Line" from the choices.

• Save your timeline. Click on the blue "Save and Close" button on the top right to add the timeline to your Google document. If you need to go back to the drawing canvas to make changes, simply double-click on the timeline.

Creating a timeline with Microsoft Word

• Determine your purpose. Just like for a paper timeline, consider the purpose of your project before you start, and then gather the information you need to create the diagram.

• Open the program. Find the icon for Microsoft Word on your computer. When you click it, a new, blank document will open.

• Find the "Insert" tab and choose "SmartArt." At the top of your document, find the "Insert" tab and click on it, then select the "SmartArt" option. A dialog box will open.
  Choose "Process," then a timeline layout. On the left-hand side of the dialog box, click "Process" and choose a timeline layout from the list.

• Enter your information. In the text box, type the information you want to put in each part of your timeline. This can be each important event or milestone and the date it happened or should happen.

• Save the file. Locate the "Save" or "Save As" option. Name your file and save it in a folder on your computer.
  

  
Creating a timeline using Canva

Master the Art of Timelines: Boost Communication & Simplify Complexity
https://youtu.be/l8v4E2P5-vI?si=rAmuVwcX7gM-IfU2

Introduction to Plot Profile

 

Examples on the On the Job website

#TC means that The Conversation is used as stimulus material.

Life On the Job - Baker Lesley & Roger Gillespie Founders of Baker's Delight	Baker's Delight: Timeline and Plot Profile Primary Middle Lesson Strategy: Timeline and Plot Profile
Life on the Job - Food Scientist Dr Cyril Callister Inventor of Vegemite	Dr Cyril Callister: Timeline & Plot Profile Primary Middle Lesson Strategy: Timeline and Plot Profile