Teacher Prepared Practice Sheets

Teacher Prepared Practice Sheets

TCAP Formatting - Time Lines

(To see an example look at: http://www.state.tn.us/education/assessment/tsachsamp5.pdf page 30)

You will use an Excel workbook to create a time line review activity. These can be printed, or can be displayed if you have classroom projection capability.

Open an Excel workbook. First, let’s remove the grid lines before we draw the timeline. Go to the Tools menu, slide down to Options and click one time. On the View tab, in the bottom left corner there is a checkmark by the word Gridlines. Click in the box to remove the check mark and then click OK to return to a blank worksheet. Here is an example of a timeline we will produce.

To make the time line, first we will draw one long thick horizontal line with arrows on both ends,ends; Youyou must have the Drawing toolbar open to draw this line. If the toolbar is not open, go to the View menu, select Toolbars and slide over to Drawing and click one time.

Click on the word AutoShapes in the Drawing toolbar, move your cursor to Lines and click one time on the line with two arrow heads. Somewhere near the middle of the sheet on the left side, click and drag to draw a straight line. To make a straight line, hold the shift key down as you draw. Draw the line across most of the sheet. While the line is still selected, move your cursor to the Line Style button on the Drawing toolbar and select the thick line labeled 3 pt. After making the line thicker, use the line color button shaped like a paint brush to color it orange. There is a small down pointing triangle to the right of the button. Click on that triangle to select a color.

Next you will draw five vertical lines to mark the numbers on your number line. The lines do not need to be drawn on the number line. You will draw them and then move them to the line. Select the Line tool on the Drawing toolbar. Make the first vertical line as tall as two rows and use the Line Style button to make the vertical line 2 ¼ point.For this timeline you will need to draw; four small white circles to mark the place on the timeline, four rectangles to enter dates, and four rounded rectangles to enter events. These shapes can all be found in the Basic Shapes section of AutoShapes. The rectangle is the first shape on row one, the rounded rectangle is the first shape on row two and the circle can be drawn with the first shape on row 3.

Draw onethe rectangle about one inch wide to hold the date in the timeline. To draw, click once on the rectangle in the Autoshape box. Move your cursor back to the blank page and drag diagonally holding the mouse button down until you get the appropriate size. When you let go of the mouse button, the rectangle will be drawn. , drawDraw onethe rounded rectangles a bit wider to hold the information, and draw onethe tiny circle to hold the

place on the timeline.so it is tiny. The move c cuursor should cover the circle. Remember to hold down the Shift key as you draw to make a perfect circle.

After drawing one of each of the shapes, Ccopy this linethe shape by first clicking once on it to select it, then holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the C key (Ctrl + C). and thenAfter a shape is copied, paste four three more of the lines shapes by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the V key (Ctrl + V) three times for each shape. One at a time click on the lines and drag them to the grid on the number line just to the right of the numbers you typed.

We will use the following dates for our timeline: 1751 Franklin published his electricity theory, 1769 James Watt patented his steam engine, 1786 Franklin published a chart of the Gulf Stream, and 1844 Morse demonstrated his code. Type the year in a rectangle and then type the event in a rounded rectangle. To type on a shape, click on the shape and start typing. After typing all four dates, hold down the Shift key and click on each of the other date rectangles to select them all. Use buttons on the Formatting toolbar to change font size and alignment. Follow the same procedure to change font size and alignment in the event shapes (rounded rectangles). After changing the font size, you may need to change the size of the shape.

Move the dates under the timeline to roughly approximate the span of time. Move the circles onto the arrow just above the dates. Move the events above the timeline over the circle for the date of the event. To move a shape with text in it, you must click on the outside edge of the shape. Don’t be concerned if the shapes are not exactly centered over the circles. That will come later.

The next step is to draw lines connecting the event rectangles to the circles on the timeline. To do that, we will use a part of the AutoShapes menu named Connectors. Click on AutoShapes, move your cursor to Connectors and select the first one, a straight line with no arrow head. Your cursor is now a crosshair cursor used for drawing. Without clicking, move your cursor to an event block. Notice that blue dots pop up showing where you may start drawing the connector. Click on the dot at the bottom of the event shape, let go of your mouse (don’t click and drag) and move down to the circle under the event. When you see blue dots click one time on the highest dot on the circle. Don’t be concerned about missing, we can move the connector line later. Also, don’t be concerned if the lines are slanted, we will also straighten them later. Follow this procedure until all four events are connected to the appropriate dots.

Click on the outer edge of one of the event blocks. Pick the one with the most slanted connector line. With the edge of the event block selected, use the keyboard arrow keys to move the block until it is centered over the dot and the connector is straight. Follow this procedure to straighten each of the event blocks.

If you want to move a connector, click on the end that you want to move, and drag it to another spot on the circle.

Your timeline will look similar to the one below:

Sample review questions to use with this timeline:

1. In 1759 Halley's comet returned confirmed Newton's mechanics. Where would that event fit on the timeline?

2. In 1807 Robert Fulton made a paddle-wheel steamboat. Between what two dates would that event be found? How many years after the steam engine was this event?

In1853 Alexander Wood introduced the hypodermic syringe, thus making it possible for morphine to be injected to wounded soldiers in the American Civil War. Where would that event fit on the timeline?

Next you will need twelve vertical lines somewhat shorter than the five you just positioned. Make the first vertical line as tall as 1 ½ rows and make the Line Style 1 ½ point. Copy the line and paste eleven more of them. Move the lines to the grids on your number line, evenly spacing them with three between each number.

To lock the lines in place we will Group them. Hold down your Shift key and click one at a time on each line. Start with the vertical lines first. Be careful, if you click while you are not on a line you will deselect all of them. You must see the move cursor before you click. After all eighteen lines have been selected, move your cursor to the word Draw in the Drawing menu and select Group. This can now be copied and pasted as a whole unit as many times as you wish to.

Finish this by drawing a dot which can be moved to any place on the number line. Click on AutoShapes, move your cursor to Flowchart. The first shape on the fourth line is a small circle named Connector. Click one time on the small circle and then click and drag a small circle anywhere on the worksheet. Use the Fill Color paint bucket to color the dot red. This dot can now be moved by clicking and dragging, or by using the keyboard arrows (if the dot is selected).

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/