Early American History ~ Timeline Folders and Poster with Free Printables

This post describes how to assemble the timeline folders and poster for the Early American History lesson plans. For an introduction to this series please read the introductory post.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I am an affiliate of Amazon, and will receive a small commission if a link on this page is used to make a purchase.

Student Timeline Folders

You Will Need:

Red or blue file folder (one per student)
Timeline Printables (one set per student – see below to download)
Small envelope (one per student)
Satin Finish Scotch Tape
Glue Dots or Glue Sticks
Paper Cutter or Trimmer
Scissors

Assembly Instructions

You can assemble the timeline folders before your first class begins, or if you have time in class you can help your students make them. Either way you will want to trim the printable pages ahead of time.

1. With Paper Cutter, trim printed pages on all four sides to fit file folder (see images). Try to trim the timeline pages so that the middle line and page edges line up (see images).

2. With Paper Cutter, cut tab off of file folder (optional).

3. On the front cover of the folder glue the Flag cover page.

4. Tape the three timeline pages together. (I used Satin Finish Scotch Tape – it seems to be less noticeable than the regular finish.) Match up the middle line, then trim edges with scissors if necessary.

5. Glue in the top page of the timeline on the inside of the folder (see images). Position it closer to the inside fold so that the paper is not visible when you close the folder.

6. Make two folds in the timeline (see image) so that the timeline is contained in the folder.

7. Tape a small envelope to the inside of the folder.

8. Cut the timeline figures out and insert into envelope.

9. Color and complete the cover page.

If possible, keep the timeline folders in the classroom instead of allowing the kids to take them home – you’ll be adding a timeline figure to the timeline each week.

Timeline Poster

If you wish you can make a poster for your classroom wall for a visual reminder of each lesson. Allow the kids to take turns gluing the week’s timeline figure to the poster.

You Will Need

2 sheets 14″x22″ poster board
3 sheets 9″x12″ construction paper or card stock
Timeline Printables (see below to download)
Glue Dots and Glue Stick

1. Cut to fit and glue on printable pages to construction paper or card stock. Try to match up the lines as best as you can. (Refer to image.)

2. With Glue Dots, glue the card stock to the poster board: on the top part of the poster, the paper should line up on the bottom edge; on the bottom part of the poster the paper should line up to the top edge. (Refer to image.)

3. Decorate poster: use a glue stick to attach patriotic clip art images (see below to download). You can also add stickers, flags, ribbon, etc. Use the decorations to cover up any matching errors (I did – it worked out great)!

Printables

Terms of Use: These printables are provided at no cost for personal or classroom use. Print as many as you like! If you are linking to this blog post for a round-up type post on your blog, you are welcome to use the button image above in your post.

Restrictions: Please do not sell these documents or upload it to your web site or any other web site. If you would like to link to these printables, please link to the blog post and not the PDF files.

The first thumbnail is the cover page only. If you are following along with my lesson plans, click on the second thumbnail to print out the timeline (4 pages). If you’d like to create our own timeline, click on the third thumbnail to print out the blank timeline. The fourth thumbnail – the clip art PDF – is 2 pages.

Click on a thumbnail below to open, download and print the PDF documents. For best printing results, open in Adobe Reader before printing – the document may not look right if you print from your browser. Also, even if the words look wrong in your browser, when you open the PDF in Adobe Reader, it will look and print correctly.

In the next Early American History post, I’ll describe how to assemble the student’s History Journals.

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I am an affiliate of Amazon, and will receive a small commission if a link on this page is used to make a purchase.

Lisa Ehrman says:

July 30, 2015 at 12:08 pm

Great post! I love timelines and love the way this one can be used in a notebook, too. I used them both ways before 🙂 I’d love for you to share this post at my Homeschool Memo Blog Hop, if you have time. Thanks 🙂

Kathie says:

July 30, 2015 at 8:59 pm

Thank you! I will visit your blog hop as soon as I can – thanks so much again for your comment!

Nikki says:

August 14, 2015 at 4:35 pm

These look great. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I click on a .pdf it comes up where the text looks like gibberish. And the first one says 3 pages but only shows up as 1?

Kathie says:

August 14, 2015 at 10:03 pm

Hi Nikki,
Thank you for your question! If you will open the documents with Adobe Reader they will look like they are supposed to. I just clicked on them and they open in a new tab, but the words don’t look right. Then I clicked on my browser’s “Download” button and chose “Open in Adobe Reader” and they look right and good to print. I’m not sure why this happens sometimes, but I’ll try uploading the documents again this weekend, and maybe that will help. In the meantime please let me know if you aren’t able to get your browser to download them. Thanks again!