Our Completed Pre-Columbian History (Maya, Inca, Aztec, Navajo) Project Posters

My class just finished our major Unit 1 Social Studies project on Thursday, and have placed the posters out in the hallway. Unit 1 is on Pre-Columbian history, and it is entirely student driven, with a project based learning project that is done in groups. Just a short 13 days into the school year, my entire class is loving Social Studies, because they get to determine their own learning within the topic of study.

Here are the guidelines and links for Unit 1, which is highlighted mainly by information on the Maya, Inca, Aztec, Navajo.

The posters themselves are great, because they're simple in nature, yet get students to work together according to the project guidelines (that document is available HERE).

Check out their great posters that are now available for viewing in the hallway outside our classroom:

Timelines Online

Teaching involving the concept of time can be a tricky thing. Many kids don't understand the concept of time. We will start out by taking a look at the timeline of quite literally everything by using ChronoZoom. This site really drives home the point that we're very small, and our time in the universe is very short. Of course, I don't want my students to make a timeline of the entirety of the universe, but more along the lines of one major era in history.

Now, in 5th grade, we study United States history, but early in the school year, we talk about the history of the America's from the time before Christopher Columbus' expedition, an era we call "pre-columbian" history. This is a good place for us to start, and in my class, we always start by studying some of the cultures that had a major influence on the area, including (but not limited to) the Maya, Inca, Aztec and Navajo. I will make some more specific posts about this unit. I wanted to start off with this concept of time, however, and specifically the use of a timeline. So before we get into what has become known as "The Maya, Inca, Aztec Project," we will be making timelines using TimeRime.com. 
Using the website, each group will create a timeline of Pre-Columbian American history leading up to Columbus' expedition. Remember, Columbus didn't discover the America's, they were here, and millions of people lived here. All of the things you find must be from the time before 1492.