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Growing & Changing: My Own Story

Students discover that they have a history too — they were once babies and have grown and changed year by year — by putting the stages of their own life in order on a timeline.

Grade 1Personal History35 minutes1 class periodC3 InquiryExplicit teaching4 StandardsC3 + CCSS
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Know that people grow and change.
  • ✓Put life stages in order.
  • ✓Understand a timeline shows time.
  • ✓Tell about their own past.
Essential Question

You weren’t always able to read or run! How have you grown and changed since you were a baby?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
My Timeline · Interactive

My Timeline

Project this and have students put the stages of growing up in order — from baby all the way to first grader.

📆 Put your life story in order — baby first!Try it
Tap the stages in order — what came first?
The Lesson · C3 Inquiry Arc (Question · Investigate · Conclude)

35 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Big Question — Were You Always Big?

5 min

Could you read and run when you were a baby?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a baby photo vs. now.
  • Ask how they’ve changed.
  • Set the goal: growing up.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Compare baby to now.
  • Notice the change.
  • Predict the order.
2

Investigate — My Timeline

10 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to My Timeline.
  • Put the stages in order.
  • Talk about each one.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Order the stages.
  • Read each one.
  • Tell about it.
3

Explore More — Growing & Changing

10 min

Explore more.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a timeline goes past to present.
  • Note new skills at each stage.
  • Everyone grows and changes.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Read the timeline.
  • Name a new skill.
  • Explain growing.
4

Think It Through — Think It Through

10 min

Think it through.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Ask what they can do now that they couldn’t.
  • Predict what comes next.
  • Compare with a friend.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name a new skill.
  • Predict the future.
  • Compare stories.
5

Share & Act — Share & Act

5 min

Students take action.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Have students draw their own timeline.
  • Share one stage.
  • Hand out the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Draw a timeline.
  • Share a stage.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the C3 Framework for Social Studies and Common Core literacy in social studies.

C3
D2.His.1.K-2

Create a chronological sequence of multiple events.

C3
D2.His.2.K-2

Compare life in the past to life today.

C3
D2.His.3.K-2

Generate questions about individuals and groups in the past.

CCSS
RI.1.3

Describe the connection between events, ideas, or pieces of information.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Life-stage picture cards to order.
  • Sentence frame: “First I was ___, then ___.”
  • Bring baby photos to sequence.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Use three stages.
  • Provide the baby stage first.
  • Use clear photos.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add a future stage.
  • Make a timeline with real photos.
  • Interview a parent about baby days.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Notebooks
  • 💻My Timeline
  • 🖼️Baby-to-now photos
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

pasttime that already happenedpresentnow, todaytimelinea line that shows events in ordergrowto get bigger and olderchangeto become differentstageone part of growing uporderfirst to lasthistorythe story of the past
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Put in order: toddler, baby, first grader.
Baby → toddler → first grader.
QUESTION 2
What is a timeline?
A line that shows events in the order they happened.
QUESTION 3
Name one thing you can do now that you could not do as a baby.
Sample: walk, talk, read, or ride a bike.

Going deeper? A photo timeline.

Have students bring photos from different ages and put them in order on a timeline, telling one thing about each. A printable timeline strip is in the Social Studies library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Growing & ChangingFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Growing & ChangingQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Growing & ChangingPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: change, grow, history, order, past, present, stage, timeline
  1. to get bigger and older
  2. to become different
  3. the story of the past
  4. time that already happened
  5. first to last
  6. a line that shows events in order
  7. now, today
  8. one part of growing up

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Put in order: toddler, baby, first grader.
  2. What is a timeline?
  3. Name one thing you can do now that you could not do as a baby.
Answer key — Part A: 1) grow · 2) change · 3) history · 4) past · 5) order · 6) timeline · 7) present · 8) stage
Part B: 1) Baby → toddler → first grader. 2) A line that shows events in the order they happened. 3) Sample: walk, talk, read, or ride a bike.