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Materials needed:

-long paper for plotting a class timeline or circles strung in order around the classroom.

-markers, rulers.

-smaller drawing paper for graphing.

-student's timeline, research, books and other materials detailing Vancouver history.

-World War I photos in kit.

-to become familiar with major events in Vancouver's history to learn how to plot sequence events on a timeline.

Again, it's important to have done some reading on Vancouver history beforehand. You may want to point out the following ideas to consider:

Vancouver didn't spring up overnight; its history actually begins with inhabitation by native peoples, followed by early settlers and eventually small communities.

On July 5, 1791, the first European explorer (Spanish Lieutenant Jose Narvaez) anchors west of Point Grey.

Almost a year later, June 13-14 of 1792, Capt. George Vancouver, R.N. explored and charted Burrard Inlet and adjacent waters. What would students predict as a name for the city if Spain, instead of Britain, had been the dominant colonizing force?

As a city, Vancouver has a definite starting date (April 6, 1886 when the town of Granville was incorporated as the city of Vancouver).

On June 13, 1886, months after incorporation, the city of Vancouver was destroyed by fire in just twenty minutes. Rebuilding began within days.

If students have never done a timeline before, explain the concept first: it is a sequentially organized series of events, generally plotted on a line divided by time increments (decades, centuries, etc.). A chronology is somewhat similar, organizing events in the order in which they happened. Both give similar information but a chronology relies on verbal description while a timeline is more of a visual graph of history. At the beginning of The Vancouver Book, Chuck Davis does an unusual chronology in which he includes "a few obscure and eccentric pieces here and there to give the flavor of each period." Students may find this blend of significant events and trivia interesting reading. Encourage students to include small drawings on their timeliness. You might even have students present a living timeline, where each person or group researches a decade. Students then arrange themselves in chronological order and present an oral timeline.

Timeline research can be done in the classroom with the aid of books in the Roedde House kit, or it could be a school resource centre. It could even be done as part of a trip to the City of Vancouver Archives (check first about bringing a school group). The important thing is that students learn WHERE to find the information. The first events on the early part of the timeline could be modeled together to set an example for the class.

In small groups, students can choose a decade starting with 1880 - 1890 and research the major events that occurred in that decade. They will then report back to the class and decide as a group which of those events should be put on the timeline. In addition to a large timeline visible to the whole class, students could make a personal copy in their journal or for their personal history report. Consider a talking timeline! Each student can research and represent an event, organized sequentially. They can sit in time order and report on their event in sequence.

Encourage students to investigate and include a few events of global significance which had major local impact. For example, G.A. (Bill) Roedde and son-in-law Arthur Cather, both went off to serve in the war. Bill Roedde took photographs of what he saw, fighting in Europe, and copies of those photos are included in the kit.