Cold War Timeline Activity | US and World History

Description

Looking for an engaging Cold War activity to use in your U.S. or World History class? Use this timeline (time line) activity to help your students gain a greater understanding of the events that occurred during the Cold War. This Timeline Hunt Activity begins with the iron curtain dividing Europe after World War II and goes through the collapse of the Soviet Union and emergence of new nations in the early 1990s for a total of 26 events.

❗I struggled for a long time trying to figure out how to make events and dates more engaging for students while also giving students a lot of information in a short period of time (let’s face it – there is just not enough time ⌚ to cover everything!) And, then I created something that worked – a timeline hunt❗

✍️In this Cold War timeline hunt activity, the teacher scatters and hides the 26 event cards around the room. Students search for the event cards and either scan a QR code to find out the dates of the events or they just flip the card over to reveal the date. Students record the date on a printed handout or type into a digital handout.

✏️Then, students organize the dates by placing the events in the correct chronological order on a timeline.

⭐It’s a win-win! ⭐ Students are engaged throughout the activity and they learn a lot about the events that occurred during the Cold War.

❇️I also tried to make this activity as flexible as I could. You can use the QR code version or the no QR Code version. You can print the event cards in color or in greyscale (I recommend laminating them so they will last year after year!). Plus, there are paperless digital student handouts (fillable PDF & Google Slides) options. And, I’ve included editable templates so you can add events specific to your state standards

⏰Note: The QR codes were designed for students to use a QR code reader app to reveal the event’s date. If students do not have a QR code reader app, they may use the camera on their device. However, the camera reads the QR code differently. It assumes they want an Internet search for the date (there is no way to control what sites the device pulls into the search). So, if students want to use their camera, they will need to first put their device in airplane mode or turn off the WiFi connection.⏰

 

What’s included:

➡️Clear teacher instructions for the activity and for using the digital student handout options (3 pages, uneditable PDF)

⏰you will still need to print the timeline cards to scatter in your room for the hunt even if you are using the digital student handouts version.

➡️Color and Greyscale versions with QR codes sized 8.5 x 11 inches (26 pages; uneditable PDF)

➡️Color and Greyscale versions with no QR codes sized 8.5 x 11 inches (52 pages; uneditable PDF)

➡️Student handout and key (2 pages; uneditable PDF)

➡️Timeline for student to complete and key (2 pages; uneditable PDF)

➡️Editable Event Card template (1 page; PowerPoint file)

➡️ Editable Student handout (2 pages, PowerPoint file)

➡️Fillable PDF student handout for students to complete digitally (2 pages; not editable in Adobe Pro)

➡️Fillable PDF timeline for students to complete digitally (3 pages; not editable in Adobe Pro)

➡️Google Slides student handout and timeline (uneditable Google Slides, shared with force copy link)

 

✨ This resource is included in the following larger bundles ✨
U.S. History 1877 to Present Bundle
U.S. History Mega Bundle: Exploration to Present
World History Curriculum Bundle

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