Animated Timeline

I have to pause in my series of tips for new SMARTboard users to talk about a great website: Timetoast. Building a timeline is a great opportunity for students to research, trace the development of a trend, and put it in a larger context. I use MS Word for timelines with students in my computer classes. The callouts on the drawing toolbar serve as markers on the line. But wouldn't color, animation, and the web make it even more exciting? Try Timetoast. It's a free website that allows you to create timelines, post them on their site, and add them to a web page. Enter the events in any order. Add a short explanation, link, and photo if you choose. Timetoast arranges the events in callouts along a timeline. The viewer mouses over the line and the events pop out with title and thumbnail photo. Clicking on an event reveals the text, link, and larger photo. Here's a sample I made, Shakespeare's Plays.