What it is: Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime is an incredible look into the life of Benjamin Franklin. I learned about this awesome site from @kylepace on Twitter (a great educator to follow if you aren’t already). Students can play, listen, watch, observe and have fun learning about Benjamin Franklin’s life and legacy. Students can explore Franklin’s life by different themes such as Franklin’s character, B. Franklin Printer, Franklin at Home, Doing Good, Franklin at Home, and World Stage. This feature breaks Franklin’s life down into manageable pieces for students and provides a well rounded understanding of who Franklin was and why he is an important figure in American history. As students explore the timeline, they will find quotes, stories, videos, and audio about Benjamin Franklin. I wish there was an interactive timeline of every historical figure like this one! History would have been so much easier for me to understand.
How to integrate Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime into the classroom: This interactive timeline would be great for use with a whole class and Interactive whiteboard. Students could take turns visiting the whiteboard to ‘discover’ a new fact about Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime could be set up on classroom computers for students to visit as a center during a unit on Franklin. In a computer lab setting, students could be assigned a theme or time period of Benjamin Franklin’s life to explore and share later with the class. Make it even more fun by creating a time machine atmosphere where students can travel back in time to learn about Franklin…stamp their time travelling passports as they ‘journey’ from one period of Franklin’s life to another. This site is an outstanding way to capture students interest in Franklin and American history.
Tips: Show students the help/tips section for a key to understanding the different symbols on Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime.
Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Franklin’s Interactive Lifetime in your classroom.
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