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Students learn the basic vocabulary of time to distinguish between what happened before and what is happening now.
Imagine you had a magic key that could open a door to the day your grandparents were born—would you see cars, or would people be riding horses?
Time is like a long parade that never stops moving. To understand it, we break it into three parts. The Present is what is happening right now, like you reading this sentence. The Past is everything that has already happened, like the breakfast you ate this morning or the day you were born. The Future is what will happen later, like your next birthday or when you grow up to be an adult. We can think of it as a sequence: .
Quick Check
If you are sitting in class right now, is that the past, the present, or the future?
Answer
The present
We use special words to help us talk about when things happen. Today is the present day. Yesterday is the day that happened right before today (the past). Tomorrow is the day that comes right after today (the future). If we look at a calendar, we can see how these days follow each other in a specific order: day ago was yesterday, and in day, it will be tomorrow.
Let's look at how we use these words in a row: 1. If Today is Tuesday, 2. Then Yesterday was Monday, 3. And Tomorrow will be Wednesday.
Quick Check
If today is Friday, what day was yesterday?
Answer
Thursday
History is the study of the past. It is like being a detective! Historians look at old photos, listen to stories from older people, and look at old objects to learn how life was different a long time ago. By studying history, we learn how families and communities have changed over many years. We look at the past to understand how we got to the present.
Historians compare things from the past to the present: 1. Past: People used candles for light. 2. Present: We use lightbulbs and electricity. 3. History: The story of how we moved from candles to lightbulbs.
You can be a historian of your own life! 1. Past: You were a tiny baby who could not walk. 2. Present: You are a student in st grade who can read. 3. Future: You will be a tall grown-up with a job.
What word do we use for the time that is happening right now?
If you are talking about what you will do on your birthday next year, you are talking about the:
History is the study of things that will happen in the future.
Review Tomorrow
Tomorrow morning, try to remember: What was 'yesterday' and what will be 'tomorrow'?
Practice Activity
Ask a family member to show you a photo of themselves from the past. Ask them how life was different then compared to today!