GOOGLE LIT TRIPS
If you're looking for an opportunity to explore a book in a new and exciting way this might be a great choice for you!
Pushing the Limits
The study of multimedia covers such a wide range of topics. It is reflected in various forms of audible and printed text. This can be displayed through pictures, animation, interactive videos and content. When diving into an area with such diversity, it can be difficult to narrow your focus. Since my interests revolve around literature and film, I decided to explore an area that would incorporate one of these areas and can be used immediately.
I am currently exploring “Traveling Across America” with my third grade students. One of our objectives was for the students to be able to identify the fifty states and their capitals. This journey involves “traveling” across the United States through websites, video, Skype, books and various other resources. Classes are assigned a particular state and then divided into teams. Each team will the search for the symbol for that state (tree, flag,
song etc) and then create a video for that item. All of these items will then be
combined into one video.
song etc) and then create a video for that item. All of these items will then be
combined into one video.
We began our journey to the Northeast region of the U.S. While brainstorming the best way to meet these goals we considered using Google Earth to explore that area of the country. It was an absolute fail! It took so much time to discover how to navigate the software effectively that it seemed to be a waste time in the grand scheme of things. I still however had an interest in mastering this software and then integrating appropriately with my instruction.
Therefore, when I read about Google Lit Trips, it seemed like a great option for our third grade project and I was all in! This tool allows the participant to travel along the path of a character in a particular piece of literature. You can search among several trips that already exist or you can create your own.
As I “played” around with two of the trips, I found them entertaining and interesting. My selections were “The Armadillo from Amarillo” and “Make Way for Ducklings”. This last selection was perfect because the setting of this story takes place in Boston which is the capital of Massachusetts. There were several images and discussion questions that coincided with the story but I wondered if my 3rd graders would have enough patience to wait for the computer to load each excursion. I’m talking about today’s “Pokemon Go!” generation. Never the less, I continued in my pursuit, hoping to find an enthusiastic group of kids when the final product was complete.
Tech Infusion was one of the first sites that seemed to offer a relevant amount of information about the use of this tool. It provided an overview of how Google Lit Trips can be used in the classroom by teachers as well as students. There were also several videos on YouTube that offered instruction on how to create your own trip…. So here we GO!
The purpose of the project was to provide students with an overview of several fascinating places across the country and to give them another way to explore the many locations and landscapes of our nation.
Storyboard:
I began by creating a story board for the trip. The book that I decided to use is called How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. by Marjorie Priceman. While the flow of the story seemed a little random at certain points, I believe that its focus is accomplished, which is introducing our students to various parts of the United States. I incorporated several images and links that would hopefully gain the attention of my 8 year olds and maintain their attention as we traveled together. Providing a variety of videos, images and discussion questions was my initial goal but I can eventually see myself including several independent activities in this lesson.
Google Earth Pro:
After completing a good portion of the board in Word, I decided to start plugging it into Google Earth to see if I was on the right track. While I had several great ideas, I still needed to go back and do quite a bit of editing. Most of my pictures did not transfer so I discovered a more reliable URL to use so that my images would display on the screen correctly. By selecting "Copy Image Address", all of my images were displayed and the entire process moved along much more smoothly.
I also found that the images with a smaller jpeg, which was a much better fit for this setting. Bigger most definitely was not better! In addition, by using a little html coding (<br> - which means break or space) I was able to put a little more space in my presentation which improved its readability.
Skill Set
Prior to beginning Google Lit Trips I had a tremendous amount of difficulty when I attempted to accomplish what I needed. However this medium gave me a little more practice and it was very specific in its goals which worked perfectly well with our third grade objectives.
Google Lit Trip Demonstration Part 1
Google Lit Trip Demonstration Part 2
In Conclusion
Overall, I found this to be a very interesting experience. I will continue to return to my Lit trip until I believe everything is in place. One of my concerns was that I don't believe that encouraged higher level thinking with the format of this activity so it still needs quite a bit of work. So few of my students have an opportunity to travel across the country. What a wonderful opportunity to take them to a place that they have never been by way of the internet in such a realistic setting. I believe that once I am done, they will truly enjoy it.
Video of Google Lit Trip
http://screencast-o-matic.com/u/nNpJ/LTolbertGoogleLitTrip
REFERENCES
Awesomeamerica.com
natgeokids.com
wikipedia.com
