Above the Line Lesson Transformation with Google Maps


Thanks to the new devices we have at my school, students have more access to technology, and I have been able to transform many of my lessons and enhance the student's learning experience. I am particularly pleased with the outcome of this lesson transformation!

In fourth grade, we read By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman as one of our core literature selections. This adventure story ties into our CA History / Social Studies unit on westward movement and the Gold Rush. The book tells the tale of a young boy, Jack, and his butler, Praiseworthy, traveling aboard the Lady Wilma around Cape Horn on their way to California with the hope of striking it rich in the gold mines!

Because geography plays such a big part in understanding the history of the time, and the events of the story, I had the students complete a paper map on which they marked the route of the ship and the noteworthy places in the story.

This is last year's project:


I knew I had to transform this lesson. My technology tool of choice was Google Maps.
Students created their own maps on which they added pins marking where the important parts of the story took place. This is similar to the original paper/pencil project, but the beauty of using Google Maps is that the students can zoom in and understand the details of the route the ship in the story took. This was especially powerful when the students studied Cape Horn and the Straights of Magellan.

The other advantage of using Google maps is that students can add text to the pins on the maps. They are using the map as a reading journal, summarizing important events in the story where they take place.

 

Click HERE to view a student's interactive work in progress.

After using Google Maps for this project, I was interested in seeing what other teachers are doing with this app. I found some great ideas in this post by Jeff Utecht.

Read more at "10 Ways to Use Google Maps in the Classroom"

What are your ideas for using these Google Geo tools with your students?

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