Google Lit Trips are amazing teaching tools created using Google Earth. Google Earth, self described as a
satellite imagery-based mapping product, puts the whole world on a student's computer. It enables users to
"fly" from space to street level to find geographic information and explore places around the world. More to the point, and one of my favorite descriptions, is from About.com: GoogleEarth is
a map of the world on steroids. To download and learn more,
http://earth.google.com/.
(If anyone out there has NOT explored Google Earth, take my advice and set aside some time! Once you start to explore, you really cannot stop. I have given many unplanned minutes to GoogleEarth!)
Developed by Jerome Burg, a
Google Lit Trip combines educational reading material with virtual road trips using GoogleEarth’s interactive technology and satellite imagery. Viewers can “fly” from place to place as they explore setting from the reading. The site enables users to download ready-made trips, categorized by grade level. There are approximately 40 trips, with new ones added often. For more informaiton, check out
Steve Hargadon's A Great Mashup and
Bring Travel Tales to Life from Edutopia.
One of my favorites on the site is Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings, offering a p
ictorial tour of the fictitious Mallard family as they waddle through the streets of Boston. The tour include questions and prompts that encourage thought-provoking discussion. Another favorite, for older students, is Kahled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. The authentic pictures pull the viewer into the story as they follow the hero, Amir.
Google Lit Trips is a great tool for engaging students in their reading! In addition, participating on the virtual tour engages students…creating an experience that can feel very real to the students.
One of the best ways for students to develop an understanding of their reading and make themselves part of the learning is to
create their own lit trip . I usually start by having students create a “Life Trip”…An auto-biographical exploration of where they’ve been, where they would love to go and/or places they’d like to visit!!
