So my popularity as a blogger must have gone up, because I had a request to blog about something! (Okay, it was from my mom, but still! Counts for something.) I mentioned in another post about using Google Lit Trips, but I didn’t talk about how you actually use it. And since it’s not very clear how to use the program, here’s my understanding of how to use it.
Google Lit Trips are created by Certified Google Teachers. The books are separated into four categories - K-5, 6-8, 9-12, Hi Ed.
First off, it’s good to know that these are suggested to be used after students have read the book. While I think these could be a fantastic way to build schema before starting a book, these aren’t set up in this way. However, this isn’t set in stone and the teacher could certainly change how it is addressed.
So to do a Google Lit Trip you need to have Google Earth downloaded. After downloading Google Earth, choose your Trip and download it too. When you open the downloaded Trip, it will be saved in “Temporary Places” in Google Earth. It can be saved in “My Places” by dragging it into that folder.
The next step is to edit the view in the “Layers” section below Places. The layers you select to be shown should depend on the time of the story. For example, stories set in current time will benefit from having the 3D Buildings layer selected. I would suggest experimenting with each of the layers to decide which are necessary and which are not.
Once the layers are taken care of, you’re ready to start your Lit Trip. Open the entire trip by selecting the gray arrow next to the title of the trip. Double-click the first location without selecting the underlined blue link. Once the application flies to that location, click the link for additional information, videos, or outside links.
And that’s basically it! Pretty simple, but the kids I did this with absolutely loved it.
If you need more direction, I found the following pdf super helpful: Click the "Downloads, etc." link on the top of the page and click the "Basics of Viewing a Google Lit Trip.pdf" link.
Good luck!
Good luck!
HI Libby,
ReplyDeleteThis is Jerome Burg from Google Lit Trips. I wanted to thank you for blogging about the project. I was wondering if you might want to share a bit of the kids' experience with me as I'm collecting this kind of data for for grants and awards applications so I can keep the resources free for teachers and students. If you'd like to share your experience with the students, please drop me a line at Jerome@GoogleLitTrips.com
I'd also like to thank you for emphasizing the value of the "Basics of Viewing a Google Lit Trip.pdf." You're quite correct that working with Google Earth is not always as intuitive as we'd like it to be.
I also wanted to let you know that I actually agree very strongly with your suggestion that there are many ways to integrate the Lit Trips into a classroom. When I speak on the project, I try to encourage teachers to consider a wide variety of implementation strategies so they can work with the files in ways that best fit their own preferences. Though it's only one of many ways, I like to use them as what I call "Read Along/Ride Alongs" where a class matches the travel in the Lit Trip with the reading assignment schedule. Many who do this assign the placemark visits appropriate for a reading assignment as a pre-class discussion focusing activity and then use them for the class discussion.
The only implementation that I try to discourage is viewing the entire Lit Trip prior to doing the reading simply because that would be a spoiler by giving away where the travelers wind up and much of the plot intrigue that develops over the course of the journey.
And speaking of speaking, I'm not sure where you are in Iowa, but I will be speaking in Illinois in a couple of weeks at the Google Apps for Education Summit.
(http://il.gafesummit.com/all-presenters/jerome-burg)
And, thanks again for the blog post. Having taught for 38 years, I'm so honored to be able to support teachers still doing the noblest work of all.
Best,
Jerome