World Travelers

World Travelers

Have you ever used a lesson plan that tracks or journals a character or the history of some group as they travel from one place to another? How did students complete the assignment? Physical booklets or timelines? It's time to put away the markers and craft paper and jump into the 21st century! The two online tools below will bring your traveling assignments to life. Google Lit TripsA few years ago Jerome Burg came up with the idea of Google Lit Trips. Basically, you create a customized KML file in Google Earth that tracks the voyages, adventures, and travels of literary figures within a novel. Since then, teachers all over the world have replicated this idea, expanding it to other subjects. The Lit Trip website has lots great resources.

Everlater

While Google Lit Trips are a great idea, the execution of a student-created trip is a logistical uphill battle. Non-techie teachers will struggle with it and you have to dedicate some significant time to it.

However, the idea is still brilliant. So in comes Everlater. This tool, designed for people to track their vacations, can be utilized by students in the same manner - all within an easy-to-use series of web-based forms. It allows students to journal adventures in the following ways:

  • Tracks travel with Google Maps
  • Blog and post messages
  • Display your photos

Example#1: Immigrant Journal (Project Link)

  • Integration IdeasUsing a fictional or historical character and trace their travels.
    • Track George Washington's troop movement during the Revolutionary War
    • Grapes of Wrath - follow the Joads as they cross the country