Mapping Tools – Thing 21

When going through the Google Maps links I had that aha moment when I went “duh… I can’t believe I never thought of that.”  I could use street view as a virtual field trip in my classroom!  We used street view the next day in my 5th grade social studies class to explore Chichen Itza as we wrapped up our Mayan unit.  The students loved exploring on their own and were excitedly showing each other things they saw and relating it to what we had learned.  As we do other units I plan to have the students explore historical sites with street view.  They can also see how things have changed over time by looking at street views of modern cities where ancient cultures were located.

I loved the site Infinity of Nations.  I want my students to explore as we end our Aztec unit.  It will be a great review of that Native American cultures we’ve studies as well as an intro to the Incas.  I loved the map component that was part of the site.

I love the MyHistro.com site.  I plan to use some of the timelines that have already been created to share information in a different way with my students.  The combination of narratives, timelines and maps is wonderful.  Eventually I would like to use it for students to do digital storytelling about a culture.  Since the students need to be 13 and have an email to have an account I can’t use it directly.  My students would have to use the Edmodo plugin.  I do not currently use Edmodo with my classes so we will have to learn that platform first.   I am excited to get started.  Collaborating with my librarian for this type of project would work really well.  I think the students might also benefit from working with partners or in groups to begin with.  The possibilities are exciting.