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Whirligig on MyMaps

By Tom Woodward | May 9, 2007

Whirligig
I’m working on do something similar to the awesome work over at Google Lit Trips using Google’s myMaps. The novel is Whirligig by Paul Fleischman- very powerful book that’s a quick read. It’s a great novel for this type of project (fiction but almost all real locations). The main character travels to the four corners of the U.S. (on a Greyhound Bus) as an act of atonement for killing a young girl in a DUI accident.

I’ve got the main locations mapped (some real specific information in Chicago) as well as most of the route. It will continue to expand as the students progress through the novel. Check it out if you’re interested. I’ll take requests as well, so let me know if you feel something is missing.

Now, what makes this useful? I figure you’ve got two options.

  1. You use it as a ancillary material to help get the students more involved in the novel. Let them explore the map and get them involved in explaining things and interacting with the information- otherwise it’s just a fancy map.
  2. You have the students add the information for the placemarks in Google Earth. Let them decide what is important at each location and

Topics: English, Google Earth, Maps, Projects | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Whirligig on MyMaps”

  1. jerome Says:
    May 10th, 2007 at 6:10 am

    I’d be interested in seeing how this works out. Is there a reason you’re using Google Maps instead of Google Earth? As it turns out, I’m just finishing up a Lit Trip on “By the Great Horn Spoon” by Sid Fleishman, Paul’s father.

    Any chance you’d be interested in being a contributor to Google Lit Trips?

    jerome

  2. Tom Says:
    May 10th, 2007 at 7:53 am

    Jerome,

    I opted to use Google Maps because I figured most teachers would never go through the whole process to get the pro version of Google Earth. I started to get the pro version myself and then things stalled out. I plan on re-attempting with your directions rather than the ones I used before from another source.

    I figured I’d offer this to you once it was done. Sadly, our county now blocks all .mac account accounts (and thus your site). I’m working to get your site unblocked.

    I’m now an ADE (‘07) so it was exciting to hear you were an ADE as well. I’m excited about the chance to work with such a great group of people, if a little intimidated.

    Thanks,

    Tom

  3. Ben Says:
    May 10th, 2007 at 1:58 pm

    Jerome: I would imagine that Google Maps was decided for this project because it’s also easily accesible via the web in a public manner, whereas if it had been done using Google Earth, the user would have to have the program installed (if their computer could even run it), and then download a file. This way, all anyone needs is a decent computer and a web browser.

    Tom: Terrific use of the Google maps: My maps feature. I have to admit, the Vacations I’ll be posting for Google Earth aren’t nearly as cool, so it’s nice to have a high bar to try and shoot for when I retool the project for next year :)

  4. Tom Says:
    May 10th, 2007 at 9:28 pm

    Ben-

    Good point, I’m going to pretend I was that smart! I had an older version of Google Earth that didn’t let me plot lines etc. so I just went with the easy online version and figured I’d export the KML file if I needed to.

    I’m doing too much work though. That’s not really my goal anymore but it seems to help to create really good examples to get buy in from teachers and then hopefully we’ll end up with students creating these before too long. We’ll see.

    Tom

  5. Google Earth Lessons Blog » Negligence… Says:
    November 21st, 2007 at 11:03 am

    [...] one for starters (courtesy of GoogleLatLong )? GoogleLitTrips, except with maps instead of earth… Tom Woodward’s neat lesson or Dale Basler’s physics lesson (that guy deserves an award! He has a great Blog!) • I swear my [...]

  6. Kelly Says:
    March 4th, 2008 at 9:22 am

    Thank you!! My students will love this. What dedication!! I hope your kids helped.

  7. ICT Tip: Using Google Maps for English and FSL classes « Says:
    August 6th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

    [...] (Original Source, Tom Woodward at http://bionicteaching.com/?p=235) [...]

  8. Masters of Media » Google Maps & Google Earth In The Classroom Says:
    October 25th, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    [...] by Google Lit Trips, sixth grade English teacher Tom Woodward used Google Maps to plot the novel Whirligig by Paul Fleischman. In the story the main character travels to the four corners [...]

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