One of my favorite social studies units when I taught first grade was helping students learn to read and create maps. We used to make maps of the school, of our homes, of the classroom. I loved to see the kids' creativity and how they viewed the world. When Google Maps first launched, I was amazed at how detailed the maps were and how you could see satellite images of the world. I remember the first time I saw the satellite picture of my house - I thought "Wait, I live there!" (I think I also thought my grass looks a lot better from space.)
Today I worked on learning more about Google Maps and creating my own maps. I made a map of my hometown, Sayville, New York. Here is the map. It was really fun to mark the different landmarks and personal spots while writing a short description of each location. I could easily see how this could be used in the classroom in many different ways to help extend students' knowledge and understanding of the world around them - while being really fun for the teacher as well!
Kate, I LOVE your hometown map and actually did not know you could do that with Google maps. I would love to use Google maps or Mapquest more with my students at Holt. Our 4th graders went to the beach for the day this year. So for a lesson, I had them Mapquest their way to the beach. Unfortunately, technology failed me. I have some VERY old computers in our media center and although I could get most of the students logged on (doubled-up on old laptops), once we were all running Mapquest, the network slowly ground to a halt. I wanted them to map their route, then change it to see how it would shorten or lengthen their trip. It took most of my students 20 minutes just to type in the starting and ending addresses and get the route back. So... I've got two issues: bandwidth (continuously a problem at our school), AND my students can't type! Still mulling over how I can improve the situation (a grant for new computer perhaps?) I'm hopeful that improvements will come and in the meanwhile, I'm collecting some great lesson ideas!
ReplyDeleteAlison,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about computers and bandwidth and everything else. I was doing a presentation this winter and the computer completely went down on me. There is nothing you can do, except to say, "Technology is great when it works!"
If you are thinking about new computers I recommend trying to use Donors Choose. I was able to get some really wonderful resources that I never could have afforded on my own. I have a "Donors Choose" guide about how to use the website. If you are interested let me know!