An idea that I had for using Google Maps involves creating a map of a character's journey during a novel. The story that is used in this example is "A Paradise Called Texas" by Janice Jordan Shefelman. The story is an account of a German family on a journey to a new home, Texas, during the 1800s. Mina, a young girl, experiences many life-changing events as they travel from Germany to Texas.
Students, using Google Maps would create a map that would include stops on their maps where important events took place. First, they would have to identify key parts of a story and then mark them properly on their map. At each marking, students could summarize each stop in the story in a few sentences, add links to historical information about that place (see New Braunfels, Texas, and Wehrstedt, Germany), and add pictures of what Mina might have seen (see Guadalupe River). Students could then draw a path (line) linking each stop of Mina's journey so that, when viewed from a larger scale, any reader could get an idea of the magnitude of Mina and her family's journey.
Hopefully this would help students conceptualize the story and feel apart of the story as they could see that these stops were and are real, although the story of Mina's journey might be fictional.
View a partial example of what students could do by clicking on the map below! To easily view interactive map, click on the link below the picture for a "larger" view.
View Larger Map
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That's such a neat idea! I remember being a kid and loving books where a map was included on the first few pages or so that showed where the character was from, traveled, etc. How interesting to use the same concept for a technology-based mapping assignment, or as a learning tool to use with a lesson plan! I like that you pointed out how the use of such a map could help students to grasp the concept that, for some stories, for example, the places discussed in the books are real... and that students, by locating and learning about the places, might feel as though they are "experiencing" the story along with the characters.
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