As Anna and I explored the streets of London, I recognized some of the neighborhoods referred to in the book. It made the history I learned in the book come alive and feel more real.
Although we cannot transport ourselves or our students everywhere we read about in our studies, we can explore those places virtually. Anyone can create customized, annotated maps using Google Maps' My Maps.
For example, Mr. Daniel Miller at Jordan High School created a My Map for his students documenting the London sites of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. Check it out below (click on the blue placeholders for details and zoom in and out)!View Great Expectations - Settings in a larger map
How can Google's My Maps be used in your classroom?
I have read The Ghost Map too. It's a great book. I am a big geography nerd so I love using Google Maps and Google Earth with my students.Last year I used Google Earth with a group that was reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Judy Blume gives a complete address for the Hatcher family in NYC and names other locations in NYC that we looked at using the satellite images.We also looked at Princeton and Tarrytown where the Hatcher and Tubman families lived in the other books in the series. Google's My Maps would be great for this. Students love looking at the maps and seeing where books and stories they read take place and how places are similar to and often very different from Durham. My Maps would also be great for preparing students for a field trip, for elementary students studying their community (pointing out important landmarks etc.).
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