Writing Prompt

• Go to Earth View, spin it, and drop Pegman at a random location. 

• Elementary -- Write a quick 5 sentence story with this location as the setting.  Feel free to get create and use more than one photosphere if you'd like!   Make sure to paste the link to your photosphere on your document.

• Middle/High -- Write a story where the photosphere which appears is it's setting.  

• Open up the document to the right and press File --> Make a Copy and start writing.  

Exploring Your Community 

• Open up the street view image to the right.

• How long have the cranes been in downtown Lexington?

• Discuss with your groups why these cranes are here? 

• What did this area look like before this construction project began?  What happened to those businesses? 

• Why do you think it's taking so long to finish?  

Google Earth Book Reports

• Instead of a diorama, have students create visual book reports through Google Earth

• Search for the locations/settings in their stories where the events may have taken place.

• Have the students add summaries, questions, descriptions, quotes, etc.  

• Here's an example from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Interactive Writing Pieces

• Have students type out personal narratives/short stories using Google Docs. 

• Copy and paste those paragraphs onto a new Google Site. 

• Have students find the locations/settings of their Personal Narratives on Google Maps/Street View. 

• Using this trick (click), embed those locations onto a Google Site.  Ka-boom: interactive stories

• Click to view an example written by one of my fifth graders

Making Data Visual

• Google Earth let's your import KML / KMZ files. 

• These are graphical overlays that you can put on top of Google Earth.  While you (or your students!) can make these yourself, there are lot of them available to download for free!   

• Check out some of the ones I've downloaded here.  

Take a Tour in Google Earth

• Click the link to view the Google Earth Gallery.

• Find something that connects to your content area, get ready to share!  

Time Travel in Street View

• There are 12+ years of Google Street View images available.  Many places have more than one image available from different locations, and you can browse all of them!  

My Maps

• Google’s Free Map Creator

• Add custom pins, layers, directions, and now distances!

• Maps can then be shared just like Google Docs and edited by multiple users simultaneously

• You can also view your creations in Google Maps

• Maps can even be made “public”, where anyone in the world can have access to it.  

• Add images, videos, and/or paragraphs to each pin.  

• Draw polygons and calculate distance 

• Download or Upload KML files from/to Earth/Maps.

Scale Model of the Solar System

• Using different digital tools, have the students recreate a scale model of the Solar System using everyday objects. 

• Here's a link to the assignment I gave my class (click)

• Here's a link to the questions they had to answer once the assignment was completed (click)

• We watched this video for inspiration for our projects (click). 

My Maps As Classroom Attachments

• If students "Attach from Drive" a My Map onto a Google Classroom assignment, it automagically shares it with the teacher.

• Students create map, you get to view it.  

• If students work collaboratively on the map, only the OWNER of the map can turn it in, so make sure the students' names are all on it

MyMaps As Templates

• You can make My Map Templates!

• Make your My Map where "Anyone with the link can view",  Click here to view an example. 

• Place instructions on your My Map as to what you want your students to do (Continue drawing placemarks, finding angles, determining distances, etc).

• Attach the link to your "My Map" as a Resource onto your Google Classroom assignment.  

• Students open up the My Map, press the "Three Dots", and then "Make a Copy" 

• Boomshakalaka: they now have a copy of your template and can submit their work.

Perimeter and Area

• Have students locate your school on a map and draw polygons around the buildings 

• Estimate/Sum up/round the total, etc. 

Social Studies Maps

Retell/recreate events from Social Studies/history to help students visualize and access the information better/clearer.  

Creative Book Retelling

Take a picture book and retell it using pins with text from the story.  Would make a great collaborative project!

Map Projections... Wait What?

Show students how spherical objects on a flat surface can appear different sizes that they actually are.

Cool assignment idea: outline your state, compare it to other states.   How many Delawares do you think could fit inside California?  

Or check, “The True Size Of…”

Class Location Map

• Have a link on your class webpage to a Google Form that students can fill out anything they go somewhere different/unique.  

• Turn on notifications for the form so you know everytime it's updated

• Upload that form to a My Map that's embedded on your site.  Bingo - instant Class Map.