Google Lit Trips - totally worth it!

After a student who was in this class last semester tipped me off to Google Lit Trips, I integrated the Abuela trip into my unit on families from around the world. To be honest, the trip itself was full of broken links and mediocre narration/imagery, but it provided an incredible framework for my students to explore the concepts of difference and distance between their homes in New York City and the island from which many of their families immigrated - Puerto Rico.

It was extremely difficult for me to secure a projector and a laptop to show my students the program - I think this is important to note, because it is a reality in many public schools here in New York, and deters many teachers from using technology at all. When I brought my students into the library for the presentation, though, I knew it was worth it. I read Abuela out loud and as we moved through the book, we traveled on Google Earth from our school to San Juan onscreen. The children were fascinated - "How does the computer take pictures of our neighborhood?!" When we made the jump from Manhattan to Puerto Rico, the students extended their arms and "flew" like Abuela and her granddaughter. By coupling the readaloud with Google Earth, the students gained a much deeper understanding of the difference in the landscape between the two cities - the water on the Puerto Rican coast is bluer, the land is hillier and greener, the houses appear to be smaller and more spread out. The kids were hooked on the digital images, and were extremely enthusiastic throughout the lesson.

I would certainly recommend this resource - if you've got the technology in your classroom, it's quite easy, and if not, I think it's worth the trouble. Many of the trips are a bit "buggy" though, and it may be wise to use the existing trip as a framework for designing your own around your students' interests and the specific objective you're trying to accomplish.

Harper Keenan