Check out this wonderful Lit Trip developed by 1st grade students! Mrs. Wilkes’ first grade students take a a whirlwind tour around the world to discover a wide variety of geographical features mentioned in the book, The Yellow Balloon!
About the Contributors...
Michelle Wilkes, 1st Grade Teacher
http://www.colquitt.k12.ga.us/mwilkes/
Diane Barfield, Instructional Technology Specialist
http://www.colquitt.k12.ga.us/dbarfiel
Moultrie, Georgia
The project just fell together. A couple of years ago I asked my sister, an overseas pilot for the U.S. Air, to purchase children’s books from other countries. I had these books waiting for a prime opportunity. This past fall my dad, a flight instructor, had a student come from France to learn how to fly. The student, Katherena, has lived in several countries, and she speaks five languages. I asked her if she would come to my class and read some of these books. I gave her a couple of books, one in French and the other in Spanish for her to preview. In between this time, I was speaking with mrs. Barfield, Instructional Technology Specialist, and she was telling me about the Google Earth Lit Trips. We combined all of the components and ended up with a wonderful lesson in which students had the chance to explore land forms and places around the world.
- Michelle Wilkes, 1st Grade Teacher
I have attached the lit trip from Mrs. Wilkes' First Grade Class in Moultrie Georgia. I am the Instructional Technology Specialist for that school and was included in the design and delivery of the lesson. The description boxes are varied because responses came from different students and they are authentic first grade responses. The places around the world came from them too--from connections to texts, personal experiences, etc. They have limited prior knowledge. Still, it was very successful and I can't wait to do more.
- Diane Barfield, Instructional Technology Specialist
Download: The_Yellow_Balloon.kmz
