Ever since I participated in the Google Teacher (now Innovator) Academy in 2014, I have been amazed by the power of Google My Maps. It just keeps getting better, and the ways to use it are unlimited!
If you've never tried Google My Maps, just try it! Sign into your Google Account and go to your Google Drive. Click on "NEW" and then "More", and then "Google My Maps". You can also access it through Google Maps (click on the 3 lines on the left hand side of the screen and click on "Your places").
For fun, I decided to create a map of all the locations of the 250th anniversary cakes in St. Louis. I did in the old Google My Maps, so it looks a little different since it was converted to the new maps. I've also presented on Google My Maps at several conferences. This is a tour of St. Louis from the M3 conference sponsored by MOREnet.
You might think that Google My Maps is only for social studies, and it does lend itself to that subject. In fact, some of the teachers at the middle school in my district had the students create maps that included the major battles of WWII. However, just think about how you could use Google My Maps in other subject areas... map the locations in a novel or write step by step directions on how to get to a location for ELA, map locations of the birthplaces of the artists of the Renaissance for art, measure the distances and square miles of locations in your hometown for math, create your own map of your interests for 20% time/Genius Hour or makerspace time. Some of my favorite examples of creative maps include the Zombie Apocalypse in Mexico Map, the James Bond Movie Map, and the America's Highway -- Oral Histories of Route 66, all found in the Google Maps Gallery.
So, if you want to do something different with your students, definitely try Google My Maps! You will be amazed at all of the subject areas you can use it with.
If you've never tried Google My Maps, just try it! Sign into your Google Account and go to your Google Drive. Click on "NEW" and then "More", and then "Google My Maps". You can also access it through Google Maps (click on the 3 lines on the left hand side of the screen and click on "Your places").
For fun, I decided to create a map of all the locations of the 250th anniversary cakes in St. Louis. I did in the old Google My Maps, so it looks a little different since it was converted to the new maps. I've also presented on Google My Maps at several conferences. This is a tour of St. Louis from the M3 conference sponsored by MOREnet.
You might think that Google My Maps is only for social studies, and it does lend itself to that subject. In fact, some of the teachers at the middle school in my district had the students create maps that included the major battles of WWII. However, just think about how you could use Google My Maps in other subject areas... map the locations in a novel or write step by step directions on how to get to a location for ELA, map locations of the birthplaces of the artists of the Renaissance for art, measure the distances and square miles of locations in your hometown for math, create your own map of your interests for 20% time/Genius Hour or makerspace time. Some of my favorite examples of creative maps include the Zombie Apocalypse in Mexico Map, the James Bond Movie Map, and the America's Highway -- Oral Histories of Route 66, all found in the Google Maps Gallery.
So, if you want to do something different with your students, definitely try Google My Maps! You will be amazed at all of the subject areas you can use it with.
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