Today is the one year anniversary of my blog. I had no idea when I began this journey where it would take me. When I first began, I felt like I was writing into the black abyss. Slowly but surely teachers found my blog, readers began to leave comments, and global collaboration was born. I love it! In one year, I have had 1.3+ million blog page views, have written 300+ blog posts, and have gotten to know countless cyber friends. I can hardly wait to see where my second year takes me. Thank you for joining me on my journey into blogland.
The word journey can be a springboard for many lessons. We can travel or go on a journey using books or field trips. Of course schools will always "travel" through books, but with budget cutbacks, many districts no longer take field trips. Your students can still journey to far away places through the use of virtual field trips. These can be set up as a computer center or as a whole group activity. Here are a few places to add to your "travel" itinerary:
Smithsonian National Museum of National History
Plimoth Plantation
Virtual Jamestown
Statue of Liberty
White House
Monticello
Mount Vernon
Lincoln Memorial
Australia Zoo tour with Steve Irwin
Fire Engine
NASA Space Shuttle
Ellis Island
Google Lit Trips
I made a few printable that you may download for free.
Students can rate their experience of their "travels" on this chart.
Students can document their "travels" on these maps:
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Students can write about what they learned on this worksheet:
You can do this activity as a whole group lesson to enrich your social studies curriculum. Or this can be set up as a long term center. For that option, staple this into a book and each week choose a new destination. This is a simple way to integrate technology, social studies, and language arts. Click below to download the pages.
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Do you know of any virtual field trips that I should add to the list? If so, leave me a comment and I'll add them.