Recently I was doing a project and wanted the 13 original colonies map, but didn’t want to outline each state. Instead, I downloaded the .KMZ file of all 50 states (Map found here) and deleted all but the original 13. I had to do some modifications, but that was so much easier than recreating it all from scratch. And it was so easy to export the file then import it into my map.
Author: Admin
Google My Maps Part 10: Preview
Want to know how your maps look when others open it? What other options do your viewers have?
Google My Maps Part 9: Sharing
Now that you have an awesome map or HyperMap, you need to share it! You have a few options. You can have some edit or view. Or you may wish to have a MapFest where everyone can contribute and edit.
Google My Maps Part 8: Measurement Tool
The feature you didn’t even know you needed! I’ve been measuring out distances before using the drawing tool for math. (Spoiler alert: I use maps in class to practice adding and subtracting fractions.)
Notes on Google Slides
Earlier this week my students started on a group project – Road to the Revolution. I had given them a Hyperdoc with the information on the French and Indian War. I gave them very specific guidelines and some questions to answer. The end product is an Animoto video. As I was walking around and helping, I noticed that a group of students had Google Slides open. I got worried. It took a long time for me to get my students out of the habit of wanting to create a slideshow for presentations. So I stopped and asked why Slides was open and “Please don’t tell me you’re creating a slideshow.” I was so relieved when one of the girls explained that they were using it to take notes! I didn’t even show them this trick. Yeah, proud teacher moment.
One of the girls created and shared the slides with the rest of the group. Each person in the group had their own slide to take notes. I know this isn’t the first time this has been done, but I was really proud of my students for thinking of this. It is so much easier to take shared notes on Slides as opposed to Docs.
I LOVE it when students take learning into their own hands and make it work for them. Go Innovators!
Just another great example of what students will do when we give them the freedom to own their learning.
Google My Maps Part 7: Directions
Directions are one of those ‘nerdy’ features that make me happy. I haven’t used it in the classroom, yet. In the meantime, here’s how to use it. How can you incorporate this into the classroom?
Google My Maps Part 6: Base Map
I like the ability to customize the look of the map. My personal favorite is ‘satellite’. However, depending on your needs, a lighter or darker map is just the ticket!
Google My Maps Part 5: Import Data
Importing data into a Google My Map only takes a few clicks and a CSV, TSV, KML, KMZ, GPX, or XLSX file. This is especially handy in the classroom for research and tracking data.
Google My Maps Part 4: Layers
Another feature on Google My Maps is the Layers. When we were studying the 13 Colonies, I was able to separate information into layers. There was a layer for the original 13 colonies, a layer for the colonial regions (New England, Middle, Southern), and the current geography of the 50 states. The students were able to click on and off layers in order to clearly see important information.
Google My Maps Part 3: Lines and Shapes
There are so many learning opportunities with the lines and shapes feature of My Maps. We are currently adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. It gets really boring doing problems from a book. In the coming days, I plan to create a Hypermap with lines – making sure the distance will be a fraction. (NOTE: My Maps measures distance using decimals. This will be good practice for my 5th graders to convert). My Maps will also tell the area and perimeter of a shape, MORE math opportunities!
Nowa Techie 