Recently I introduced my students to a new piece of historical fiction called A Lion to Guard Us. This novel by Clyde Robert Bulla follows the journey of an impoverished family journeying from England to the New World during the early 1600s as a part of the Virginia Company. As I was teaching my students about this voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, I distributed maps of the world and had the students track the journey of the Sea Adventure, a ship that traveled from Plymouth, England to Bermuda before sailing on to Jamestown, Virginia. In order to get a closer look at the colony of Jamestown, I used GoogleEarth to assist my students as they examined the geography of the region. As I went about introducing my students to this important geographic information, it occurred to me that this would be a perfect opportunity to use the new web 2.0 tool I had discovered several weeks prior: TerraClues.
Using TerraClues I created a virtual hunt, titled "A Journey to the New World in 'A Lion to Guard Us,'" that followed the journey of the main characters in the novel. I selected several important locations identified in the story, and provided clues that would support students as they discovered the matching geographic location. For instance, when hinting at the location of Plymouth, England, I wrote the clue, "Amanda, Jemmy, Meg, and Dr. Crider go to this seaside port to go aboard the Sea Adventure." The description of the characters and the circumstances of the visit would, hopefully, trigger a a memory of where the Sea Adventure was located before it journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean. I think this kind of activity is a great option for teachers who are trying to teach geography using a more interactive platform. I hope to use the hunt I created at the end of the reading unit I am teaching.
I like this idea of using TerraClues. Instead of just looking at a book or reading maps, it makes it a more fun and interactive way of learning where things are in the world. I am a hands on learner so this would have worked better for me when I was learning this stuff.
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