Community reviews for Google Lit Trips

This is a great resource for literature. In my 8th grade classroom many of the students have a limited knowledge of geography as it pertains to the literature they are reading. In most cases this app lets them explore the setting and click on links to extend their knowledge of the area being referred to in the setting of a novel. The only disadvantage is the amount of information for each novel in not consistent, so if it a novel students chose independently some students may have more information available to them than others in the classroom.

This resource will grab students attention and bring the book to life. One of the downfalls I found is using Google Lit Trips for a story set is back in history. The path students take and actual locations show how they look today, not back during the time the story took place. Some students will have a hard time picturing how the setting would have looked in the past. The resource itself is easy to use and contain common core questions to incorporate into your discussion or activity. This is a great background activity at the start of the story; or culminating activity for the end of a book.

There are a variety of lit trips that can be downloaded from the Google Lit Trip website. Some trips may be more in-depth that others, depending on the book. As of this time most lit trips from the website have to be downloaded to open in Google Earth. As the site is being updated, some of the books can now be accessed through Google Tour Builder. It is only recently that Tour Builder is now able to open these files in Chrome and on a Chromebook in 2D. For a teacher, creating a lit trip does require skills in using Google Earth or Google Tour Builder. For student creators, you should allow instructional time for students to learn the software or web application. Build in time for the creation of a lit trip or for students using a lit trip as part of their instructional learning time.