Connecting Stories to the World Using Tour Creator
In BC’s updated curriculum, it is encouraged across the curriculum to connect learning with place. In the First Nations Education Steering Committee’s First Peoples’ Principles of Learning it states that “Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).” In this increasingly connected world, we need to be not just aware of what is happening in our immediate vicinity but also what is happening around the world. Education needs to be grounded in its connections with the real world.
The following lesson and activity guides students through connecting the stories they read with real world places and happenings through the use of Google's Tour Creator. Students will create a virtual reality tour using real images of places discussed in a novel and draw connections with other artifacts, such as news articles, drawings or videos. Students are given several options of media to include in their tour, allowing them to choose what they feel best represents their novel.
BC Curricular Connections:
English Language Arts 8: Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world.
ADST 8: Complex tasks require the acquisition of additional skills; Complex tasks may require multiple tools and technologies.
Required preparation: Students should come prepared having at least partly read a book that takes place in another part of the world. Students could have broken into small groups reading the same book, or have the whole class read the same novel. Some possible books:
Alan Gratz, Refugee
Linda Sue Park, A Long Walk to Water
Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again
Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea
Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief
N.H. Senzai, Shooting Kabul
Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns
Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
Patricia McCormick, Sold
Naomi Benaron, Running The Rift
Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone
Qanta Ahmed, In the Land of Invisible Women
Saroo Brierly, A Long Way Home
Many of these books are available as audiobooks for those who have difficulties reading text. For English Language Learners, there are Hi-Lo Readers available that can be used for this project, for example Mark Zuehlke's Assault on Juno or Jeff Ross's Dawn Patrol.
Lesson Plan:
Tools:
Computer for each student with internet access
Projector connected to computer with internet access
Optional: Cameras with 360 degree imaging capabilities
Optional: Microphones for sound recording
Optional: Scanner for importing images
Introduction:
-Discuss with class: Who here has seen a movie that takes place in another country? What are some examples? Turn to someone next to you and tell them what you have learned about other parts of the world by watching movies.
-Ask a few students to share something they discussed. Then ask the class: why do we watch movies or read books that take place in other parts of the world?
Connect to their Book:
-Places are important to stories. Have students break out into groups of 2 to 4 who had read the same book. Ask them to make a list of places that are important in the story they read and list why they are important.
Creating a Virtual Tour:
-Explain that students are going to create a virtual tour connecting real world places to the experiences of a character in their book.
-Demonstrate a virtual tour on the projector, like this example of a virtual tour of Mahmoud's journey in Alan Gratz's Refugee.
-Show students how to log in to Google's Tour Creator and create their own virtual tour, including how to add scenes, add points of interest, add images, and record audio. Be sure to emphasize that they can include links to articles, images, and videos in the description of each point of interest.
-Instruct students on the specifics of the tour they will be creating related to their book. They will each create a virtual tour that visits locations important in the experiences of one of the main characters of the book. They should choose at least 3 scenes. Each scene should have points of interest describing the scene and how it relates to the story. Points of interest can be paragraph descriptions, related quotes from the book, pictures or drawings, links to related videos or articles, or audio clips recorded by the student or imported from elsewhere. Students can take their own images if to add to their scene and if they are relevant.
-Students will have the remainder of the class time to work on their virtual tour. They will likely need at least one more class period to complete their tours. They will publish their tour and hand in a list of their citations when it is ready.
Lesson Modifications: Other ideas for including virtual tours in the curriculum
-Science: Virtual tours of parks or natural phenomena can be enhanced with information. Examples: a tour of parks around the world representing different climate zones; a study of different types of volcanoes; a tour of important or historic research facilities.
-Social Studies: Annotate virtual images of the sites of important historic events; describe how a place has changed through history; create a tour following the movements of a people through history.
-Foods or Textiles: Create a tour showing where and how plants grow that are being used to create a dish or to create and colour a fiber; follow the transport and processing of a plant from its growth to the store where it is bought.
Citations:
Beah, I. (2007). A long way gone: Memoirs of a boy soldier. Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & McIntyre.
Benaron, N. (2011). Running the rift. Toronto: HarperCollins Canada.
Brierley, S., & Adam, V. (2014). A long way home (Unabridged.). [Ashland, OR]: Blackstone Audio, Inc..
Chapman, A. (February 9, 2020). A doctor's story: inside the 'living hell' of Moria refugee camp. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/09/moria-refugee-camp-doctors-story-lesbos-greece
Dowling, S. (June 20, 2019). Germany welcomed refugees. Now it's reaping the economic benefits. Al Jazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/germany-welcomed-refugees-reaping-economic-benefits-190617194147334.html
Google (n.d.). Tour Creator. https://arvr.google.com/tourcreator/
Gratz, A., & OverDrive Inc. (2017). Refugee (First edition.). New York: Scholastic Press.
Hartocollis, A. (September 9, 2015). Traveling in Europe's River of Migrants. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/reporters-notebook/migrants/denmark-march-sweden
Hosseini, K. (2007). A thousand splendid suns. Toronto: Viking Canada.
Human Rights Watch (2016). Russia/Syria: War Crimes in Month of Bombing Aleppo. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/01/russia/syria-war-crimes-month-bombing-aleppo
Kittle, P. (n.d.). Student Favorites (Currently) in my Classroom Library. Retrieved from http://pennykittle.net/uploads/images/PDFs/Workshop_Handouts/Book%20List%20Student%20Favorites.pdf
Kyritsis, E. (July 22, 2018). Google Tour Creator - Create your own VR Tours. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLzTJ7_KZGQ
Lai, T. (2011). Inside out & back again. New York: Harper.
McCormick, Patricia (2006). Sold. Brooklyn, NY: Hyperion.
Neilson, S. (2020). Refugee: Mahmoud's Journey. Retrieved from https://poly.google.com/u/0/view/epErsGTNwXr
Park, L. S., & OverDrive Inc. (2011). A long walk to water. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Qanta, A. (2008). In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom. Naperville, Ill. : Sourcebooks, Inc.
Ross, J. (2012). Dawn Patrol. Orca Books.
Secondary Sara (July 19, 2018). 16 Books to Start Your (Secondary) Classroom Library. Retrieved from https://www.secondarysara.com/2018/07/16-books-to-start-your-secondary.html
Senzai, N. H. (2010). Shooting Kabul. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Sepetys, R. (2016). Salt to the sea: A novel. New York: Philomel Books.
Tan, A. (2005). The Joy Luck Club (Large print ed.). [Waterville, Me.]: Wheeler Pub..
Zuehlke, M. (2012). Assault on Juno. Orca Books.
Zusak, M. (2006). The book thief (1st American ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
In BC’s updated curriculum, it is encouraged across the curriculum to connect learning with place. In the First Nations Education Steering Committee’s First Peoples’ Principles of Learning it states that “Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).” In this increasingly connected world, we need to be not just aware of what is happening in our immediate vicinity but also what is happening around the world. Education needs to be grounded in its connections with the real world.
The following lesson and activity guides students through connecting the stories they read with real world places and happenings through the use of Google's Tour Creator. Students will create a virtual reality tour using real images of places discussed in a novel and draw connections with other artifacts, such as news articles, drawings or videos. Students are given several options of media to include in their tour, allowing them to choose what they feel best represents their novel.
| Image from a virtual tour of the Taj Mahal. Care of VRroom.Buzz |
English Language Arts 8: Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world.
ADST 8: Complex tasks require the acquisition of additional skills; Complex tasks may require multiple tools and technologies.
Required preparation: Students should come prepared having at least partly read a book that takes place in another part of the world. Students could have broken into small groups reading the same book, or have the whole class read the same novel. Some possible books:
Alan Gratz, Refugee
Linda Sue Park, A Long Walk to Water
Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again
Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea
Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief
N.H. Senzai, Shooting Kabul
Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns
Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
Patricia McCormick, Sold
Naomi Benaron, Running The Rift
Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone
Qanta Ahmed, In the Land of Invisible Women
Saroo Brierly, A Long Way Home
 |
| A Long Way Home is a memoir of a child lost in India and raised in Australia, trying to find where he is from. Image care of Amazon.ca |
Many of these books are available as audiobooks for those who have difficulties reading text. For English Language Learners, there are Hi-Lo Readers available that can be used for this project, for example Mark Zuehlke's Assault on Juno or Jeff Ross's Dawn Patrol.
Lesson Plan:
Tools:
Computer for each student with internet access
Projector connected to computer with internet access
Optional: Cameras with 360 degree imaging capabilities
Optional: Microphones for sound recording
Optional: Scanner for importing images
Introduction:
-Discuss with class: Who here has seen a movie that takes place in another country? What are some examples? Turn to someone next to you and tell them what you have learned about other parts of the world by watching movies.
-Ask a few students to share something they discussed. Then ask the class: why do we watch movies or read books that take place in other parts of the world?
Connect to their Book:
-Places are important to stories. Have students break out into groups of 2 to 4 who had read the same book. Ask them to make a list of places that are important in the story they read and list why they are important.
Creating a Virtual Tour:
-Explain that students are going to create a virtual tour connecting real world places to the experiences of a character in their book.
-Demonstrate a virtual tour on the projector, like this example of a virtual tour of Mahmoud's journey in Alan Gratz's Refugee.
-Show students how to log in to Google's Tour Creator and create their own virtual tour, including how to add scenes, add points of interest, add images, and record audio. Be sure to emphasize that they can include links to articles, images, and videos in the description of each point of interest.
-Instruct students on the specifics of the tour they will be creating related to their book. They will each create a virtual tour that visits locations important in the experiences of one of the main characters of the book. They should choose at least 3 scenes. Each scene should have points of interest describing the scene and how it relates to the story. Points of interest can be paragraph descriptions, related quotes from the book, pictures or drawings, links to related videos or articles, or audio clips recorded by the student or imported from elsewhere. Students can take their own images if to add to their scene and if they are relevant.
-Students will have the remainder of the class time to work on their virtual tour. They will likely need at least one more class period to complete their tours. They will publish their tour and hand in a list of their citations when it is ready.
Lesson Modifications: Other ideas for including virtual tours in the curriculum
-Science: Virtual tours of parks or natural phenomena can be enhanced with information. Examples: a tour of parks around the world representing different climate zones; a study of different types of volcanoes; a tour of important or historic research facilities.
-Social Studies: Annotate virtual images of the sites of important historic events; describe how a place has changed through history; create a tour following the movements of a people through history.
-Foods or Textiles: Create a tour showing where and how plants grow that are being used to create a dish or to create and colour a fiber; follow the transport and processing of a plant from its growth to the store where it is bought.
Citations:
Beah, I. (2007). A long way gone: Memoirs of a boy soldier. Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & McIntyre.
Benaron, N. (2011). Running the rift. Toronto: HarperCollins Canada.
Brierley, S., & Adam, V. (2014). A long way home (Unabridged.). [Ashland, OR]: Blackstone Audio, Inc..
Chapman, A. (February 9, 2020). A doctor's story: inside the 'living hell' of Moria refugee camp. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/09/moria-refugee-camp-doctors-story-lesbos-greece
Dowling, S. (June 20, 2019). Germany welcomed refugees. Now it's reaping the economic benefits. Al Jazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/germany-welcomed-refugees-reaping-economic-benefits-190617194147334.html
Google (n.d.). Tour Creator. https://arvr.google.com/tourcreator/
Gratz, A., & OverDrive Inc. (2017). Refugee (First edition.). New York: Scholastic Press.
Hartocollis, A. (September 9, 2015). Traveling in Europe's River of Migrants. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/reporters-notebook/migrants/denmark-march-sweden
Hosseini, K. (2007). A thousand splendid suns. Toronto: Viking Canada.
Human Rights Watch (2016). Russia/Syria: War Crimes in Month of Bombing Aleppo. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/01/russia/syria-war-crimes-month-bombing-aleppo
Kittle, P. (n.d.). Student Favorites (Currently) in my Classroom Library. Retrieved from http://pennykittle.net/uploads/images/PDFs/Workshop_Handouts/Book%20List%20Student%20Favorites.pdf
Kyritsis, E. (July 22, 2018). Google Tour Creator - Create your own VR Tours. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLzTJ7_KZGQ
Lai, T. (2011). Inside out & back again. New York: Harper.
McCormick, Patricia (2006). Sold. Brooklyn, NY: Hyperion.
Neilson, S. (2020). Refugee: Mahmoud's Journey. Retrieved from https://poly.google.com/u/0/view/epErsGTNwXr
Park, L. S., & OverDrive Inc. (2011). A long walk to water. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Qanta, A. (2008). In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom. Naperville, Ill. : Sourcebooks, Inc.
Ross, J. (2012). Dawn Patrol. Orca Books.
Secondary Sara (July 19, 2018). 16 Books to Start Your (Secondary) Classroom Library. Retrieved from https://www.secondarysara.com/2018/07/16-books-to-start-your-secondary.html
Senzai, N. H. (2010). Shooting Kabul. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Sepetys, R. (2016). Salt to the sea: A novel. New York: Philomel Books.
Tan, A. (2005). The Joy Luck Club (Large print ed.). [Waterville, Me.]: Wheeler Pub..
Zuehlke, M. (2012). Assault on Juno. Orca Books.
Zusak, M. (2006). The book thief (1st American ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
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