I presented today at the Spring CUE Conference and had a great time. I was a little nervous because it was my first big conference since the pandemic, but it went well. I shared different ways to use Google tools to support world language and English language learners. You can see the slide deck here if you are so inclined.
One of the ideas I shared was an Amazing Race. If you aren’t familiar with it, here is a quick overview. Basically, students go to a map, click on a place marker, and see a challenge or task. They complete the challenge or task, then fill out and submit a form. When they submit the form, they receive a link to a new map with a new challenge. Want to give it a try? Here is a mini Amazing Race for you to play.
One of the participants asked for clarification about setting up the Amazing Race. Here you go, Gerardo!
It may seem complicated, but once you see how it all fits together, it makes more sense. I’ve tried to break it down into manageable steps. Having a planning document is key. Here is a template you can use. (Click on the blue Use template button to generate your own copy.)
Step 1: Decide on your content and identify places that are connected to that content. For example, my topic was Michelangelo, so in my example, I selected the Vatican, which contains the Sistine Chapel, and the Accademia, the museum in Florence where the statue of David is displayed. Additional locations I could have added include Bologna, where he worked for a time as a teenager, or places where his art is displayed, etc. Any type of tie in will work. On your planning document, note down each location.
Step 2: Identify what you want students to do at each location. You could ask them to explore the map, read an article, watch a video, or similar. What learning will take place at each location? Add this information to your planning document.
Step 3: Create a separate map for each place and add a marker to each one. The marker contains the challenge for each location. If you are asking students to look at an image or watch a video, you can embed them directly into the marker. If you want them to read an article or go to a website, you will need to type in that information and provide a link, if appropriate. Basically, each place marker has directions for the learning activity you identified in Step 2.Share your maps so anyone with the link can view. On your planning document, paste in a link to each map.
Step 4: Create a Google form for each place. Students will complete the form to submit their work. They may do this by simply answering questions on the form; you can use response validation to make sure that they can only proceed if they answer correctly. Another option would be to have students create something, for example, a slide deck or a Google Doc and ask them to submit the link on the form. On your planning document, paste in a link to each form. This is the link to where the students will go to complete the form, not the link you use to edit it, but you could include that too if you like.
Step 5: Tie it all together. Edit the place markers on your maps to include the link to the form for that location. Edit the confirmation message (under Presentation settings) on each form to give the students the link to the next map.
If you would like to see an example of a completed planning guide, you can visit this planning guide that I used to create the Amazing Race game linked above.
Pro tip: Create a folder in your Google Drive and save all the forms, maps, and planning documents in it so you have everything in one place.
If you want to share your form with others, you can go to the File menu and choose “Add collaborators.” The problem for some is that your only option is to give people editing access to the form. If you don’t want those with whom you have shared your form to be able to edit it, you need to find another way to give them access.
