Travels With Myself & Two Others: Taking Literacy Learning on the Road

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(First, a quick shout out to Martha Gellhorn, whose memoir Travels With Myself and Another ranks as one of my all-time favorite reads. Obviously, my blog post title is a play on Martha's book title.)

In a few weeks, I will travel with my twin daughters to Florida for vacation. It will be a learning experience for all three of us. For me, I will learn whether I have the patience and courage to travel with two six-year-olds without losing either my mind or one (or both) of them. I will also discover just how strong my map-reading skills are as I navigate a rental car around central Florida. Time to beef up my document literacy skills ... or just use GPS. The girls will expand their boundaries significantly. Our trip involves new forms of transportation (airplane, monster-truck eco bus), new sights, new sounds, new tastes, and new people. Authentic learning at its finest. Travel and reading. Two of the best forms of education.

In a fun coincidence, the February 2013 issue of The Reading Teacher (International Reading Association) includes the article, Literacy on the Move: A Journal for the Journey by Dr. Laurie Curtis, an assistant professor at Kansas State University. In the article, Ms. Curtis lays the groundwork for an interesting project that involves incorporating literacy learning with travel. Designed for students who must miss school because of family travel plans, the project provides a way for students to connect their school studies with the real-life experiences they will have while on their journey. Essentially, instead of assigning "make up" work, the teachers involved in this project created a traveling journal assignment of sorts. Before they leave, a student (and possibly her parents) conference with the teacher about the assignment. The student receives a folder that contains a U.S. or world map, colored pencils and paper. As they travel, the student colors in the areas of the map that pertain to the journey. Along the way, she collects print resources and journals each day about her experiences. The type of journaling completed depends on the student's age and level of literacy skills.When the student arrives back in class, she conferences again with the teacher and then creates a presentation to share with her classmates.  The activity supports both the Common Core State Standards and the four literacy strands. 

Although my daughters and I will travel during a scheduled school break, I am thinking about putting a journaling packet together for each girl. Not only could it help them make stronger connections with their experiences, I think they would find it fun with the end result being a unique souvenir of their first big traveling adventure.

I'd love to hear what ideas you have to help students  - or children in general - connect literacy and learning while traveling.

Thanks for reading! It keeps your .. Mind Full of Literacy!