TAKE A TRIP

 

Georgia Standards

 

South Carolina Standards

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Materials

• A variety of travel guides (see “Additional Resources”)
• Construction paper
• Markers and or/colored pencils
• Scratch paper
• Pencils

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

• Pass out travel guides for students to look at. Provide each group of students several different guides to view.
• Next, ask students to look at the images and any text.
  • Ask students to pick the place they would most like to go.
  • Allow students time to share where they would go and explain why.

 

Work Session

• Ask students to work collaboratively to identify the text features in the guides.
  • Facilitate a discussion around which text features they identified and what purpose they serve in furthering conveying meaning.
  • Discuss how the text features contribute to persuading someone to visit the location.
• Look at the design features of the travel guides.
  • Ask students to describe how the designer of the guide used the space on the paper. Students should notice that visuals take up a large portion of the space. They may also notice bold or large headings.
  • Ask students how the designer used color. Students may notice vibrant colors in the pictures that communicate the beauty of the place. Students may also notice that some designers use color in the headings and in text boxes to draw the viewer’s attention. This is called emphasis in art.
  • Ask students to make observations about the style of guide. Students will notice that the colors used throughout the guide are consistent. This is called a color scheme in art and it creates unity.
    • Show students a color wheel and discuss various types of color schemes, complementary, analogous, warm, neutral and cool.
      • Ask students how different color schemes make them feel–relaxed, excited, etc.
      • Have students look through the guides and see if they can identify any color schemes. Ask students how the colors reflect the atmosphere of the place.
• Ask students what they think the purpose of the guides is. Students should determine that their purpose is to persuade someone to visit the location.
• Now, ask students who they think the travel guides are written for (audience). Ask students how they know.
• Talk about some of the reasons or arguments presented in the text and pictures of the guides which may persuade someone to visit.
  • Some examples may include: Relaxing beaches or exciting activities for the whole family.
• Next, discuss the order in which the reasons to visit are presented, noting that the strongest reason is usually listed first.
• Tell students that they will be creating their own travel guides (this can be done individually, with a partner, or in a small group).
• The teacher will then instruct the students to select a location to use as the topic of their travel guide.
  • Have students select and research a location that connects to a geography standard in Social Studies. (For example, SS5G1 Locate important places in the United States. a. Locate important man-made places; include the Chisholm Trail; Pittsburgh, PA; Kitty Hawk, NC; Pearl Harbor, HI; Montgomery, AL.; and Chicago, IL.)
  • Alternatively, students could select a favorite place that they’ve visited or could focus on their state or town geography.
  • Students will conduct research on their location to include in their travel guide.
• Pass out scratch paper to students. Students should identify:
  • The purpose of the guide (to convince someone to visit the location)
  • Their audience (this may be different depending on the location that they choose)
  • Three reasons why someone should visit. Students should rank the reasons from most convincing to least convincing.
    • Under each reason, students should list supporting details.
• Have students share their answers with a partner and allow time for students to ask each other questions about their answers.

 

Creating Travel Guides

• Pass out paper to students.
• Demonstrate to students how to trifold paper to make a travel guide.
• Have students label each section of their guide.
  • The front flap will be the cover.
  • The first page will be the first and strongest reason to travel, and will include a heading, an illustration of the reason and a brief paragraph explaining why the audience should visit for this reason.
  • The students will continue this process by illustrating and writing in pages two and three.
  • They should use the back to write their name and cite their source(s). They can create a fake travel company name and contact information if they would like!
• Remind students of the text features that they identified in the travel guide.
  • Create a list of features that should be included on the cover (title and large illustration) and on each page (heading, text, and illustration).
  • Next, have students designate space for their title, headings, text and illustrations.
• Remind students that in the text portion of the travel guide, their writing should:
  • State three reasons why someone should visit the location.
  • Support each reason with relevant details from their research.
  • Use transitional words and phrases to link opinion, reasons, and supporting details.
  • Students should write in paragraph form using introduction and conclusion sentences.
• Remind students to use the following techniques in their design:
  • Create large illustrations with vibrant colors.
  • Use color to create emphasis in text boxes and/or in headings to draw the viewer’s attention.
  • Choose a specific color scheme for the headings and text boxes to create unity. Project the color wheel for reference. Students should reflect on what they want to communicate to their audience and pick a color scheme that reflects that (exciting, calming, fun, etc.).
• Allow time for students to create their travel guides. Circulate the room to work with students.
• Once the guide is complete, students will use their travel guides to help them write an opinion/argumentative essay that includes an introduction, supporting details, and conclusion to convince someone to come and visit their location.

 

Closing Reflection

• Place students in small groups. Tell students that they will get to pick one place from their group member’s locations to travel.
• Have students share their travel guides with their group members.
• After each group member has shared, students will do a quick write on which place they would choose to visit and why.
• Allow time for a few students to share their responses with the whole class.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator; discussion of design and text features; discussion of the purpose of travel guides; and conferencing with students during the research, planning, creation, and writing process.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

• Students can create a travel guide for a location that uses design and text features to convince someone to travel to the location.
• Students can provide reasons that are supported with details as to why someone should travel to the location.
• Students can use color schemes to create unity and communicate a message.
• Students can write a well-organized opinion/argumentative essay that includes an introduction, supporting details, and conclusion.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration:  Students will turn their travel guide into a commercial. In addition to a script, encourage students to videotape and share the commercials with the class. Students can turn their guides into digital guides using an application on their student devices, such as Microsoft Publisher. Remediation:  As a group, make a visual list of why someone should want to go to the specific destination. Use verbal prompting questions to elicit responses from students about the guide. Provide the students with pre-folded tri fold paper to create their own guide. Encourage the students to write 1-2 sentences per section of their guide. Reduce the requirements in the essay or allow students to submit their travel guides in lieu of the essay. ESOL Modifications and Adaptations:  Introduce vocabulary: persuade, argument, logical, effective, appeal, and audience. Have the ESOL teacher model using each word in a sentence to help students understand the meaning. ESOL Assessments: Each section/page has an  illustration and, depending on students’ language level, a paragraph, sentence, or words explaining their reason and why the audience should visit.

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Rubric Digital Travel Guides Travel Guides Free

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Deborah Kupperbusch. Modifications, Extensions, and Adaptations Contributed by: Candy Bennett, Patty Bickell, Vilma Thomas, and Lori Young Reviewed by Debbie Frost. Updated by: Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: August 2024 @ ArtsNOW