travel writing reading comprehension

Beyond "What I Did on Vacation": Exploring the Genre of Travel Writing

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

In this lesson, students are introduced to the genre of travel writing. After reading and analyzing short examples and discussing conventions of the genre, students engage in some guided travel writing activities. They brainstorm events and/or personal experiences that might make a fun piece of travel writing and select one event for freewriting. They then turn their notes into a travel article, using a list of characteristics of good travel writing to assess their writing as they work. They peer review and revise drafts of their writing before publishing it using an online multigenre tool. This scalable lesson can be completed in a few days as a short mini-unit, before a school break as a chance for students to do some real world writing, or over a longer period of time as an extended unit with integrated research.

Featured Resources

• Elements of Good Travel Writing : This handout lists characteristics of good travel articles.
• Multigenre Mapper : Students can use this online tool to create multigenre, multimodal texts, including three types of writing and a drawing, in response to the Gettysburg Address.
• Suggested Reading in the Travel Writing Genre : This reading list includes books and magazines in the travel writing genre.

From Theory to Practice

In her book Thinking Through Genre , Heather Lattimer discusses genre study as "an inquiry into text form" (4). One of the ways to help students see the structural and rhetorical features of a piece of writing is to immerse them in the study of various genres. By studying a wide array of genres, students are better able to see the many decisions a writer makes as a matter of purpose, audience, and form or genre, rather than as arbitrary teacher-established rules. Lattimer suggests, "A genre study is not about reading a particular text; individual texts are read and discussed for the purpose of developing strategies of comprehension appropriate for the genre" (4). Dean states, "Even if we can't develop the full contextual aspect of some genres because of the restrictions of the classroom situation, it is helpful for students to know that not all writing is the same. They can learn the concept of genres." (45) By reading and writing in new genres, students gain strategies for reading new kinds of texts as well as insights into different ways of producing texts. Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Suggested Reading in the Travel Writing Genre
• Sample Piece of Travel Writing: “The Visit” (or substitute with your own piece if you prefer)
• Computer with Internet access
• Analysis of Travel Writing
• Elements of Good Travel Writing

Preparation

• Read and the Analysis of Travel Writing and note how the characteristics apply to “ The Visit .”
• Consider how travel writing might fit into your larger conversations with students about writing. For example, using travel writing as part of a genre approach to teaching writing can allow teachers to compare and contrast it with other forms of writing. There is a strong overlap between travel writing and personal narrative, as good travel writing centers on good stories and engaging voice and style. Mixed in with that, however, is the description and informational aspects of expository writing. Travel writing also often overlaps with persuasive writing, making emotional appeals to entice readers to take particular sorts of trips. Seeing travel writing as a hybrid genre not only will give students an additional form to work in; it will help them see aspects of familiar forms by comparison.
• Make one copy of the Analysis of Travel Writing and Elements of Good Travel Writing for each student.
• Test the Multigenre Mapper on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page .

Student Objectives

Students will:

• learn the conventions of the travel writing genre.
• attempt new methods of generating personal writing.
• practice process-based writing and writing for an audience.
• integrate research with personal experiences and reflection.

Session One

• Ask students what they know about travel writing and what they expect to find in travel writing. List their comments on the board or on chart paper. Save this information for use later in the session.
• Hand out copies of “ The Visit ,” or have students access it online. Alternately, you can share another piece of travel writing with students from your class textbook or another source.
• Hand out copies of the Analysis of Travel Writing to each student.
• Have students read “ The Visit ” and then answer the questions on the Analysis of Travel Writing , either individually or in small groups.
• Discuss the article and student responses to the Analysis of Travel Writing handout.
• Ask students to compare that they found in the reading with their observations and expectations at the beginning of the session. Encourage exploration of the similarities and differences.
• Hand out a Elements of Good Travel Writing to each student, and discuss these elements as they apply to the reading.

Session Two

• Review the Elements of Good Travel Writing handout from the previous session.
• Have students watch the short clip " Developing Travel Writing " from BBC.
• When they finish reading, ask students to brainstorm a list of events and/or personal experiences that might make a fun piece of travel writing.
• Give students a few minutes to share their lists with their peers.
• Have students select one event from their lists and write down, using freewriting and brainstorming techniques, everything they can about it during the remainder of the session. If time is short, have students complete their notes for homework. Ask them to bring their notes to the next session.

Session Three

• Allow students a few minutes to review their notes from the previous session and make any changes or additions.
• Explain that these notes are source material for students’ own travel articles.
• Have students compare their notes to the Elements of Good Travel Writing . Ask them to identify any characteristics that are not present in their work or that need to be strengthened.
• Try for a clever attention grabber (explain that this may be the last or most difficult part).
• Give enough background information to set the context: Where were you? Why were you there? Why was this event important?
• Clearly describe the setting. Use details that appeal to multiple senses.
• Clearly describe an important person (alternately, an animal or thing) in the story. Make sure that your reader will understand who the key people are in the article.
• Look for places where you can add dialogue. If the event happened a long time ago, dialogue does not have to be direct quotations. Suggest students focus on the general comments and feelings in their dialogues.
• Mix in personal reflections with the telling of the story.
• Ask students to bring a completed draft of their travel article to the next class session for peer review.

Session Four

• Have students share their revised drafts in small groups of two to four students.
• Ask peers to evaluate the articles by comparing their characteristics to the Elements of Good Travel Writing .
• Encourage students to share supportive feedback and praise as well.
• Have students revise their work using feedback from their peers to create a final draft.
• If desired, allow time for students to publish their travel writing using the Multigenre Mapper to incorporate drawings into their final work.
• Have students research the location in their writings and then incorporate relevant information into the finished versions.
• Read additional travel writing. Some suggestions are included on the Suggested Reading in the Travel Writing Genre handout.
• General interest magazines often carry travel pieces as well. Discuss the kinds of travel writing that are included in non-travel magazines such as Cottage Living and the differences between these and articles found in travel magazines such as National Geographic Traveler . Use this comparison as a basis for a discussion of audience and purpose.
• For some additional ways to write about travel, consult Ten Ways to Write about Your Vacation , which includes writing prompts that can be used as starting points or as more polished pieces.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Assess students’ finished travel writing by comparison to the genre conventions established during discussion and in the Elements of Good Travel Writing . Finished pieces can be shared with peers, family, and/or the school at large via a “travel” edition of a school publication.
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Round-the-world travellers

This lesson offers a variety of activities based on British round-the-world travellers; a cyclist, a running granny and a teenage sailor.

Students will firstly review country names, and then there is an activity to pre-teach vocabulary for a jigsaw reading task, where students will explain their texts to each other. There follows a role play in which students play the part of a traveller or a journalist, and this is followed by a task where students compare ideas on advice to world travellers. Finally there is a more open discussion task about young people, travel and world records.

Aims: • To learn vocabulary related to travel and adventure • To develop reading skills • To practise speaking skills Age group: 12- adult

Level: B1 / B2

Time: 60 minutes

Materials: Around-the-world travellers student worksheet, jigsaw reading texts, and lesson plan

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ESL Travel Reading

ESL travel reading comprehension passages and exercises are good ways to learn travel vocabulary. Doing them will help you remember the words and how to use them.

This page has an ESL travel reading comprehension passage that you should read and understand. Then after it there are some questions about the passage that that you should answer. Once you have finished the questions click on the get answers button to show your score and the correct answers.

If you cannot understand any of the vocabulary used you can go to the ESL travel vocabulary page that has an extensive travel vocabulary list for you to consult.

ESL Travel Reading Comprehension Passage

Travel is something which people do every day. It is very difficult to avoid the need to travel. It may be a trip to school, university or to work. Travelling can often take a long time, especially when great distances need to be covered. People often enjoy travelling abroad for holidays. But for some people travelling is not fun at all. Some people suffer from travel sickness. This means that they will become very unwell each time they travel. 

Travelling can be either affordable or costly. It often depends on how far you want to travel and the choice of transport. Using a bicycle will not cost anything as you power it by using your legs. However, the use of a bicycle can be hard work and can take a lot of time to travel long distances. Cars and motorcycles are faster modes of transport, but are more expensive to use as gasoline is needed for them to work. It can usually be assumed that the longer you wish to travel, the more expensive and time consuming it will be.

The use of a plane is necessary for people wanting to travel very long distances. A pilot will fly a plane from an airport for many thousands of miles to take people to places far away. Although traffic is rarely a problem for airplanes, it can take a lot of preparation to travel by plane. People often need to arrive at the airport three hours prior to departure. 

A train is another mode of transport which is ideal for travelling long distances within the same country, or between countries which are connected by land. A train driver will stop at train stations on route to allow passengers wishing to proceed to the scheduled destination to board the train.

A number of destinations can be travelled to by using the sea. People often depart from a harbour in a ferry which is driven by a captain. If the journey is a long distance, people may choose to sleep on the ferry while they wait to arrive at their destination. Some people choose to go on a cruise for their holiday, which would involve stopping at many different city ports for a short amount of time. People who need to travel short distances may choose not to use any transport at all. People often rely on their legs to take them to places nearby. This is often encouraged as certain modes of transport have been said to produce harmful emissions and damage the environment. 

ESL Travel Reading Comprehension

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Travel guide.

Look at this guide for tourists visiting California, then do the exercises to improve your reading skills.

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise first. Then do the other exercises.

Preparation

Check your understanding: true or false

Check your understanding: matching, worksheets and downloads.

Which place in California would you like to visit?

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Reading comprehension on travel writing

Subject: English

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

4 February 2012

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