Travel and art

Description: This lesson plan is organised around the theme of travelling through the use of Ginette Callaway's paintings, a short text on art and travelling and lastly a youtube video on the 'Top 10 lessons learned in travelling the world'.

Level: Upper-Intermediate

Learners: Teenagers, Adults

Theme: Traveling

Language: Present Perfect and Past Simple.

Skills: Speaking, watching a video, reading, observing paintings, creative expression, deep thinking.

Materials: short video, visual prompts (paintings), and quote slides.

 Activities can be viewed here: 

Step one: Write on the whiteboard the following quote 'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.' Tell students that this is a quote by Augustine Hippo and give them 5 minutes to discuss the quote and its meaning. Ask learners again to discuss the quote and write down 3 reasons why they agree or disagree with the quote. Give time to students to share their ideas with their partner.

Step two: Elicit students' thoughts and ideas around the saying. For higher levels students it's important to 'stretch' Ss in order to make the most of their abilities. Write down on the whiteboard any interesting words or phrases that can students learn. This stage can last for quite long, so make sure you set a time limit.

Step three: Tell students that they are going to read a short text from a blog. Don't tell them the title. Give them few minute to quickly scan it and complete this sentence:

'This text talks about........'

All of us when travel ensure to capture beautiful sights of places with camera. With advent of cellphones with high quality camera, it has become a lot easier for even a common traveler to click and share photographs of sights that appeal them.

It may be assumed that in ancient times humankind only captured images through their eyes and stored them in their memory. To view them again or to share with people they love, early men used the art of sketching or painting to exhibit their heart-felt travel experiences. 

The art of photography prospered after the invention of camera and travel enthusiasts started capturing the beauty and awe of any scene, anywhere in the world.Travel to distant places within one's own country or outside of it could be once-in-a-lifetime moment, therefore, travel photography helps us precisely the way we want to remember the places we had been to.
Apart from the travelers taking photographs while on a tour, there are people who would like to see photographs of the destinations where they wish to go. Also, photographs of a particular city may even inspire to actually visit that place!

Taken by famous artists paintings

Step four: Tell students to read the text again and complete the following table. I believe that this text is quite simple for this level but if your learners are weak it will be a good idea to ask them to highlight any unknown words and go through them before this activity. Allow 5 minutes for the students to complete the table.

 

Ancient times	Early times	21st century

• Now ask students to identify the places on the picture 

Step six: hand out the grammar point. Allow few minutes for students to complete it.

a) 1. Have you ever been to Italy?

     2. When did you go?

b) Look at the question 1 and 2 above.

• What tense are they?

• Which question refers to a specific time in the past?

• Which question is about some time in your life.

Step 7: Pre-listening tasks: Allow 5 minutes to complete the vocabulary tasks and discuss any unknown words.

Step 8:

Tell students that we are going to watch a video about someone who traveled the world and the life lesson he learned. We are going to watch lesson1-3 and lesson 5, 6.

Activities for this lesson plan and for listening : lesson 1-3, 5-6

Step 9: After the video/Discussion: Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs, monitor students and encourage them to ask follow-up questions in order to exploit speaking activities. Elicit student's answers and reasons for the answers and opinions.

1. Do you agree with Benny? What do you think is the most important lesson?
2. Have you ever traveled alone? If yes, when?
3. Have you ever been in a difficult situation while traveling?
4. Have you ever gotten lost while traveling? If so, tell about it.
5. Have you ever hitchhiked? If so, how many times?
6. Is it safe to hitchhike in your country?

Have a lovely day and always remember: