Lesson Plan: Become a Travel Writing Teacher!

Materials Needed:

• The provided text about tours in Peru (included below).
• Paper (plain and/or colored).
• Pens, pencils, and colored markers or pencils.
• Access to the internet for using an online dictionary/translator.
• Optional: A computer for designing a digital brochure.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Identify the key persuasive language and structural features of a travel brochure.
• Develop a simple, clear mini-lesson plan to teach these features to an English language learner.
• Create a helpful vocabulary guide and a visual aid to support your lesson.
• Design a fun and creative writing task for your hypothetical student.

Introduction & Warm-Up: What Makes a Brochure Great? (10 minutes)

Imagine you are teaching a student in China who is learning English. Their goal is to write a travel brochure that makes people excited to visit a place. Your job is to teach them how!

First, let's think about what works. Read these two descriptions for a beach vacation:

Description A: "The tour goes to a beach. There is sand and water. You can sit on the beach. It is sunny."

Description B: "Escape to a paradise of sparkling, golden sands and crystal-clear turquoise waters. Feel the warm sun on your skin as you relax under the shade of a swaying palm tree."

Think and Discuss:

• Which description makes you want to go to the beach more? Why?
• What specific words in Description B create a feeling or a picture in your mind? (e.g., escape, paradise, sparkling, crystal-clear)
• This is what we need to teach! We're not just describing a place; we're selling an experience.

Activity 1: Be a Text Detective - Analyzing the Peru Brochure (20 minutes)

Your first task as a teacher is to understand the material you're going to teach. Let's analyze the sample text about Peru. Read the text carefully and then answer the "Detective Questions" on a piece of paper. This will become the foundation for your lesson plan.

Sample Text: Peru Tours

Amazon Rainforest Tour
A short flight from Cusco takes you from the Andes into the Amazon rainforest. From there, you'll spend one day travelling by boat to your accommodation in the middle of the forest. You can then spend three days exploring the rainforest with a local guide and enjoying the plants and animals unique to the rainforest.

Machu Picchu Tour
This four-day walking tour will take you on amazing paths through the Andes Mountains on the way to the city of Machu Picchu. After reaching your destination, you will have a day to explore and be amazed by this ancient city. Especially amazing is the Incas' dry stone method of building. Inca builders cut stones to exact sizes so that nothing was needed to hold walls together other than the perfect fit of the stones.

Cusco Tour
Spend four days enjoying the unique Spanish and local Indian culture high in the Andes at Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th until the 16th century. Stay in a local hotel, visit the museums, admire the architecture, enjoy the excellent local food and go shopping at the local markets.

Lake Titicaca Tour
Enjoy the beautiful countryside as you spend a day driving along the new highway connecting Cusco to Lake Titicaca. There, a boat will take you to stay with a local Uros family on an island for three days. Both the island and the Uros homes are made of water plants from the lake.

So come and experience what Peru has to offer: everything from the ancient Inca culture and centuries-old Spanish villages to deep rainforests, high mountains, and a beautiful coastline.
For more brochures about other package tours around Peru, please contact us on our official website.

Detective Questions:

1. Powerful Words: Find at least 5 "selling" words in the text that are more exciting than plain words. (Examples: amazing, unique, ancient). Why are these words persuasive?
2. Sensory Details: Does the text help you imagine what you might see, hear, or feel? Find one example. (Hint: Look at the Cusco and Lake Titicaca tours.)
3. Action Verbs: The text uses strong verbs to tell you what you will DO. List five action verbs from the text. (Examples: exploring, enjoying, admire).
4. Structure: How is each tour description organized? Does it have a clear title? Does it explain what you do and for how long? Why is this clear structure important for a tourist?
5. Call to Action: How does the brochure end? What does it want the reader to do? This is called a "call to action."

Main Project: Create Your "Teacher's Toolkit" (45-60 minutes)

Now it's time to build the materials you will use to teach your student. Your goal is to create a complete kit that makes it easy and fun for a Chinese student to write their own brochure paragraph about the Amazon Rainforest Tour.

Your toolkit must include four parts.

Part 1: The Mini-Lesson Plan

On a sheet of paper, write down a simple plan. It doesn't have to be long!

• Lesson Title: How to Write an Exciting Travel Brochure!
• Learning Goal for Student: "By the end of this lesson, you will be able to write a short, persuasive paragraph about the Amazon tour using powerful words and action verbs."
• Key Idea 1: Use "Power Words": Explain that instead of "nice," they should use words like "amazing," "unique," or "unforgettable."
• Key Idea 2: Use "Action Words": Explain that they should use exciting verbs to describe what a tourist will DO, like "explore," "discover," and "enjoy."
• Key Idea 3: Keep it Simple: Explain that each tour needs a clear title and a short description of the main activities.

Part 2: The Vocabulary Helper

Your student will need help with new words. Create a small vocabulary chart for the Amazon tour. Use an online translator (like Google Translate) to find the Chinese characters and Pinyin (the phonetic spelling) to make it extra helpful.

Example Layout:

Part 3: The Visual Aid

Fold a piece of paper into three sections, like a real brochure. On the front panel, design a cover for the "Amazon Rainforest Tour." Include:

• The title.
• A drawing of something you might see there (a parrot, a monkey, a cool tree).
• One exciting "power word" to grab the reader's attention (e.g., "Unforgettable!").

This visual aid will help your student understand the final product.

Part 4: The Student's Writing Task

On another piece of paper, write out clear, simple instructions for your student. This is their final assignment!

Your Turn: Write a Brochure!

Instructions:

1. Use the ideas from our lesson and the Vocabulary Helper.
2. Write one paragraph (3-4 sentences) describing the Amazon Rainforest Tour.
3. Remember to include:
   • At least two Power Words (like amazing, unique, incredible).
   • At least two Action Words (like explore, discover, see, enjoy).
   • What makes the tour special (the plants and animals).

Sentence Starter (to help you begin): "Come and discover the incredible Amazon rainforest where you can..."

Lesson Wrap-Up & Self-Assessment (5 minutes)

Look at the "Teacher's Toolkit" you created. Is it clear? Is it helpful? Is it creative?

Checklist for a Great Teacher's Toolkit:

• [ ] My lesson plan has a clear goal.
• [ ] My vocabulary helper is easy to understand.
• [ ] My visual aid (brochure cover) is colorful and grabs attention.
• [ ] My student's writing task has simple instructions and a helpful sentence starter.

Congratulations! You've just stepped into the shoes of a teacher, breaking down a complex task into fun, manageable steps. This is a powerful skill for learning and for helping others learn, too!

Challenge Activity (Optional Extension)

If you want an extra challenge, choose one of the other Peru tours (Machu Picchu, Cusco, or Lake Titicaca) and create a second "Teacher's Toolkit" for it. How would you change the vocabulary helper and visual aid for that specific tour?