Welcome to Whitby!

Objective & content

This writing sheet teaches pupils to write a short guide to a town for visitors (I've lived in... all my life, Here are my top tips, First..., Next..., You should also..., the best..., Have you...?, I've..., But be careful:..., Come in... if you can. You'll love it!). Pupils read Jamie's guide to Whitby, take its phrases and write their own. By the end, they can write a guide of 100 to 120 words with tips in order, a superlative and the present perfect.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 has Jamie's guide, with photos of Whitby Abbey and of fossils. Jamie has lived in Whitby, a small town by the sea in the north of England, all his life. His tips: climb the 199 steps to the ruins of the old abbey for the view; Bram Stoker visited Whitby in 1890 and the town gave him ideas for Dracula; look for fossils on the beach when the tide is out (Jamie has found three, one 180 million years old); try the fish and chips, but watch out for the seagulls. He suggests coming in spring or autumn, when the town is quieter. All the facts have been checked. Pupils answer six questions with three options each, then read the useful phrases, set out in the order of the guide (introduce your town, tips in order, describe, history, you and the reader, warning and end). Page 2 starts with four sentences to complete with should, never, best and Have. Then pupils write a guide to a town from a card (Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge, Glastonbury, each with a photo and three or four facts) or to their own town, and tick the checklist. The answer key gives a model guide to Oxford.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Ask "A visitor comes to our town for one day. Where should they go?"
2. (10 min) Read Jamie's guide aloud; pupils answer the questions.
3. (5 min) Read the useful phrases with the class; pupils find the three tips in the guide.
4. (5 min) Page 2: pupils complete the sentences.
5. (20 min) Pupils choose a town, write their guide and tick the checklist.
6. (5 min) Pupils read their best tip; the class votes for the town it would visit first.

Adaptations

[S] Pupils write one tip for each line of a card.

[A] Pupils add a tip for a rainy day.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 and 2 per pupil. Page 3 is the answer key, the model guide and the teacher notes: keep it. Pupils need the present perfect with ever and never, should and superlatives. To take it further, the class makes a visitors' guide to its own town for an exchange school.