Holidays and travel

Objective & content

Sophie and Josh meet at the airport: Sophie is back from a camping holiday in Spain, and Josh is about to fly to Rome, his first time abroad. Pupils learn to talk about a holiday they had and a journey they are going to make. After six multiple-choice questions on the conversation, they name six travel things from a box of eight, match eight words with their meanings, complete nine sentences from a word box and use six phrasal verbs from the conversation (check in, take off, pick up). The last and hardest task is a word search of 20 travel words across, down and diagonally; the letters left over spell a message.

Pedagogical guide

The conversation carries the words of the topic, so pupils meet each one in context before working on it. The tasks go from recognising words to using them, and the gap fill widens the topic to trains and hotels (platform, return ticket). Every phrasal verb is in the conversation first and is then given whole in a box, so pupils never have to guess a particle; each sentence keeps the verb in its base form. The grammar stays on the A2- floor (past simple, going to, the present continuous for the future), and no task tests grammar.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Ask pupils what people do at an airport, from arriving to getting on the plane.
2. (10 min) Pupils read the conversation and tick the six answers; check together.
3. (8 min) Pupils name the travel things, then match the words with their meanings.
4. (8 min) Pupils complete the sentences; remind them that two words are extra.
5. (7 min) Do the phrasal verb example together, then pupils complete the sentences.
6. (12 min) Pupils do the word search and write the hidden message; check with the answer key on pages 4 and 5.

Adaptations

[S] Set up the classroom as an airport (check-in desk, security, gate) and walk through Sophie's advice before the phrasal verbs.

[A] Pupils act out Sophie and Josh's conversation, then change the places. To take it further, they write a postcard from a holiday, real or imaginary.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of the three pupil pages per pupil, in colour or in black and white. Pages 4 and 5 are the answer key: keep them. Pupils should know the past simple of common verbs and going to.