Implementation of “Adventurous Journey Through Europe and Culture” (SOI-HR-419)

The reason for choosing this learning scenario by Andrea Nagy was revision of travelling and tourism vocabulary and future tenses in a playful and dynamic way. Students were given a chance to play, revise and study at the same time while experimenting with different digital tools, which seemed refreshing and more relaxed in comparison with regular lessons, to which they are commonly exposed.

How was it implemented.

Students who were involved in the implementation of this learning scenario attend first grade of high school (aged 15 to 16 years) and there were 20 of them. I related the learning scenario to their coursebook (Insight intermediate Student’s book, Oxford) lessons “Travellers’ tales” (unit 2) and “Island story” (unit 4), applying the suggested ICT tools. The main aim was revision of travelling & tourism vocabulary and future tenses, as well as leading students through a process of planning a holiday and raising awareness about responsible tourism while visiting islands. Students have already acquired certain digital cultural heritage knowledge due to their previous exposure to related content through subjects other than English as a foreign language. However, it was their first encounter with Europeana portal. The learning scenario was implemented within 90 minutes.

Learning with fun! – Using ICT tools in a creative way

I guided students through a process of planning an island holiday and creating a travel brochure for a package holiday. Students were offered the opportunity to combine their creativity, personal travel experiences, ICT tools and to develop their cooperation.

Some changes were incorporated into the original LS to adapt it to the coursebook lessons which were involved in the process of implementation.

The stages of implementing the LS:

Brainstorming holiday vocabulary

First, I decided to brainstorm holiday vocabulary which was previously taught during the Insight lessons 2 and 4(types of holidays). I asked them to name all the vocabulary and phrases that cross their minds when someone mentions the word “travelling”. Students were also supposed to explain the use of certain future tenses (Present Continuous for future arrangements; Present Simple for timetables and schedules; Future Simple for decisions made at the moment of speaking and going to future for already made decisions). This was a short warm-up activity which led us into a process of revising.  (3 minutes)

Revising holiday vocabulary

After a brief brainstorming, students played a Kahoot quiz through which they revised holiday vocabulary and future tenses in a more detailed way Travelling vocabulary + future tenses  Students had a lot of fun and seemed motivated at the very beginning of the lesson. (12 minutes)

Applying revised vocabulary and tenses

After playing the quiz, I shared a QR code for a Wordwall crossword tool (holiday vocabulary) on an interactive whiteboard Wordwall travelling crossword where students in pairs offered the answers. After one student offered the answer, another one recorded it on a Padlet vocabulary list Padlet holiday vocabulary . After playing Kahhot quiz, seeing one more interactive game made them even more enthusiastic about the lesson. (18 minutes)

(Wordwall crossword- travelling vocabulary)

Creating a travel brochure

When the students completed their wordwall crossword, I formed groups of 4 and offered them a piece of folded paper on which they got one of listed destinations (Malta, Cyprus, Santorini, Crete, Sardinia). I chose all the island destinations to relate it to our coursebook lesson “Island story” (unit 4). They were supposed to create a travel brochure in Canva and offer a package holiday (transport, accommodation, service, excursions…). To develop their offer, they searched through Europeana sources. They uploaded their brochures to a Padlet wall  Padlet travel brochures

Students seemed engaged, cooperative and they actively participated in creating their content.

(44 minutes)

(Students working in groups and creating travel brochures)

Presentation of their group work

After the students completed their activity, I used Wordwall tool to spin a wheel of fortune to choose the group which was going to present their destination Wordwall wheel of fortune. This was also new to them, and they seemed excited about this novelty. Students presented their brochure and other students voted in Padlet (they were supposed to put likes and hearts, or to write comments). They were also filling in a self-assessment chart to see whether the required elements were included in the brochure. (10 minutes)

(Self-assessment chart with required elements in a travel brochure)

Evaluation

At the end of the lesson, students completed satisfaction/evaluation survey on Microsoft forms where the could express their personal attitude towards the lesson and to express their personal opinion through their comments. Survey (3 minutes)

(Personal comments in evaluation survey)

Avoid stress while revising for the test

This implementation enabled learning in a playful and relaxed atmosphere deprived from stress, where students had much fun competing among the groups. Kahoot always seems a good idea and Wordwall, as a new tool, added more enthusiasm into the lesson. The scenario was both motivational and educational. Even if it requires additional time for creating this digital content, the benefits are numerous and you can reuse it, or adapt and this is one of the reasons why I would highly recommend this LS. I would also like to encourage other teachers to use it and modify it according to their own preferences. This was my first implementation, but not the last one if we take into consideration that Europeana offers an inexhaustible source of materials. In addition to this, even the students asked for more lessons similar to this one.

Don’t be afraid to implement LS

For me, as a teacher, Europeana boosts creativity by offering ideas and scenarios in times when I feel repetitive and when I want to avoid boredom. It is easily used, and the content is usually tried out by other European colleagues.

As I’ve already pointed out, the learning scenario was implemented within 90 minutes, which was sufficient, but, if possible, I would suggest more time because a relaxed pacing expands creativity and prevents possible hectic atmosphere, especially for those students who often require additional time for fulfilling their tasks.

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? Adventurous Journey Through Europe and Culture ( LS-HU-84) (eun.org) created by Andrea Zsuzsanna Nagy

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Do you want to discover more stories of implementation? Click here.

CC0 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Finnish National Gallery.

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