• learn the conventions of the travel writing genre.
• attempt new methods of generating personal writing.
• practice process-based writing and writing for an audience.
• integrate research with personal experiences and reflection.

• Sample Piece of Travel Writing: “The Visit” (or substitute with your own piece if you prefer)
• Analysis of Travel Writing
• Elements of Good Travel Writing
• Getting Started in Travel Writing for teacher use
• Writing from Life
• Suggested Reading in the Travel Writing Genre
• Multigenre Mapper

• Review Getting Started in Travel Writing.
• Read and the Analysis of Travel Writing and note how the characteristics apply to “The Visit.”
• Consider how travel writing might fit into your larger conversations with students about writing. For example, using travel writing as part of a genre approach to teaching writing can allow teachers to compare and contrast it with other forms of writing. There is a strong overlap between travel writing and personal narrative, as good travel writing centers on good stories and engaging voice and style. Mixed in with that, however, is the description and informational aspects of expository writing. Travel writing also often overlaps with persuasive writing, making emotional appeals to entice readers to take particular sorts of trips. Seeing travel writing as a hybrid genre not only will give students an additional form to work in; it will help them see aspects of familiar forms by comparison.
• Make one copy of the Analysis of Travel Writing and Elements of Good Travel Writing for each student.
• Test the Multigenre Mapper on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

1. Ask students what they know about travel writing and what they expect to find in travel writing. List their comments on the board or on chart paper. Save this information for use later in the session.
2. Hand out copies of “The Visit,” or have students access it online. Alternately, you can share another piece of travel writing with students from your class textbook or another source.
3. Hand out copies of the Analysis of Travel Writing to each student.
4. Have students read “The Visit” and then answer the questions on the Analysis of Travel Writing, either individually or in small groups.
5. Discuss the article and student responses to the Analysis of Travel Writing handout.
6. Ask students to compare that they found in the reading with their observations and expectations at the beginning of the session. Encourage exploration of the similarities and differences.
7. Hand out a Elements of Good Travel Writing to each student, and discuss these elements as they apply to the reading.

1. Review the Elements of Good Travel Writing handout from the previous session.
2. Have students read Writing from Life from the BBC’s Get Writing project.
3. When they finish reading, ask students to brainstorm a list of events and/or personal experiences that might make a fun piece of travel writing.
4. Give students a few minutes to share their lists with their peers.
5. Have students select one event from their lists and write down, using freewriting and brainstorming techniques, everything they can about it during the remainder of the session. If time is short, have students complete their notes for homework. Ask them to bring their notes to the next session.

1. Allow students a few minutes to review their notes from the previous session and make any changes or additions.
2. Explain that these notes are source material for students’ own travel articles.
3. Have students compare their notes to the Elements of Good Travel Writing. Ask them to identify any characteristics that are not present in their work or that need to be strengthened.
4. During the remainder of the session, ask students rework their ideas into a draft, making sure specific sections of their writings focus on the key elements:
   
   
   • Try for a clever attention grabber (explain that this may be the last or most difficult part).
   • Give enough background information to set the context: Where were you? Why were you there? Why was this event important?
   • Clearly describe the setting. Use details that appeal to multiple senses.
   • Clearly describe an important person (alternately, an animal or thing) in the story. Make sure that your reader will understand who the key people are in the article.
   • Look for places where you can add dialogue. If the event happened a long time ago, dialogue does not have to be direct quotations. Suggest students focus on the general comments and feelings in their dialogues.
   • Mix in personal reflections with the telling of the story.
     
     
5. Ask students to bring a completed draft of their travel article to the next class session for peer review.

1. Have students share their revised drafts in small groups of two to four students.
2. Ask peers to evaluate the articles by comparing their characteristics to the Elements of Good Travel Writing.
3. Encourage students to share supportive feedback and praise as well.
4. Have students revise their work using feedback from their peers to create a final draft.
5. If desired, allow time for students to publish their travel writing using the Multigenre Mapper to incorporate drawings into their final work.

• Have students research the location in their writings and then incorporate relevant information into the finished versions.
  
  
• Read additional travel writing. Some suggestions are included on the Suggested Reading in the Travel Writing Genre handout.
  
  
• General interest magazines often carry travel pieces as well. Discuss the kinds of travel writing that are included in non-travel magazines such as Cottage Living and the differences between these and articles found in travel magazines such as National Geographic Traveler. Use this comparison as a basis for a discussion of audience and purpose.
  
  
• For some additional ways to write about travel, consult Ten Ways to Write about Your Vacation, which includes writing prompts that can be used as starting points or as more polished pieces.

“The Visit”
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/travel/travel_writing/
the_visit_in_indonesia.shtml

This sample piece of travel writing, “The Visit,” is the 2006 Narrative Travel Writing Contest Winner. It is available at TransitionsAbroad.com, a resource for studying, working, or traveling abroad.

Getting Started in Travel Writing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/getwriting/module16p

This resource from the BBC’s “Get Writing” project provides teachers with a good overview of travel writing.

Writing from Life
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/getwriting/module1p

This resource from the BBC’s “Get Writing” project helps students get started in travel writing by focusing on personal experiences.

NCTE/IRA Standards

1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).