On Track - Tracking graad 2 - Flying high

TRACKING: FLYING HIGH In this project you will: learn about the different steps in planning a holiday; use learner’s and visual dictionaries to improve your language knowledge; read information on several tourist websites; watch documentaries about airports and airport security; plan a trip on a specific budget to a surprise destination; make a presentation using PowerPoint or Prezi and present it to your class.

CONTENTS 1

2

3

2

Our holidays

3

1.1

Different views

3

1.2

Camping cringe!

5

My holiday

8

2.1

My preferences

8

2.2

I know what you did last holiday!

My arrangements

11

13

3.1

Choosing a destination

13

3.2

Travelling to your destination

17

3.3

Moving around at your destination

24

3.4

Finding accommodation

28

3.5

Making a booking

30

3.6

Checking the weather

32

3.7

Packing your bags

33

4

Let’s take a trip!

37

5

Presenting your trip

40

6

Sources

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TRACKING: FLYING HIGH

1 ⁄ OUR HOLIDAYS 1.1 ⁄ DIFFERENT VIEWS READING

1 Read these two paragraphs about a holiday. a Who is speaking?

b Why do you think so?

‘During the school year, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by classes, work, extracurricular activities and the routine of it all. I know it sounds corny, but there’s no family togetherness, no time for us to be a family. I want to try to have a real family vacation, something that we, that they, can look back on and remember as special.’

‘They are dragging me on this ‘great’ driving and camping trip through Quebec and all they’ve done so far is complain about stuff. And I’ve only said two words the whole time – except of course swear words – because I don’t have anything to say, because everything has been so boring, like I knew it would be.’

Source: www.theglobeandmail.com

extracurricular activities: activities you do when school is out to drag someone into something: to have someone do something they don’t like vacation: AmE word for holiday

2 Discuss these questions.

SPOKEN INTERACTION

a Have you ever had a similar experience? b Who decides on the destination and the type of holiday in your family?

3 Watch the clip from the film Christmas Vacation in which two kids are riding in the car with their parents.

listening

a What does the father do in the beginning of the clip?

b What does the driver of the pick-up truck do after that?

c What does the father decide to do afterwards?

d What happens next?

4 Have you ever been ashamed of your parents' behaviour while on holiday? Explain what happened. SPEAKING

TRACKING: FLYING HIGH

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5 Read the text ‘How to survive your family vacation’ and put the subtitles above the correct paragraph.

Avoiding arguments – Eliminating boredom – Keeping an open mind – Making a vacation budget

HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FAMILY VACATION? Family trips can be exciting, but sometimes family members can really get on one another’s nerves.

If you find yourself starting to dread your next vacation, read on for some tips on making it more enjoyable for everyone in your family.

Let’s face it, when you’re on vacation, your siblings and parents can really get on your nerves! Vacations are supposed to be fun! There are some techniques you can use to help you deal with family and still manage to have fun during your upcoming vacation.

Think back to your last couple of family vacations. Do you and your siblings always fight about where you are going to sleep, where the family eats and what fun things the family gets to do? If there are constant factors that you always fight about, then it’s a good idea to talk about these issues before leaving.

See if you can come up with a compromise before these issues become problems once again. For example, if you each have a type of food you crave, ask your parents if it will be possible to visit both type of restaurants while on vacation. Taking care of these and other related issues before you even leave for your trip will ease arguments between you and your siblings.

If your parents have very different interests than you do, see if you can help to plan the vacation. Ask your parents if you can plan the events for one of the days. This will help to ensure that you get to see the places you were looking forward to going.

If this is not possible, there are activities you can do to make your parents' attractions more interesting. Make a photo journal/scrapbook of your trip. Take pictures everywhere you and your family go and make sure to grab free stuff like napkins and other trinkets that will help you remember the experience. When you get home and print all of your pictures, glue them along with your memorabilia into a journal. This will be a fun project to do together.

You can also keep a journal while on vacation, write letters to your friends, and make friends with other kids who are staying in your hotel. siblings: your brother(s) and/or sister(s) squabbling: having arguments trinkets: small things that aren't worth very much

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Do you and your parents typically argue about spending money on vacations? Ask them before you leave how much spending money you will be allowed. If you anticipate the amount in advance, then you are able to save any extra spending money you think you will need.

Going on vacation costs your parents a lot of money. It is easy for parents to become frustrated when their kids are squabbling with each other and begging for more money. Knowing that parents

TRACKING: FLYING HIGH

READING

are spending a lot of money for your family to have fun on vacation may help you to appreciate the trip. It would be nice of you to thank your parents for taking you to interesting places.

You should discuss any worries with your parents in advance. If the whole family sits down together before going on vacation and vents about their worries and frustrations that stem from past vacation experiences, then everyone will understand other family members' reactions and emotions on vacation. Remember to keep your mind open and spirits positive in order to have the best possible experience.

Source: http://mathandreadinghelp.org

6 Who is this article written for? How do you know?

7 Are these tips useful?

SPOKEN INTERACTION

a Which ones have you already used? b Think of two more tips for travelling with parents. Share with a partner.

1.2 ⁄ CAMPING CRINGE! 1 Does the title ‘Camping Cringe!’ suggest a story that is positive or negative? Why do you say so?

2 What kind of story do you think you will read?

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READING

3 Now read the holiday experience 'Camping Cringe!' and try to find the meaning of the following words: 1 a torch: 2 to cringe:

Camping Cringe!

Read next story

‘I was on a family camping trip, and we’d just bought a brand new tent especially for the holiday.

On our second-last day there, another family came and put up their tent beside us – it was really similar to ours.

That night, I got up to go to the toilet. I’d forgotten to take a torch with me, and it was pitch-black, but I could still make out our tent, luckily. I dived back in, took off my shoes and jumper, and unzipped the sleeping area... to find a different family! I got out as soon as I could, but was cringing for ages afterwards!’

23 Tweet

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Post a comment

Source: www.shoutmag.co.uk

4 Have you ever had an embarrassing or funny experience on holiday? Write a short paragraph about the most exciting, the most embarrassing or the funniest thing that has ever happened to you. Look at the strategy below and use a dictionary if necessary.

STRATEGY Structure your text: - I once went to …

- There I ….

- First ... then ... afterwards ... next ... finally ...

Mind your use of tenses and use past tenses: - My parents, siblings/brother/sister and I were sailing …

- We were … when suddenly …

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TRACKING: FLYING HIGH

WRITING

Narrative paragraph checklist

Yes ✓

I think so. ?

No ✗

1 Content and structure • I wrote about 50 words.

• I paid attention to the structure of my text.

2 Language • I put the verbs in the past tense (simple or continuous).

• I checked irregular verb forms.

• I used a dictionary.

5 Read the definition of ‘holiday’ from the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries.

READING

a Did you use ‘holiday’ correctly (correct verb, adjective, verb , expression ...) in your paragraph? e.g. We went on holiday to Greece ≠ We met while on holiday in Greece.

b C an you describe your holiday (accommodation) more precisely? e.g. A foreign holiday in a holiday cottage.

c What is the meaning of ‘holiday’ in your sentence? 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 d Compare your answer with a partner’s. Ask feedback from your teacher if you are not sure. e Give two examples of a ‘public holiday’.

f Google Cambridge Learner's Dictionary, Merriam Webster Learner's Dictionary or Oxford Learner's Dictionary and then look up at least one more word from your text like you did with 'holiday'.

TRACKING: FLYING HIGH

Source: www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com

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