Travel Brochure

Travel Brochure

Download Lesson Plan PDF

This lesson asks students to reflect on their experiences at a historic site, museum or battlefield and highlight the key information, questions and inspiration they find there. After discussing what they experienced at the site, students review photographs, media, and create a travel brochure that summarizes key information, questions and experiences related to the site. This lesson will likely take two to three class sessions.

STANDARDS

  • United States History National Standards: Era 5, Civil War and Reconstruction (1850 – 1877), Standards 1, 2, and 3
  • Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts, grade 8: Speaking and Listening 1, 4, 5; Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 1, 5, 7 Grade 4: Reading Informational Text 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, Writing.4 -10

Note to teachers: If you have visited a site in the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, take advantage of the content resources available through this portal to accompany your in-person experience. If you are not studying the Civil War, consider using this lesson plan as a post-visit activity for any off-campus experience you might have had with students.

PROCEDURE

  1. Discuss the recent experience students had at a historic site or museum. What did they expect to see? Were they surprised by anything they experienced? What was their favorite part of the visit? Were there any challenges? What was especially memorable – is there any new information they learned that they want to share with others?
  2. Explain that students will create a “travel guide” or brochure for the site that highlights key themes, stories, questions, individuals and experiences. Share some examples (online, collected pamphlets or brochures from sites visited or other places). What makes a good brochure? Consider detail, quotes, images, concise and accurate information and language. Make a list of some key tips and pitfalls for reference. Consider categorizing the brochures based on their features and discuss how they could be improved.
  3. In small groups, students complete the Travel Brochure worksheet to help identify different aspects to highlight and organize their thinking. In addition to summarizing their own experiences, students may choose to research the site more extensively. What additional information, images, or maps will strengthen the power of their brochure?
  4. Individually, students create travel brochures (hard copies or digital), keeping in mind the key tips and information on their worksheets. Consider pairing students to review first drafts and provide editing and proofreading feedback.
  5. As a whole class, share final drafts. What main points do these brochures make? Are they very different from or similar to one another? In what ways? Consider sharing the final projects with a classroom event and also sharing them with the featured site(s).

EXTENSIONS

Drawing on their experiences on a field trip, ask students to create their own “travel log” online or in hard copy. How can they capture the experience they have on-site with images, photos, social media, writing, visual note-taking or graphic visualization?

CONTENT RESOURCES

TRAVEL BROCHURE WORKSHEET

Use this worksheet to help organize information as you prepare to create a travel brochure. Remember, your brochure should be easy to use and understand, reader-friendly, highlight a mix of media, and include all the important information a visitor might need to know.

  1. Who is your target audience? For example, are you thinking about other students visiting the site or families planning a vacation? You decide.
  2. What are the key stories that you will feature? What are some of the big ideas represented or explored at your site? In general, it’s best to communicate no more than three overarching themes or ideas.
  3. What is special about this site? What might be unique, provocative or memorable? What would make it worth a visit?
  4. What physical elements will you feature (objects, buildings, landscapes)? Do you have images of these? If not, could you find or draw them? *Note, they don’t have to be big objects, just something in the physical landscape that was powerful to you.
  5. What are some important logistics to include? For example, how does a visitor get to this site? What are the hours of operation? What should visitors remember to bring with them on a visit? You may want to include a web address as well as a physical address. Don’t forget to mention the admission price and/or if tickets are needed.
  6. How will your brochure encourage people to visit your site? Can you inspire them to take a trip there? Might you include a picture of yourself (or any visitors) experiencing some aspect of the site?

Download Lesson Plan PDF

 

The Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area's Preservation Education Initiative is generously funded by the Delaplaine Foundation and a grant from the Department of Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior. Additional support was provided by the Frederick County Tourism Reinvestment in Promotion & Product program. For information about the other great things to see and do in Frederick County: 800-999-3613 or www.Visitfrederick.org. 

Delaplaine Foundation Logo