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A travel plans info gap lesson

I do like a good infor gap task! This post is to share a lesson plan I made with the help of Chat GPT. The details are given below. Chat GPT saved me a lot of time by producing the travel itineraries and questions for students to ask. Feel free to copy or adapt it. The original is on frenchteacher.net where I have many ready-made lesson plans.

This was the precise prompt I used:

Please create for me in French, level A2, three travel itineraries for a trip to France. Inlcude timings and days, means of transport, three main destinations, accommodation and things to do. maximum 400 words per itinerary. This is for an informaion gap lesson in groups of three.

After the itineraries were produced in a few seconds, I then gave the following prompt:

Thanks. Now give me a set of questions in the present tense, 'tu' form, which could elicit answers based on the itineraries. I would expect one question per bullet point, plus questions about length of stay, transport and accommodation. 

I chose to put the emphasis on future plans here, using the present tense, but you could do this as a perfect tense activity just as easily.

With very fast classes you could do without the written questions and get students to make them up.


TRAVEL PLANS INFORMATION GAP TASK

Level GCSE Higher/CEFR A2

Resource

This resource consists of instructions, three different holiday itineraries and three sets of questions to go with each itinerary.

Aims

Get students to talk about a future trip to France, using a range of travel and holiday-related vocabulary and present tense verbs. Use question forms. Listen.

Instructions

Students work in groups of two or three. There are three sheets available, use only two if students are in pairs. Each student should be given a different sheet of course.

Explain the task to the class. In their groups or pairs they should ask each other the questions provided to find out what their peers are going to do in France. Model the task first, showing how students need to adapt the notes they are given (in the form of nouns phrases) into answers containing verbs.

For example: if the student has in front of them “Visite du château de Versailles”, they should answer “Je visite (or maybe je vais visiter/je visiterai) le château de Versailles.”

They can use the present tense to talk about the future, but some classes may be able to use near future and future tense verb forms in their answers.

As the questions and answers are going on, students should listen to the responses and make notes on what they hear. Notes could be in French or English.

After about 15-20 minutes students can feed back to the teacher what thy found out about their partners’ trips.

In the groups of three, there can be two students asking questions to the third students, etc.

As a written follow-up, students could write out their partners’ itineraries in full sentences using the third person, thus reinforcing oral work done previously.

 

Itinéraire A : Paris, Versailles et Giverny

Durée : 5 jours
Transport : Train et métro
Hébergement : Hôtel 2 étoiles à Paris (quartier Montparnasse)

Jour 1 : Arrivée à Paris

  • Arrivée à 10h à la gare de Paris Montparnasse
  • Installation à l’hôtel
  • Visite de la Tour Eiffel à 15h
  • Dîner dans un restaurant local à 19h

Jour 2 : Paris

  • Petit déjeuner à 8h
  • Visite du Louvre à 9h30
  • Déjeuner dans le quartier du Marais
  • Promenade sur les Champs-Élysées à 15h
  • Croisière sur la Seine à 18h

Jour 3 : Versailles

  • Train pour Versailles à 9h
  • Visite du Château de Versailles à 10h
  • Déjeuner sur place
  • Retour à Paris à 17h
  • Soirée libre

Jour 4 : Giverny

  • Train pour Giverny à 8h
  • Visite de la maison de Claude Monet à 10h
  • Pique-nique dans le jardin
  • Retour à Paris à 17h
  • Soirée cinéma français

Jour 5 : Départ

  • Petit déjeuner à 8h
  • Départ pour l’aéroport ou la gare à 10h

 

Itinéraire B : Lyon, Annecy et Chamonix

Durée : 5 jours
Transport : Train et bus
Hébergement : Auberge de jeunesse à Lyon

Jour 1 : Arrivée à Lyon

  • Arrivée à 12h
  • Installation à l’auberge
  • Visite du Vieux Lyon à 15h
  • Dîner dans un « bouchon lyonnais »

Jour 2 : Lyon

  • Petit déjeuner à 8h
  • Visite du musée des Confluences à 10h
  • Déjeuner dans le centre
  • Balade au parc de la Tête d’Or à 15h
  • Soirée libre

Jour 3 : Annecy

  • Bus pour Annecy à 9h
  • Visite du lac et pique-nique à 12h
  • Visite de la vieille ville à 15h
  • Retour à Lyon à 19h

Jour 4 : Chamonix

  • Train pour Chamonix à 8h
  • Montée à l’Aiguille du Midi à 11h
  • Déjeuner avec vue sur le Mont Blanc
  • Retour à Lyon à 18h

Jour 5 : Départ

  • Petit déjeuner à 8h
  • Départ de l’auberge à 10h

 

Itinéraire C : Marseille, Cassis et Avignon

Durée : 5 jours
Transport : Train et bateau
Hébergement : Appartement Airbnb à Marseille

Jour 1 : Arrivée à Marseille

  • Arrivée à 11h
  • Installation dans l’appartement
  • Visite du Vieux-Port à 15h
  • Dîner avec fruits de mer

Jour 2 : Marseille

  • Petit déjeuner à 9h
  • Visite de Notre-Dame de la Garde à 10h
  • Déjeuner au bord de la mer
  • Plage et baignade à 15h
  • Soirée dans le quartier du Panier

Jour 3 : Cassis

  • Train pour Cassis à 9h
  • Excursion en bateau dans les Calanques à 11h
  • Déjeuner au port
  • Retour à Marseille à 17h

Jour 4 : Avignon

  • Train pour Avignon à 8h
  • Visite du Palais des Papes à 10h
  • Déjeuner sur une terrasse
  • Promenade sur le pont d’Avignon à 15h
  • Retour à Marseille à 18h

Jour 5 : Départ

  • Petit déjeuner à 8h
  • Départ à 10h

 

 

Questions générales (pour tous les itinéraires)

  1. Tu restes combien de jours en France ?
  2. Tu vas comment d’une ville à l’autre ?
  3. Tu dors où pendant ton voyage ?

Itinéraire A : Paris, Versailles et Giverny

  1. Tu arrives à quelle heure à Paris ?
  2. Qu’est-ce que tu fais le premier jour ?
  3. Tu fais quoi à Paris le deuxième jour ?
  4. Tu visites quoi à Versailles ?
  5. Tu déjeunes où à Versailles ?
  6. Tu vas où le quatrième jour ?
  7. Tu visites quoi à Giverny ?
  8. Tu fais quoi le soir à Paris ?
  9. Tu pars à quelle heure le dernier jour ?

Itinéraire B : Lyon, Annecy et Chamonix

  1. Tu arrives à quelle heure à Lyon ?
  2. Tu visites quoi le premier jour ?
  3. Qu’est-ce que tu fais le deuxième jour à Lyon ?
  4. Tu pars à quelle heure pour Annecy ?
  5. Tu fais quoi à Annecy ?
  6. Tu vas où le quatrième jour ?
  7. Tu montes où à Chamonix ?
  8. Tu déjeunes où avec vue sur le Mont Blanc ?
  9. Tu pars quand de l’auberge ?

Itinéraire C : Marseille, Cassis et Avignon

  1. Tu arrives à quelle heure à Marseille ?
  2. Tu visites quoi le premier jour ?
  3. Qu’est-ce que tu fais le deuxième jour ?
  4. Tu pars quand pour Cassis ?
  5. Tu fais une excursion où ?
  6. Tu déjeunes où à Cassis ?
  7. Tu vas où le quatrième jour ?
  8. Tu visites quoi à Avignon ?
  9. Tu pars à quelle heure le dernier jour ?

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