John Smith had an important purpose in writing The General History of Virginia: to get more settlers to go to the New World. Have students think about somewhere they’d like others to visit. It could be a favorite city, vacation spot, country, landmark, etc. Have them create a storyboard that highlights the interesting qualities of the location, and persuades readers to go check it out! Have students try to make the location sound as exciting as possible, much like John Smith did. (They can even exaggerate a little bit, for good measure, as a biased narrator!)
| Place: | Savannah, Georgia | Reasons to Go: | Savannah, GA is filled with interesting Southern culture, beautiful cobblestone streets, tons of old Southern history, and it has beautiful parks to visit. It’s also one of the most haunted cities in America. The people are lovely and welcoming, and the weather is warm! | Things to See: | River Street, the Savannah River, the Savannah Historic District | Important Landmarks: | Forsyth Park, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Bonaventure Cemetery | Important People: | Dianna Agron (Actress), Johnny Mercer (Songwriter), Juliette Low (Founder of The Girl Scouts) | Interesting Facts: | Home of the Savannah College of Art and Design; the famous bench from Forrest Gump is in Chippewa Square; the book and movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is based in Savannah; General Sherman had a hand in keeping Savannah from being burned during the Civil War; largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the country | Adventures/Tours: | Take a ghost tour, a haunted pub crawl, an historical walking or bus tour, take a food tour, or even a photography tour! |
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Due Date:
Objective:Create a storyboard that highlights one of your favorite places. Try to convince others to visit!
Student Instructions:
Introduce the students to the objectives of the activity and how they will be performing it. Teachers can explain how this activity will help them learn new things in a much more engaging and unconventional way. Ask the students to select one city from the entire world. Students can select a place they have already visited or a place they want to visit the most.
Provide a brief summary of what students can include in their posters. Teachers can give some elements that should be included in every poster such as interesting facts or famous places and ask the students to include some of their own elements to make each poster interesting and unique. Ask the students to collect data regarding the elements they want to include in their posters from different sources.
Decorating the poster using visual elements is one of the most important and fun part of the activity. Ensure that students are using their imagination and coming up with interesting ways to make their posters unique. Foster creativity and collaborative learning throughout this activity.
Arrange the data on the poster in a sensible manner. To make the text easier to read and comprehend, use bullet points, subheadings, and headings. Encourage the students to pick a design idea that complements the poster's topic and objectives. Think about using typefaces, color schemes, and images that inspire a spirit of discovery and exploration.
Once students are done making their posters ask them to display their posters in a dedicated place in the class and give each student five minutes to talk about their poster and the purpose of selecting a specific city.
By arranging the most important details in a logical order, students can give their storyboard structure. This might entail giving a brief overview of the location, emphasizing its salient characteristics, and telling an engaging story to entice further investigation. Students can also use other ways to organize the information such as spider webs or mindmaps.
By encouraging students to investigate the distinctive features of a location and imaginatively communicate their findings, this exercise links to exploration. It reflects the spirit of exploration by encouraging an adventurous mindset and a natural curiosity in new places. It also helps students explore the concept of persuasive writing and use their writing skills to promote the idea of exploration.