Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson, and I'm delighted that you've decided to join me today for a lesson about travel writing.

I love travelling, I love writing, so this is the fave, my favourite combination, so let's go.

So the outcome of today's lesson is that you will be able to use inference to understand writers' perspectives on travel.

As ever, we are going to begin with the keywords, and here they are.

They are to explore, which means to search and discover places and things.

Novelty, something that is a novelty is new and unusual.

Nuance means a very slight difference in meaning, and it's a very important word to understand when we're talking about writers' attitudes.

Inherently, something that exists inherently is a natural or basic part of something.

And to observe means to watch something or someone carefully in order to learn about them.

If you'd like a little bit of time to familiarise yourself with the keywords, you can do that now.

Pause the video, rejoin us when you're ready.

So this is the lesson outline.

We are going to start by thinking about why people travel, and then we are gonna move on and use a title to make predictions.

Now, I'd like you to look at these words.

They're all words to describe similar experiences.

We have travel, journey, trips, breaks and holiday.

Now I'd like you to discuss what are the differences between those experiences? You can pause the video while you have that discussion.

Well done.

Welcome back.

I hope you had a really, really good discussion.

And I'd like to share with you what the Oak pupils said.

So, Aisha said that travel sounds extensive and adventurous and full of new things, full of novelties, you might say.

And Andeep said that he thought a journey could also be emotional and full of changes.

It's true, we often use the word journey to describe emotional experiences or learning and development experiences, the educational journey or your career journey.

And Jacob said that trips and breaks sound like short getaways, maybe just a weekend.

And Jun thought that the holiday is mainly for fun.

And I would like you to think about this.

Which of those ideas most align with ideas about explorers? You can pause the video while you have a think.

Well, the Oak pupils said that travel, adventure, novelty, change and emotions most aligned with the idea of explorers.

Excellent thinking and discussion.

Let's move on.

Now we're going to look at two statements by two really seasoned travellers about why they travel.

So this is Robert Louis Stevenson, and he wrote this.

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.

I travel for travel's sake.

The great affair is to move, to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly, to come down off this feather bed of civilization and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints." Flints are like little sharp stones.

And Isabella Bird wrote this.

"Having been recommended to leave home in April, 1878, in order to recruit my health by means which had proved serviceable before, I decided to visit Japan, attracted by the certainty that it possessed, in an especial degree, those sources of novel and sustained interests which conduce so essentially to the enjoyment and restoration of a solitary health seeker." They travel for different reasons.

And I would like you to discuss and summarise their different attitudes to travelling.

You can pause the video while you have that discussion.

If you're working by yourself, just pause the video and make a few notes.

Welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed that discussion.

I'd like to share with you what two of the Oaks pupils said.

So Aisha said that for Stevenson, the main purpose of travel is movement, and he welcomes the world's grittiness and compares it to the softness of everyday life.

And Bird, said, Jacob, Bird has been advised to travel for her health, and she chooses places for the physical benefits they will bring.

She also travels alone.

Now, I'm wondering which of these perspectives most matches your ideas about travel.

Do you travel because you want to get away from things and see novelty and slightly rough it in your travelling? Or do you travel because you come back better, whether physically or mentally from it, or emotionally from it? Either is fine, it's just interesting to match our ideas with what other people are saying.

Let's move on.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say that there are many different reasons for travelling? It's true, but I'd like you to justify your answer.

Why is it true? Is it A, for most people, travel is a luxury, and they appreciate it for the rich emotional experience? Or is it B, people travel for health, novelty, relaxation and sometimes simply for the pleasure in travel itself? Have a think.

Make your choice.

It's B.

A is true.

For most people, travel is a luxury.

It is pretty expensive.

And they do get something out of it emotionally.

But B is the answer that gives you the range of reasons.

Now, both Stevenson and Bird wrote extensively about the journeys they took.

And I would like you to discuss one, why do you think people write about travel? And why do you think people read travel writing? You can pause the video while you have that discussion.

So welcome back, great discussion.

I'd like to share with you some of the things that Jacob said.

He said that he thought people want to capture and remember their experiences, that the writers want to tell people what other places are like, and that we, the reader, we read travel writing in order to share in those experiences.

It's like finding an adventure in a book.

Is there anything you would like to add? Let's have a check for understanding.

Is it true or false to say that travel writing can be an enjoyable experience for both readers and writers? That is true.

I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it true because the writer is able to revisit their travels, while the reader can emotionally join in the experience? Or B, the writer always needs to think about their reader and what they would like to know.

Have a think.

Make your choice.

The answer is A.

B is true, but it doesn't really speak to the statement about why both readers and writers enjoy travel writing.

Well done.

Let's move on.

Now, this is your opportunity to show your understanding about why people travel in a little bit more detail.

I would like you to use the following sentence starters and finish them in your own words, showing your understanding.

So they are one, people travel because, two, not everyone can travel the world, but, and three, many writers record their experiences, so.

You'll need to pause the video while you do that.

So do that now and off you go.

So, well done.

Welcome back.

What great focus.

I'd like to share with you what Aisha wrote.

She wrote that one, people travel because they want to see the world, improve their physical and emotional health and because the experience of being on the move is inherently enjoyable and exciting.

You see, she used the keyword there, inherently, meaning it's exciting in and of itself.

And two, not everyone can travel the world, but we can read books by travel writers and through the power of imagination, share in their experiences and be educated and inspired.

Good answer, Aisha.

Well done.

And three, many writers record their experiences so they can capture what happened and use their memories to reflect on what they saw, recall how they felt and explore how their travels changed them.

So I think there, Aisha is really speaking to how travel can be an emotional journey as well as a physical one.

Compare your answers with Aisha's, and if there are any ideas from Aisha's you'd like to take or you'd like to add to yours, feel free to do that.

You can pause the video while you do that.

So let's look back at the lesson outline.

We've looked at why people travel, and now we are going to look at making predictions from a title.

So I'm going to put up some titles for you to read.

One, "Down and Out in Paris and London," two, "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains," three, "Travels with Charlie: in Search of America," four, "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes," and five, "Notes from a Small Island." Now, as readers, one of the first things we do is use information from the title to make predictions about what we are going to read.

So let's make some notes about the first title, "Down and Out in Paris and London." And we might say something like this, that the phrase "down and out" suggests that this will be a journey into the experience of poverty as well as a geographical journey.

Down and out means being completely out of kind of money and luck and opportunities.

And placing the phrase before the reference to two capital cities, Paris and London, gives us the impression that there will be some comparison of the experience of being poor in different circumstances.

And there is also a certain irony in the title because we may associate those cities with wealth and success, yet he is talking about the opposite.

So this is a good response for lots of reasons.

Let's unpick them.

It zooms in on key phrases such as "down and out." It explores the connotations of the phrases, but picking up that this suggests it's going to be about poverty as well as geography.

It examines words in context.

It understands that it is significant, that putting the phrase "down and out" before the reference to capital cities is significant.

And it offers a nuance response.

It understands there is something ironic about the combination of poverty and two capital cities.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What is missing from the list of things your prediction should include? We have A, a focus on individual words and phrases, B, a nuanced interpretation, C, analysis of the connotations.

What's missing? Have a think.

Did you say an examination of the words in context? Because that's the right answer.

Well done.

Let's move on.

So, over to you now.

What I would like you to do is to make equally detailed notes on the following titles.

Two, "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains," three, "Travels with Charlie: in Search of America," four, "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes," and five, "Notes from a Small Island." Remember to focus on individual words and phrases, to analyse the connotations of words, to examine the words in context and to offer a nuanced interpretation of the title.

You're going to need to pause the video while you do that.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Welcome back.

Once again, fantastic focus.

I'm going to share with you Jacob's notes on the titles.

And as you read them, I'd like you to think about how you might add his ideas to yours, how he used the keywords and any phrasing you could borrow.

I'm not saying that these are the only notes that you could have made.

I'm just saying that they are useful and credible, and I think that you would find them helpful.

So this is what he said about "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains." He said, that lady, the word lady sounds respectable and a little bit old-fashioned.

It contrasts with Rocky Mountains, which sound wild and inherently dangerous.

Also, by using the word "life," you get the impression that the travels were a long-term experience and not just a trip.

So he has very carefully examined connotations of words and shown, with the word "contrasts," that he's seeing the words in context.

"Lady," set against the words "Rocky Mountains," has an interesting contrast.

He's also used the keyword "inherently." So that's a really, really good set of notes on the first title.

Let's look at the next ones.

"Travels with Charlie: in Search of America." Now, we wonder who Charlie is and his role in the journey.

And the word "search" suggests that there is a very clear purpose to the trip.

And we predict that the writer is exploring America.

He's looking for something in America, perhaps something that has been lost or that he doesn't understand.

And I think he's very carefully used the word "exploring" and linked it to "search." There is something very focused and exploratory about this title.

What is he looking for? And I think that there's a lot of nuanced and inference being made in the idea that he is looking for something that he doesn't understand.

We often explore things in order to find something out.

So again, a very good set of notes about that title.

"Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes," now, a donkey is an animal that we associate with childhood.

So I anticipate a lighthearted tone to this book.

The writer is also very precise about where he's travelling, writing the "Cevennes" and not just France, which suggests that the specific place is very important to him.

So here, prior knowledge, prior associations about donkeys and childhood are brought to help understand and make predictions about how this book, the tone that this book is likely to have.

And then "Notes from a Small Island," well, he wrote that "notes" suggest quick observational writing.

We imagine a writer looking and noticing and jotting down ideas, almost like a journalist might.

And the island is small, which in another context could indicate somewhere important.

But we know that can't be the case because the writers thinks it is worth writing about.

So then we imagine a place that is small and impactful.

So, really interesting work that has been done thinking about the word "small," how something small can nonetheless be very significant.

So as I said, your ideas may be different.

Take a little bit of time to compare your ideas with the Oak pupils' ideas and take anything from these notes that you would find useful.

You can pause the video while you do that and then return for the end of the lesson.

Before we leave the lesson, I'd like to summarise what you have been learning today.

You have been learning that people travel for a range of reasons, including enjoyment and health, and that writers are often keen to record observations from their travels, and that those observations become a way of remembering and recalling the journeys.

You've also learned that we, the readers, read travel writing in order to share in the writers' experiences.

And you've learned that when reading a new text, it is useful to make predictions from the title.

So I would just like to say thank you again for coming to the lesson, for your hard work and your focus and your writing and your enthusiasm.

It has been a pleasure to teach you.

I wish you a very good rest of the day, and I look forward to seeing you again in another lesson about explorers.

So, bye for now.