Forum: Openers

Date: Thu May 08 2008 14:36

Author: Milleson, Brent <Milleson1@MissouriState.edu>

Attachment: World_s_Wackiest_Tour_Guide class opener.doc (24576 bytes)

Subject: Brent Milleson’s Opener
Lesson Title – World’s Wackiest Tour Guides

Submitted by Tracey Paramore

Lesson Description:
This lesson is ideal for a history report of a traveling destination. Have you ever been on a tour? You sit in a bus and a tour guide does his spiel into a microphone. He fills you with statistics and facts that you often forget soon after the tour ends. If you were lucky you received a good tour guide, one who didn’t seem to be reading from a prepared speech, but who took the time to make you feel he cared about you. He found ways to make it fun and told you facts in such a way that you would remember even years later. How did he do it? Get ready, the bus leaves in five minutes!

Setup:
Begin by having students collect facts about the place the tour is to take place. Because this is an imaginary tour, students can even create tours to places in another time period. Next, create some type of vehicle for the tour. Students can go with a bus, but why not a plane, a limo, a spaceship, or a magic carpet? Remember, whatever they choose will allow them a point of view on the place they are touring, so pick something that will offer the best point of view. Next, have them give their vehicle and tour a name. For fun, have them give it a name that might play off the fears of their tourist. Example: “Capsize Karl’s Colorado River Tours.” Either have students write a narrative, a play script or perform this in class.

Punch:
Begin by having students introduce themselves and their fictional name. Review the safety rules of their vehicle. Make bad jokes about why it’s important to keep their hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times. Tell students to begin their writing or speech with the basic information about the subject. Keep it straight and boring at first, then work on keeping the tourists awake. Ask questions. Give them quizzes. Threaten to kick them off the bus if they don’t get the answer. Create their own methods of keeping them awake. Sing them parody songs that include the research or anything else they can think of.

Funny Tip:
Here is a variation of the normal tour. Create the world’s worst tour guide. What would she or he be like? Maybe the world’s worst tour guide would say things like “On your lift, you’ll see a bunch of furry animals. I have no clue what they are.” On the bus, have a brilliant tourist who constantly corrects and annoys the tour guide. This character can get all their good research into the writing or skit.