Activity: Passports

Disclaimer: The passport template that I am linking is one that I designed myself. While I am always grateful if someone purchases the template, there are plenty of other passport options out there, so, of course, choose the one that best suits your tastes and fits your needs.

This is just a quick post to help generate some classroom ideas, especially ones that can work in an EFL/ESL setting. Although I have currently only used this passport activity in my elementary-aged special education class for our social studies lessons, it can be modified for any type and level of student. The passport comes with a basic information page (including a place for student photos), a map, and two-page spreads for whichever country you are teaching. It does not come with passport stamps, but I found great ones online.

Specifically for an EFL setting, completing the passport pages is a great way to teach students:

• vocabulary (“surname”, country names, language names…)
• to generate words, short phrases, or sentences to answer questions (fun fact learned, favorite thing about the country)
• how to use a map (chiefly for younger children)
• directions (north, south, next to, near to, far from)
• how to hold conversations about travel (where they have been, where they want to go, how to navigate an airport, how to get around using English)

I hope this activity sparks great talks, fun lessons, deeper interest in learning English, and a curiosity about the world. (Inspiring a bit of wanderlust along the way wouldn’t be so bad, either!)