Students make groups of four and move their desks together. Assign each group a different prefecture (possibly by having a member draw a name from a hat). Tell students they will be 'travel agents,' or their prefecture's 'tourism board.' They will brainstorm ideas of things to see and do in their assigned prefecture. They can use scrap paper to collect their thoughts. Then, each group will have an opportunity to present at least three sentences - using gerunds - to promote their destination.
Give some initial examples to help (maybe even have photos prepared on the board or television screen):
Visit Miyazaki!
You can enjoy eating chicken nanban!
You can enjoy surfing!
You can enjoy playing golf!
Visit Fukui!
You can enjoy discovering dinosaurs!
You can enjoy eating delicious crab!
You can enjoy walking on the Tojimbo cliffs!
Encourage and reward students' enthusiastic delivery. They are promoting a prefecture as a travel destination!
As for time management:
~four minutes to introduce, explain, and give examples;
~seven minutes for students to brainstorm while you patrol the room and assist;
~four minutes for each group to present.
This activity was originally prepared for Sunshine 2, Program 7-1, If You Wish to See a Change.
Time saver for this activity https://randomforme.com/japan_prefecture
This is so good and relates to me because I used to be a travel agent before JET!
My JTEs loved this activity so much. Thanks for sharing!