Northern Norway

• What would it be like to live here?
• What would the weather be like?
• How do you feel about this location? What emotions does it spark? What thrills you? What makes you curious? What might fill you with dread? 
• How would your life be different from how it is now?
• Can you imagine playing soccer or football on that pitch?

Imagine your school has announced a once-in-a-lifetime cultural exchange. Four lucky students from Norway will visit your school, and four lucky students from your school will visit Lofoten in the Arctic Circle.

Since you are the best writer in your school, your teacher has asked you to write a travel advert to sell the idea of a week in Norway to your classmates.

It’s an amazing opportunity – so write to amaze!

Watch the video for a second time. Encourage students to write brief notes in three columns, focusing on what they can see (landscapes and seascapes), how people live (buildings, vehicles, clothing), and the atmosphere (light, colours, weather, feel).

Model the students’ ideas and create original phrases using a combination of concrete observations and figurative language.

Create a whiteboard bank of useful phrases, words, descriptive verbs, and key ideas that students can use for inspiration.

• Wander around the soccer field using this interactive Google streetview.
• Imagine would it would be like to stand in the middle of the sports field.
• Here’s an interactive map and travel guides, listing the most popular tourist locations.
• Here’s a collection of spectacular 360 degree interactive panoramas of the Lofoten islands in Northern Norway.
• Here’s a collection of soundscapes, sound effects, animal noises, birds chirping and waves roaring – all recorded in and around Lofoten.
• This Lonely Planet guide to Lofoten is worth discussing to spark students’ ideas and discussion.