Travel the World as a Pet Sitter (Advanced Lesson)

ESL/EFL Level: Advanced (C1)
Lesson Topics: Pets, Travel
Skill Focus: Reading, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: pet-sitting-travel-world-advanced-042024.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • After warm-up questions, students read a 315-word passage on traveling the world as a pet sitter.
  • After comprehension questions, students match vocabulary from the passage to definitions and then form discussion questions using the target vocabulary.
  • There are two debate topics--one about the risks of pet sitting and the other about working in the gig economy.
  • The lesson has three role-play scenarios. The first debates the value of owning a pet for people who want freedom. The second is an interview with a prospective pet sitter, and the final is an interview between a customs official and a pet sitter.
  • As a bonus activity, students are asked to think of five guidelines they could post on their petsitting site that would benefit new pet sitters.
  • This is followed by some famous quotations about pets and travel. The lesson ends with a review of vocabulary and collocations before presenting some final discussion questions.

A man sitting inside a home with a dog on his lap.

ADVANCED (C1/C2) Lesson Plan on Pet Sitting

Warm-up-Questions

  1. Where would you like to travel?
  2. What are some tips and tricks that allow people to travel cheaply?
  3. Are you an animal person? What would be your dream pet?

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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.

Comprehension Question Answer Key

  • …
  • Pet sitting offers a more authentic travel experience by allowing travelers to live like locals, providing a deeper connection to the community.
  • Having a furry companion can add a sense of security for solo travelers. The presence of a pet might make the home feel more lived-in and secure, potentially deterring any security concerns and providing emotional comfort.
  • The trust economy is a system where services and exchanges are based on mutual trust between parties. For pet sitting, it involves homeowners trusting sitters with their homes and pets, and sitters trusting homeowners for a safe and authentic living experience. This system is facilitated by platforms that provide transparency about the background of both parties.
  • The two issues are as follows:
    1. Dealing with emergencies: Such as a pet becoming ill, which requires the sitter to manage unexpected situations, including visits to the veterinarian.
    2. Legal issues: The technical legality of pet sitting without a work visa in many countries, due to the exchange of labor, which can present challenges when passing through customs or adhering to local laws.
  • A walk in the park describes a task that is very easy to accomplish.

 

Vocabulary Answer key: 1-c, 2-d, 3-L, 4-a, 5-j, 6-g, 7-b, 8-I, 9-e, 10-k, 11-h, 12-f

Collocations 1-d, 2-i, 3-a, 4-g, 5-b, 6-c, 7-h, 8-f, 9-e

Footnotes:

  • [1] https://www.vox.com/even-better/23466261/pet-sitting-solo-travel-save-money-cheap
  • [2] https://herwildway.com/2020/02/12/why-house-sitting-is-the-perfect-travel-hack/
  • [3] https://www.businessinsider.com/australian-woman-says-denied-entry-us-house-sitting-plans-2022-10

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