Reading prescription labels

Learn the basic vocabulary printed on most prescription labels

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by ESL Directions

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Lesson plan overview

Task	To understand common terms used on prescription labels.
CLB level	CLB Stage I (CLB 1-3)
Delivery method	Online
Class size	10-15 students (vary the number of activities according to your class size)
Estimated time	1.5- 3 hours (depending on whether you complete all parts of the lesson)
CLB Skills and Competencies	*Speaking:* Interacting with others Sharing information *Listening:* Interacting with others Comprehending information *Reading:* Comprehending information
Language focus	Learn the vocabulary needed to understand this topic. Understand the difference between the singular and plural in the full vocabulary sentences. Complete the optional “Part B: Building Sentences” activities below to help your students move from understanding vocabulary to using that vocabulary to create simple sentences. Use the appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to respond personally to the reflection questions. (Encourage students to respond in full sentences.)
Cultural focus	Students understand more about the Alberta (and Canadian) health care system and where pharmacists fit into this system.
Specific task learning objectives	Students will learn and practice the vocabulary printed on a typical prescription label. Students will work with prescription labels to understand the common elements on each one.
ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities?	This lesson includes original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities.
Resource attribution	ESL Directions original resources are marked below with an asterisk (*). Feel free to use these, but please give credit to ESL Directions.

Part A: Vocabulary acquisition and practice
This is a self-contained, complete lesson plan (about 1.5 hours) focused on vocabulary.

Part B: Building sentences
Part B takes your students further by giving them some tools to build simple sentences (using the vocabulary they learned in Part A).

Use Part B (about 1.5 hours) if you want to focus on:

Sentence production.

Specific lesson-related grammar points. Note: Every lesson also includes similar practice exercises for subjects, verbs, and objects — the basic building blocks of most English sentences.

Part C: Reflection Questions
These topic-related discussion questions work at the end of either part A or B.

Lesson plan

Part A: Vocabulary acquisition and practice

Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms

Today, we’re going to read prescription labels.

What is a prescription?
What is a prescription label?
How do you get a prescription?
Where do you pick up prescriptions?
What information is on the prescription label?

Skill-building activities

Vocabulary flashcards*
Reading a prescription label* 🎥 (Listen to the vocabulary in this short video.)

Listen to the vocabulary again* 🔊 (Ask students to pay attention to the pronunciation, spelling, and meaning of the words.)

Introducing the topic

In this part of the lesson, we’re going to work on creating short sentences from the vocabulary we learned in Part A.

To help us, we’ll focus on:

“What does … mean?” questions and answers.

Subject, verb, and object word order.

Skill-building and skill-using activities

“What does … mean?” questions and answers

Asking “What does …mean?” questions is a very useful way for ESL students to get more information.

Quick guide: Forming What does … mean?” questions*
Let’s practice*
What does … mean questions and answers explainer* (A more detailed explanation that you can teach in class or send home with your students.)

Word order in English sentences

Today, we’ll look at three important parts of English sentences.

What is a subject?
What is a verb?
What is an object?

Let’s practice!

Quick definitions: Subjects, verbs, and objects*
Unjumble the sentences*
Create sentences in subject/verb/object order*
Subject/verb/object explainer* (A more detailed explanation that you can teach in class or send home with your students.)

Assessment/review activities

Reading a prescription*🎥 (Watch a story using the lesson vocabulary and grammar points.)

Reading a prescription: Reading passage and comprehension questions* 🔊 (Read the story, and identify the lesson’s grammar points.)

Part C: Reflection questions

What are three words or phrases that you learned today?
Do you speak English with your pharmacist?
Does your pharmacist explain the medication to you?
What should you do if you don’t understand the pharmacist’s instructions?
Did you know that your pharmacist can write some prescriptions?
What prescriptions can your pharmacist write?
What other health questions can your pharmacist answer?
Did you know that some pharmacies are open 24 hours a day? Is there a pharmacy like this near you?
Is going to the pharmacy different here from in your home country?

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HEALTH YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

Click on the small right arrow at the top of this video to watch the videos or go to the YouTube Health Playlist.

HEALTH WORDWALL ACTIVITIES

Wordwall is a very useful interactive lesson-creation site. If you sign up for a free Wordwall account, you will be able to see our “Health” folder, which includes ESL Directions activities that you can add to your lessons.