Let’s talk about some common illnesses
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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED POST
Week of June 22/26
This lesson plan focuses on Canada’s role in World War II. The lesson includes warm-up activities, vocabulary exercises, reading passages, a short video, and reflection questions to increase your students’ understanding of Canadian history.
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Lesson plan overview
| Task | To learn the names of some common illnesses and treatments for them. |
| 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 hours (depending on class size) |
| 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. Learn the vocabulary needed to describe some illnesses. 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 Canadian health system (e.g., when to go to the Emergency Room and when to access different forms of healthcare). |
| Specific task learning objectives | Students learn the names of common illnesses. Students practice talking about illness. Students share home remedies and other ways to combat illnesses. |
| 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. |
Lesson plan
Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms
- Today, we’re going to talk about common illnesses.
- What is illness?
- Can you name some illnesses?
Skill-building activities
FEATURED CONTENT
- Vocabulary pair-matching:
- Understanding common illnesses* 🎥
- Listen to the vocabulary again*🔊 (Pay attention to what the words mean and how to pronounce them.)
Skill-using tasks
- Picture match-up*
- Illnesses: Guess what I have* 🔊
- Discussing illness role plays* (Students practice how to discuss illnesses with other people.)
- Match the audio and words* 🔊
Assessment/review tasks
- Tell us the illness* (Ask the students to describe each illness’ symptoms.)
Reflection questions
- Can you name three illnesses?
- When would you go to doctor if you were ill?
- When would you go to the hospital emergency room?
- Do you know about 811 (for Alberta residents)? What is the difference between 811 and 911?
- Do you have home remedies for colds or flu?
- Do you get more or less ill in Canada than in your first country?
- Do you take vitamins? Do you think that these help prevent illness?
- How often do you get colds?
- Do you think that exercise and healthy eating are important in preventing illness?
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Keep readingHEALTH 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.
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Kathy Garnsworthy, the creator of ESL Directions, is an ESL teacher, movie buff, constant reader, and former editor and communications pro. Now a graduate of the Teaching English as a Second Language program at the University of Manitoba and an ESL teacher in Edmonton, Alberta, she specializes in teaching online classes of beginner ESL students.
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