Illness, symptoms, and treatments (advanced learners)

Illness, sickness, treatment, disease.  These are things that 10th and 11th grade students in Costa Rica must learn in the second language.  More advanced learners in any country can learn these as well.  These things can be hard to comprehend in your first language, much less your second.  Here are some vocabulary (some specific to Costa Rica), grammar structures, and activities to make learning these topics easier and more fun.

Vocabulary

• Diarrhea
• loose stools
• bloating
• cramping 
• urgent bowel movement 
• rehydrate
• Stomachache 
• nausea
• vomiting  
• Headache
• aspirin 
• cloth soaked in hot water 
• Common Cold
• germs 
• sneezing
• sore throat
• stuffy noes
• coughing 
• Flu 
• virus
• body or muscle aches
• chills
• cough 
• fever 
• headache
• sore throat 
• Dengue
• spread by mosquitos 
• virus
• fever
• joint and bone pain
• nausea 
• vomiting 
• headache 
• fatigue 
• rash 
• not treated with medicine 
• Malaria 
• spread by mosquitos 
• chills
• headache
• high fever 
• treated with medicine 
• Cancer 
• HIV/AIDS
• spread through sexual contact or sharing needles with an infected person
• swollen glands
• flu-like symptoms 
• blood test is used to tell if someone is infected 
• use of condoms can reduce exposure 
• Allergies
• allergic
• sneezing
• stuffy or runny nose
• itching eyes, nose, mouth
• Pneumonia 
• chills
• high fever 
• respiratory illness
• rapid,shallow breathing
• cough
• chest pains
• More illnesses for Costa Rica (click here)

Grammar

• What is the matter?
• How do you feel?
• Have you seen the doctor?
• What are your symptoms?
• You need to _________ (drink more fluids, eat, rest,etc.)

Presentation Ideas

• Flashcards
• Show flashcards with symptoms on them and label them.  
• Students can draw the picture representation and the words in their notebook
• Translation
• Teachers can use the native language to define the English version of the illness
• Graphic Organizer 
• Students can use a graphic organizer to describe the disease with the causes, symptoms, and treatments 

The illness in the middle. Causes, symptoms, treatments, 1st language translation, and illustration/use in sentence on the sides.

Brainstorming Graphic Organizers

Practice Ideas

• What do I have?
• Procedure:  Students have a illness taped to their back WITHOUT THEM SEEING WHAT IT IS.  Once everyone has an illness they must talk to as many other students as possible to ask YES or NO QUESTIONS to find out the illness on their back.  

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DonnaYoung.org

• Dialogues with the Doctor
• Procedure:  Students write a dialogue that they would have at a doctor's office.  They must tell their symptoms and get the name of the illness with its treatments.  
• Modification: 
• Students can read various dialogues that would be discussed between a patient and doctor.
• Students can read their dialogue to the class.
• Students can read their dialogue to the class while they or other classmates act it out.

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• Commercials for Treatments 
• Procedure: In pairs or small groups, students are given a type of medicine.  Students will then write a short (30 seconds to 1 minute) commercial telling the class what this medicine treats or prevents.
• Modifications:
• STudents can make a public service announcement on how to avoid various illness (for example: malaria, dengue, STDS, HIV/AIDS, etc.) 

Production Ideas

• Matching illness with symptoms
• Procedure: Students are given a worksheet with the list of illness on one side and the symptoms together.  The students write the symptoms that go with each illness under it. {MULTIPLE CHOICE OR MATCHING}
• Listing illness with symptoms/treatments
• Procedure: Students will be given a list of illness and they must write out the symptoms and treatment underneath the illness. {SHORT ANSWER}
• Students are the Doctors 
• Procedure: Students are given a scenario of a patient with certain symptoms.  The students then write what they think the illness is and how to treat (as if they were the doctor).  {SHORT ANSWER}
• Comparing
• Procedure: Using a Venn diagram, students compare two different illness. {LISTING}

This image is from here

Teaching Numbers (all learners)

Another post that I cannot believe I forgot to start with, numbers!  Numbers are something any level of learner can start.  It does not need much background knowledge of the language and can used to scaffold with later on in the learning.

Vocabulary

• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
• 20, 30, 40, 50 , 60, 70, 80, 90
• 100, 2o0, 300, 400, 500,

Presentation ideas

• How much is this?
• Procedure: Using flashcards (look here for some), teach each number by point to the amount displayed on the cards and saying the English number. 
• Choral repetition: 
• Procedure: After you say the number have the whole class repeat the number.  You can count up to a certain number using this method as well.

Practice ideas

• Number Line Up
• Procedure: Students are in small groups and each group has a set of cards with numbers that they have learned on them.  Teams race to put the cards in numerical order.  

• Number Scramble
• Procedure: Students are in small groups and each group has a set of cards with numbers that they have learned on them.  The teacher says a number or draws a set amount of circles on the board.  Then the teams race to find that number first.  
• Modification: Teacher has all the numbers learned on the board and students are divided into two/three teams.  Each team is lined up (one behind the other).  The teacher says a number and the first team to cover the number said wins that point.  The first person then goes to the end of the line and the game starts over with the next player.  
• Number Statue
• Procedure: Students work as a whole class or two groups.  The teacher says a number and the class must build the likeness of that number with their bodies.

Only instead of letters, build numbers

Beech Hill Blogs

• Bingo
• Procedure: Students play bingo in pairs or individually.  They match the letter and number called to the letter and number on their card (if they have it).  Students get a bingo by have a line of the numbers called diagonally (/), vertically (|), horizontally (-), or in the four corners 

Production ideas

• You tell me
• Production: Teacher says a number and students write that number on their own paper or draw that number of circles.  
• How many is this?
• Production: Teacher draws a specific amount of circles on the board. Students write out that number in letters and as the numerical representation.  

Preparing your class for the first day of school: Part 5 (first day activities)

So your classroom is ready, the rules are set, and you have your procedures down.  Get ready for your kiddos!  Here are a few first day (or week) activities that you can easily do!

The Adjective Race
Each student is given a blank piece of paper and a marker.  They must go around and ask each of their classmates to write ONE adjective to describe them (in target language).  The first one done gets a small reward.  

The Find a Friend Who... Scavenger Hunt

This game requires the students to write down their favorite food, color, etc. (in the target language) and then find other students with the same likes.  First person to find a different person for every like wins a prize.  

Adaptable for older students
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For elementary students
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Letter to ME!

Have students write a letter to themselves during the first week of school and give it back to them at the end of the school year to see how much they have grown. 

Great for older elementary students 

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I have, who has? 

This game gets the students asking questions and remembering vocabulary from last year. One student asks the question on their card, then the person with the answer of the question on their card says the answer, and then asks their own.  

Students can make a line to know who has answered already.  

When making your cards, make sure that every question has an answer and there are no repeated questions or answers.  

The elementary version just has students asking a question and giving a response (the prompt is on the cards).

The high school version has students asking a question WITH a definition and giving a response.  

Elementary card version
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High School Version
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Journal Prompt

Students can write about they did over break in their journals they keep all year.  

Here are a few prompt ideas to write on the board the first day:

-What I did over vacations...

-What I wish I did over vacations...

-What I liked and disliked about vacations

-What will I do differently this school year?

-Describe myself (physically and emotionally) to my future self

-What will I be doing 5 years from now?  10 years? 20 years?

-How will I be different this year compared to last year?

My Job, Your Job

Have students list what your job and their job is.  This can be used to remind them later in the school year of their own expectations of themselves.  

Draw a line down the middle of your board.  Label one side Teacher's Jobs and the other side Students' Jobs.

Mrs. Hawk's Nest

Time Capsule 

Students create a few things for the teacher to store away until the end of the school year.  Then at the end of the school year, they create the same things and then see how much they have grown.

Items to put in the time capsule:

-a sample sentence in English

-hand print (or their hand traced)

-list of words they know in English 

-self portrait 

Self Portrait 

Students can draw a picture of themselves with their favorite thing, place, or activity. 

Interviews

Students, working individually or in pairs, create questions to ask another student or ask questions from a prepared sheet of questions.  They then take turns interviewing each other.  After the interview is over, the pairs can take turns presenting the others to the whole class. 

Click HERE for free download