Unit 9 Overview
Health Care: "To Your Health!"
CASAS Competency: 3. Health
Time Frame: 12 days

Unit 9 Picture

Goals for this unit:

  1. Students will identify various health care providers and facilities and learn about the services provided by each.
  2. Students will understand that services vary at different health care facilities (i.e., emergency room, clinic, doctor’s office).
  3. Students will learn how to request an appointment, communicate symptoms and injuries, and follow doctor’s (or health care provider’s) instructions.
  4. Students will practice general emergency and first aid procedures.

Suggested Activities:

Activity 1—Pre-test
Teacher-led discussion follows the completion of the test.

Materials needed:
◆ Pre-test “Health Care: ‘To Your Health!’”

Activity 2—In small groups, students complete the Worksheet “Health Care: Who, What, and Where?” identifying health care providers, services and facilities. Teacher can provide Yellow Pages®, or students may wish to access the Internet to help complete the worksheet. After filling in as much information as they can, the groups share their lists with the rest of class.

Materials needed:
◆ Worksheet “Health Care: Who, What, and Where?”

Activity 3 (optional)—Teacher collects worksheets from Activity 2 and compiles a master list of all providers, services and facilities. Teacher then creates another worksheet for the next day. Teacher supplies one of the three pieces of information (e.g., “dental care”) and students complete the other two (e.g., “dentist” and “dentist’s office or dental clinic”). Teacher may also wish to add any providers, services, or facilities that the students did not include on the worksheets (e.g., nursing home, hospice, rehabilitation center, physical therapy, nutritionist, acupuncturist, spiritual healer, etc.).

Materials needed:
◆ Completed Worksheet “Health Care: Who, What, and Where?”

Activity 4 (optional)—Discuss student experiences with health insurance. A speaker would be most effective in presenting the insurance and Medicare options available to immigrants, as well as office and service locations, and procedures for completing the correct forms.

Activity 5—On a large sheet of paper or poster board, teacher draws a large human body. Students take turns identifying body parts and labeling the drawing. After identifying body parts, students list symptoms associated with specific body parts. In pairs, students practice explaining specific symptoms/ problems/concerns to a health care provider (e.g., “When I turn my head to the left, my neck feels tight, and it’s painful.”).

Materials needed:
◆ Vocabulary list (students and teacher generate)
◆ Worksheet “Practice Explaining”

Activity 6—Show an example of a medical questionnaire and an appointment card. Elicit and list vocabulary words and pertinent information necessary to request a doctor’s appointment and to successfully complete a medical questionnaire in a doctor’s office. Discuss the importance of (A) being honest with a doctor, (B) having and keeping a health care appointment and (C) being on time. Partners role-play patient requesting an appointment from a receptionist using a copy of an appointment card.

Materials needed:
◆ Medical questionnaire (teacher provides)
◆ Appointment card (teacher provides)

Activity 7—Ask students to conduct a phone interview with a health care provider of their choice. Teacher may assign students different types of health care specialists or ask them to look up one they are curious about. Use the phone book to locate local phone numbers or locations.

Materials needed:
◆ Telephone book or Yellow Pages® (teacher provides)
◆ Worksheet “Health Care Interview”

Activity 8—Pair students to discuss their personal experiences with a U.S. health care facility or provider. One student describes the experience while the other takes notes and vice versa. Students volunteer to share information orally with classmates about their partner’s experiences.

Activity 9—Define “first aid.” Go to the first aid Web site and discuss the information
provided, as well as the recommended contents and use of a first aid kit. Using an actual first aid kit, distribute items from the kit to groups of students. Have each group imagine an accident or situation when they would need to use the items from the kit. Groups present their situations to the class, identifying the items from the kit and explaining how they are used.

Materials needed:
◆ Computers with Internet access
Web site: www.mayoclinic.com/health/FirstAidIndex/FirstAidIndex
◆ First Aid Kit (teacher provides)

Activity 10—In pairs or small groups, students create a visual representation of a health emergency or life-threatening situation, either by drawing or by making a collage from magazine or newspaper images. Ask students to describe what is happening, and ask questions to tap into their background knowledge on the topic of emergency situations (i.e., How do people in your native country handle these situations? Have you ever been involved in one of these situations? What did you do?). As a group, discuss which situations require emergency assistance.

Materials needed:
◆ Classroom art supplies, magazines, newspapers (teacher provides)

Activity 11— Introduce the 9-1-1 call system for emergencies by showing the Emergency Numbers page from the local telephone book or by reviewing the 911 Internet site. Using the worksheet, define “emergency,” and practice identifying emergency situations that require 911 (as opposed to those that require immediate first aid). Read the transcription of a 911 call on the worksheet and discuss the nature of the questions asked by the 911 operator. In pairs, role-play emergency procedures with students taking turns being the 911 operator and the caller.

Materials needed:
◆ Phone book (teacher provides)
◆ Computer with Internet access
Web site: http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1237,q,547620,mpdcNav_GID,1554.asp#when
◆ Worksheet “Emergency 9-1-1”

Activity 12—Students create a list of emergency phone numbers and instructions to laminate (if possible) and put next to the phone at their homes. Work together to include important phrases to help students to describe emergency situations. (e.g., “Someone is breaking into my house,” “Someone is having a heart attack”).

Materials needed:
◆ Classroom art supplies or computer
◆ Laminating machine (optional)
◆ Worksheet “Emergency Phone List” (sample provided)

Activity 13—Post-test

Materials needed:
◆ Post-test “Share What You’ve Learned”

Connected Activities:

GUEST SPEAKER
Healthcare provider
Fire fighter
Paramedic
911 operator
Health insurance specialist

FIELD TRIP
Police station
Fire station
Hospital or clinic

Supplemental Resources:

Stand Out 4, Unit 5, pp. 81-96
Access Reading 4, Unit 4, pp. 38-48; Unit 5, pp. 50-60

Summary:

CASAS COMPETENCIES

3. Health
3.1-3.3 Understand how to access... and use health care system
3.4 Understand basic health and safety procedures
3.5 Understand basic principles of health maintenance
2.1 Community Resources: Use the telephone and telephone book

VOCABULARY

Health Terms Words used to name places, titles, offices, etc.
Anatomy Body parts including conditions, feelings, symptoms
First Aid Injuries, items in a first aid kit
Emergency Location, condition

SKILLS

Listening Speakers, teacher lectures, phone interviews
Speaking Discussions; phone interviews; oral presentations
Reading Dialogue; questions
Writing Sentences about health care experiences in U.S.; answers to questions
Life Skills Experiencing and participating in authentic communications in the context of a variety of health care providers

GRAMMAR

Modals Auxiliary verbs used to express shades of time and mood (i.e., would, shall,
could, might, will, ought to, can, etc.)
Adjectives Words used to describe symptoms (i.e., sore, swollen, discolored, broken, etc.)
Prepositions Words that indicate location, time, or place (i.e., cut on my hand)

ENTERTAINMENT

Using local resources and information, students develop an awareness of social and cultural activities. Teacher and students work together to incorporate this in the course of study.

ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

  1. Pre-test (needs assessment)
  2. Completing patient form/questionnaire
  3. Role-play making a doctors appointment
  4. Phone interviews
  5. Verbal communication/pronunciation
  6. Emergency/first aid instructions
  7. Post-test

Activity Sheets: