Updated 8/15/03

Health & Literacy Special Collection
Mini-Grant Lesson Plans

Student-Directed Projects on Health

Sara Gallow
E-mail: saritaberlito@msn.com

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Lesson Summary

In a 5-week seminar, 10 advanced ESL students used the LINCS Health & Literacy Special Collection Web Site to find relevant health information to share with intermediate ESL classes in our program. Students working in pairs/groups of 3, have decided on different ways (skit, game, quiz, etc.) to present the information to the classes.
Time: Five two-hour sessions

Class Description

Eight advanced ESL students (Level 6 according to the National Reporting System) met in a special seminar to work on this project.

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Learning Objectives

EFF Role: Family Member
Family members meet the needs and responsibilities of the family unit. They provide for safety and physical needs.

EFF Standards

• Read with understanding
• Convey ideas in writing
• Speak so others can understand
• Listen actively
• Solve problems & make decisions
• Plan
• Cooperate with others
• Use information & communications technology
• Reflect & evaluate

Working in pairs/groups of three, students will…

• Access the LINCS Health & Literacy Special Collections web site.
• Decide on a health topic relevant to their needs and interests.
  Create a final product using the health information.
  Present their final product to an intermediate-level ESL class.

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Materials

The following links are from the LINCS Health & Literacy Special Collections web site:

Easy-to-Read Health Information
http://www.lincs.worlded.org/teachertext.htm#ez

"e is for easy": Materials for Lower Level Learners
http://www.lincs.worlded.org/teachertext.htm#eforeasy

Each group of students needed different materials.

• Group 1 used the publication: I Have Diabetes: What should I eat?
  http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/diabetes/pubs/nutritn/what/index.htm
  They wrote and performed a short skit. They put together a handout on power point and got pamphlets on the food pyramid from the health department to pass out. They brought in props such as junk food, healthy food, blood sugar testing kit, etc.
• Group 2 used the publication: Safer Sunning in Seven Steps
  http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/sunsafty.html
  They made a board game with Microsoft Word. They needed dice and candy (for tokens) in order to play the game. They also brought sunglasses and sun block as visuals.
• Group 3 used the publication: Eating for a Healthy Heart.
  http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/hlyheart.html
  They put together a presentation and a short follow-up quiz with power point.

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Steps

Class 1

1. Introduce the general goals for the project.
2. Form groups/pairs according to native language and computer skills.
3. Introduce the web site by showing a copy of the home page (with the address removed).
4. Discuss key computer vocabulary words on Week 1's agenda.
5. Groups search for the web site on their own.
6. Groups find 2-3 possible topics.
7. Groups report their topics to the others.

Agenda #1.

Class 2

1. Groups decide which topic they will focus on.
2. The class brainstorms ideas for final products (ex. skit, quiz, game).
3. Groups begin planning their end products; some students go to the computer lab.
4. Groups report their product ideas to the class.

Agenda #2

Worksheet

Class 3

1. Groups continue working on their products in the computer lab.
2. Groups report their progress to the class.

Agenda #3

Class 4

1. Discuss how to assess the presentations and brainstorm possible criteria for the rubrics.
2. Each student selects the criteria that they want to focus on.
3. Students fill out the rubric with their name and chosen criteria.
4. The teacher fills out the rubric; then folds it in half to give the student.
5. Students evaluate themselves; then unfold the rubric to compare their evaluation with the teacher's.
6. Presentations begin.

Student Projects:

Eating for Healthy Heart PowerPoint Presentation

Diabetes PowerPoint

Safe Sunning Game and Instructions

Heathly Heart Question Cards

 

 

Agenda #4

Rubric

Class 5

1. Final presentation is given.
2. Students discuss their own work and give feedback to other groups.
3. Students fill out evaluations individually. The evaluation is then discussed together.
4. With their partner(s), students fill out the electronic survey on the web site.
   

Agenda #5

Rubric

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Variations

I was fortunate to have one student with extremely high computer skills. If your students do not, you may want to give the students the web address instead of having them search for it. You may not want the students to use computers to put together their end products.

If you do not have access to a computer lab, you could print various publications for the students to choose from.

To focus the activity a little more (especially for lower-level students), you may want to make up a general list of questions for students to answer about the publication. The students can use these main ideas in their presentation, poster, etc.

Make sure to give enough time to go over the presentation rubric. Fortunately, all of the students had been and/or currently are registered in my ESL 6 class. They were accustomed to my teaching style and had already discussed presentations in my class. Six of the eight had done presentations with me in previous quarters. Because of their experience and knowledge, I knew that they could come up with appropriate criteria.

If presenting to other classes is not an option, the students can present in their own class.

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Reflections

Teacher Reflection
The web site provided relevant and necessary information for the students. Each group had specific reasons for choosing their topics: I Have Diabetes: What should I eat?,
Safer Sunning in Seven Steps and Eating for a Healthy Heart. For example, the diabetes group chose their topic because one of them has diabetes, one student's mother is borderline diabetes and the third student's mother is a diabetic.

By allowing the students to decide how to use the health information in working on their product, the project truly became student-directed. I was impressed by their initiative and creativity when working together. They negotiated and compromised when planning. The diabetes group went to the health department to get food pyramid pamphlets to pass out to their audience. For their skit, they brought in props, wrote their lines and practiced outside of class. The sunning group worked on their Microsoft Word skills to put their game together. The heart group included a student with a great deal of computer experience; she had worked for Yahoo! Japan. Because she felt comfortable teaching her partners (and her partners wanted to learn from her), they did a power point presentation.

By presenting the information to other classes, the students felt a greater sense of accomplishment. They knew that they were communicating successfully when the intermediate-level students took notes and asked questions. They felt good that they were able to speak in front of strangers.

Working with a small group of students allowed the students to form stronger bonds with each other. The eight students became quite close over the five weeks. They made new friends and appreciated each other. When discussing the evaluation on the last day, the students pointed out the strengths in the other groups' projects.

Student Reflection
Students were very positive about their experience. They felt that the web site was useful, easy to use and plan to use it again. They enjoyed working with their partners and sharing information with other students. For their specific answers, please see the evaluation results. With their partner(s), students also filled out the on-line survey on the web site.
See evaluation form.

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