Global Goals - ESL Lesson 4: Health and Well-being

Lesson 4

Global Goal 3:  Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Abbreviations used in this lesson: 
ss: student
tl: target language

Lesson type: 

Grammar and Vocabulary

An look at Global Goal 3: Healthy lives and wellbeing

Lesson aims: 

Clarify and use in context: Future Simple Tense and related vocabulary.

Ss will practice subsidiary receptive skills (sub-skills):  Reading for gist / Concentrated reading 

Ss will practice a productive skill: Speaking

Ss will be able to use future simple tense in the context of (while learning about) Global Goal 3: Health and well-being.  

Level:

Level: A2 - B1. The content of the lesson is adaptable for all levels from beginners to advanced. For lower or higher levels the template and procedure remains the same but the content would be changed. 

Resources: 

What are Global Development Goals?

How to teach the UN's Development Goals and why

Sustainable Development Goals - 17 Goals to Transform Our World

Global Goals - the world's largest lesson

South Sudan - A nation in crisis desperate for peace

Raymond Van Neste's blog: Learn English by Thinking Globally

Global Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

An article from Raymond Van Neste's blog, specifically relating to            Global Goal 3: A Reflection of Suicide and Mental Health in South Sudan

Task 1   

(see: A summary of all future lessons on this blog)

Ss will read a text and also look at several highlighted words in the text (vocabulary) and see if they can guess the meaning of these words in context.  

Time allowed: 4 minutes

Text (with highlighted vocabulary):

Note: the text below is a story which highlights how a young man, Thomas, in a refugee centre in South Sudan has just attempted to commit suicide but is saved by a neighbour and taken to the hospital where he meets Raimund. Raimund is a psychologist and mental health worker at the hospital which is situated in the camp. It is late at night and Raimund anticipates the reasons for the attempted suicide but will find out the real reasons later on.

"“Everything is quiet…”

When our radio operator knocks gently on my container door in the Humanitarian Hub, I am already sleeping. It is 11:30 pm.

The days are exhausting and because of the heat, I have no energy left.

I wake up, ask what's going on and he whispers: "Mike Hotel is calling!” This is radio language: M (ike) = MSF, H (otel) = Hospital.

Ten minutes later, I'm in the Hope Centre, a container in the hospital in which we treat our patients with mental illnesses and stress confidentially and discreetly.

I sit down opposite Thomas. Next to me, my translator takes a seat. Everything is quiet.

What keeps a person alive under these difficult conditions? Thomas and I will try to find out together.

The first moments with a new patient are always exciting for me. The challenge to find the best way to build a strong rapport. Gain access. Create trust. The “therapeutic alliance” is a foundation for every psychological treatment.

I decide to keep silent. Intuition.

And so Thomas and I sit there, both bowing our heads. Seconds feel like hours. I notice how my translator gets nervous. It’s not easy for him to be quiet. But then Thomas looks up. Shy. I smile at him and introduce myself: “Hello, my name is Raimund. I work as a psychologist here in the hospital. Can you tell me your name?"

After a seemingly endless pause, he says "Thomas" in a low voice.

I answer: "Hello Thomas. Nice to meet you.""

Text / Article: The night I met Thomas: Mental health support in South Sudan. 22 May 2018.   Author: Raimund Alber, from his blog: MSF in South Sudan.  Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Ss are now asked to talk with their partner about what they think is the meaning of the highlighted words / text in the article.  

4 minutes allowed for this task.  

Student feedback:

Students and teacher discuss the meanings of the highlighted words in the context of the article and situation in South Sudan. Here, the teacher will elicit each word (highlighted text) so that the ss can learn the vocabulary in the context of the article (meaning). Each word is drilled by the teacher several times for the ss.

Length of time for the feedback:  8 minutes

Vocabulary:

Humanitarian          Exhausting            Therapeutic            Intuition       

Hu'mani'tar'ian: adjective

Meaning: to try to avoid making people suffer or to help people who are suffering

Ex'haust'ing: adjective

Meaning: to describe an activity or something as being tiring to such an extent that it was exhausting

Thera'peu'tic: adjective

Meaning: if something is therapeutic it helps you to relax or to feel better about things

In'tui'tion: noun


Meaning: an unexplained feeling that you might have that something is wrong

Task 2 - Elicit the TL

In a lesson the TL is elicited from the ss. This will take the form of a word or expression or sentence (for example a verb or noun, adjective). The ss are able to see the TL written on the board and can then start to relate more to it (in the context of a story which was in a text or recording) pronounce it and create more similar sentences. During the second half of a lesson, exercises are created where the ss practice the TL by using one of the four skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening.

The teacher will put on to the board one sentence (taken from the text).  The sentence will have a missing word (the missing word is a grammar point in the form of a verb, adjective, or any part of the English language that the ss are learning) and the teacher will elicit from the ss the missing word in the context of its meaning in the text / story.  

The teacher will give the correct pronunciation for each word from a sentence  - with a drill (this is where the the teacher will repeat a full sentence, using the TL, over and over again with the ss)

I ..... try to find out   (answer: will)  

Note: the simple future is used with I or we, to express a spontaneous decision

Task 3

I have created four sentences (not in the text) which also use the future simple verb.

Note: normally, four similar sentences from the text are put on to the board. Ss are asked to look at the first two sentences from four sentences on the board and see if they can find the sentences in the text.  However, in this text there are not enough future simple verbs so I have created four relevant sentences instead which contain the future simple: 

Here are the four sentences: 

1.  ......... we work together?   (answer: shall).  

Note: the simple future is used with we in the interrogative form using shall to make a suggestion (example: shall we go together)

2.  ........ you be alright?   (answer: will)    (example: will you come to the dance with me?)

Note: the simple future is used with you in the interrogative form, to give an invitation

3.  ......... help you as much as possible  (answer: I'll)

Note: the simple future is used with I or we, to express a spontaneous decision

4.  I ....... go until you feel better  (answer: won't)

Note: the simple future is used in the negative form, to express unwillingness (example: I won't leave you alone)

The teacher will put on the board the four sentences one by one and elicit each one with the ss. 

5 minutes allowed

Task 4 - Grammar rules

Put the grammar rules / explanations (future simple tense) on to the board. Go through the rules with the class. This is the form which includes a full explanation of the grammar connected to the TL  

Grammar rules for this lesson are in Teacher Notes (4)

4 minutes allowed

Task 5 - Practice 

This involves: controlled practice and semi-controlled practice See: Procedure, in Teacher notes (2).  In this lesson, this stage is being skipped (for reasons of length and time). 

Task 6 - Final Task: Production (sub skill: speaking)

Ask the ss to work with a partner and to discuss while using the TL  (Present simple verb).  Ask the ss to use the verb at least twice during their conversation.   The discussion will be about poverty (globally).  

To assist the ss, the teacher will provide handouts (and also on the board) a list of verbs (present simple) for the ss to refer to while they are having the discussion.  

5 minutes

Well done!  You have completed lesson 4.   The next lesson will be looking at the present progressive tense in relation to global goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.