Infectious Diseases: A Teaching Unit for ESL
This unit should take 4 days to a week, depending on time, interest, and extension activities. This unit is designed for intermediate to advanced level students.


Objectives

Students will:

Activity II: Vocabulary (10 minutes)
Have the students look at the list and underline unfamiliar words (1 minute). They should then turn to their groups for help with the words they do not know (4 minutes). When the buzz has died down, go over the words. Say, "These words are from the passage we are going to read. What do you think the passage will be about?"

Activity III: Reading (20 minutes)
Give the students the reading. This might be a homework or a silent in-class reading. Allow them to break every 3-5 minutes to discuss what they have read so far with the person sitting to their left.

Activity IV: True/False Questions (5 minutes)
Give students 5 minutes to complete the True/False questions. Have them check their answers in small groups. Tell the small groups that everyone must agree on an answer. Then, review with the entire class.

Activity V: Updating Ideas (5-10 minutes)
Now that students have learned more about infectious diseases, have them take out the lists they made in Activity I. Give them 5 minutes to revise their ideas, looking back to the reading and what they have learned so far. Ask them to create a new list with infectious diseases on it. They should leave out diseases that they think are NOT infectious diseases.

Activity VI: Reading and Chart Worksheet (25 Minutes)
Each student has a number and a color written on their worksheet. They should first go to their number groups. All 1s together, all 2s together, etc. Give each member of the separate groups ONE of the five readings on an infectious disease (Ebola, tuberculosis, AIDS, cholera or malaria). Collectively, the group fills in the chart on the disease they read about. Each student then goes to their color group with all the information about one disease filled in. They share information with the color group, and everyone fills in their chart completely.

Activity VII: Grammar: The Passive (25 minutes)
Put this sentence on the board: "The doctor gave Henry the vaccination." Ask the students: What if I don't want to talk about the doctor? What if I want to say the same thing, but only talk about Henry? Elicit the form of the passive voice from them. Explain that we can say "by the doctor", but that we usually don't because that part is not important. For more tips on teaching the passive, see Parlo Courses lessons 38-39. Ask the students to do the grammar worksheet in pairs.

Activity VIII: Writing a Research Paper (4-7 days)
Have each student choose an infectious disease that they will write a research paper about. Tell them that they will research the library and Internet (or whatever resources you have) to write about the disease. They will need to find information in the 4 categories on the chart: Transmission, Symptoms, Facts, Treatment. In addition, you may want to suggest they include: Where in the world it's found, history and any other categories you can think of. Have them use their charts to fill in information as they find it. The paper should go through several edits. The students should be instructed in how to cite references.