ESL Health Unit

Unit One The Doctors Office Lesson Two

Describing Pain/Symptoms

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Reading and Writing Practice

Intermediate
Goals for this lesson Below are some of the goals of this lesson. Which ones are your goals too? Check () them. discuss common health problems and symptoms use different words to accurately describe pain talk about past experiences describe your symptoms to a doctor prepare for your visit to the doctor so that you will be able to communicate more effectively

Lesson Two Describing Pain/Symptoms! Reading and Writing Practice "efore #o$ %ea&' In this lesson, you will read Ninas descri tion of her headache sym toms. Before you read, com lete the following acti!ity with your classmates and your teacher.

dull, "urning, aching, sta""ing, thro""ing, tingling, sore, stinging, and shar 1. With your classmates and teacher, place the following words that describe pain on a continuum from mild pain to severe pain.

#ild $ain

#oderate $ain

%e!ere $ain

2. Now ask a partner about his or her past experience with headaches (or another pain you have experienced . !alk about your pain using the words above.

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%ea&ing Two ( Describing the symptoms of a migraine hea&ache ) Now you are going to read a story a"out Ninas migraine headache. $lease read the story and then answer the &uestions with your classmates and your teacher.

01 few years ago ( suffered from migraines. 2irst my peripheral vision would become blurry. !hen, ( would get a stabbing pain in one of my temples. !he pain would be intense. 2or four years ( had a headache everyday, but / to 3 days every month during the full moon, ( had a severe headache. ( could only lie in silence and darkness with my eyes closed, without movement. ( couldn,t eat or drink anything because ( felt nauseous and threw up 3 to 4 times a day. ( went to the doctor who checked my head. ( took medicine. 1fter four years, the headaches got weaker. Now some days pass when ( don,t have a headache. ( have headaches when my blood pressure or the weather changes. !his is a chronic condition. ( hope ( will not have headaches in the next life56

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(uestions)

1.

%ow strong is Nina,s pain7 )n the scale below, place Nina,s pain level.

899999919999992999999/99999939999994999999:999999;999999<999999=99999918 No -ain >ild >oderate #evere

2. What makes you think so7 What describing words does Nina use to describe her symptoms7

/. .ead through the text one more time. !his time underline all of the action words, or verbs of the text. What do you notice about how Nina uses these verbs to help the reader understand the timeframe of her story7 What other words or phrases does Nina use to help the reader understand the timeframe of the story7

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0A few years ago ( suffered from migraines. 2irst my peripheral vision would become
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blurry. !hen, ( would get a stabbing pain in one of my temples. !he pain would be intense.

2or four years ( had a headache everyday, but / to 3 days every month during the full moon, ( had a severe headache. ( could only lie in silence and darkness with my eyes closed, without movement. ( couldn,t eat or drink anything because ( felt nauseous and threw up 3 to 4 times a day. ( went to the doctor who checked my head. ( took medicine. 1fter four years, the headaches got weaker. Now some days pass when ( don,t have a headache. ( have headaches when my blood pressure or the weather changes. !his is a chronic condition. ( hope ( will not have headaches in the next life56

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*sing the sim le ast tense to tell stories)+

When telling stories in "nglish, we most often use the simple past tense. !he regular #imple -ast is formed by adding ?"+? to the base form of the verb. (@ase* walk A "+ B walked

!he irregular #imple -ast is left up to the irregular verb to decide. (rregular verbs must be memoriCed and used until they are learned. !here are many lists of irregular verbs in "nglish. Dou can learn a few every week until you know the most common.

"xample* go EE went speak EE spoke give EE gave

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Prono$ncing .ED. En&ings >any people have had great difficulty pronouncing the 'ed' at the end of regular verbs in the past !here are three pronunciations for the regular past tense ending ?"+.?

/t/ (unvoiced E if the base form ends in an unvoiced sound. "xample* ?work? ('k' is unvoiced becomes ?worked,? pronounced ?work 't'.?

/&/ (voiced E if the base form ends in a voiced sound. "xample* ?name? ('m' is a voiced sound becomes ?named,? pronounced ?name 'd'.?

/i&/ (syllable E if the base from ends in 't' or 'd'. "xample* ?rate? ('t' becomes ?rated,? pronounced ?rat 'idF? ?mend? ('d' becomes ?mended,? pronounced ?mend 'id'.?

+ hg$,g: ;

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Health /atch Just Relax! Tips for handling headaches !he National %eadache 2oundation estimates that 2< million 1mericans suffer from migraines. )ne cause of migraines and other types of headaches is believed to be stress. @ecause stress can make any headache worse, it is important to learn how to relax. What ,re %ome -echni&ues .ou Can *se to /ela0? (n order to learn how to relax, you need to become familiar with your own breathing patterns and change them in ways that will help you relax. @elow are a few relaxation exercises. @ut first, be sure that you have a Guiet location that is free of distractions, a comfortable body position, and a good state of mind. !ry to block out worries and distracting thoughts. Rhythmic breathing: (f your breathing is too fast, slow it down by taking long, slow breaths. (nhale slowly then exhale slowly. Hount slowly to five as you inhale, and then count slowly to five as you exhale. 1s you exhale slowly, pay attention to how your body naturally relaxes. .ecogniCing this change will help you to relax even more.

Deep breathing: (magine a spot Iust below your navel. @reathe into that spot, filling your abdomen with air. $et the air fill you from the abdomen up, then let it out, like
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Progressi e muscle relaxation: #witch your thoughts to yourself and your

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A Thematic Unit for Intermediate Level ESL Teachers Intermediate, Unit One: The Doctors Office Lesson Two: Describing Pain !"m#toms

Checklist for Learning

1ocab$lary Log In the s ace "elow, write down all of the new words you learned during this lesson that you want to remem"er. -ry to se arate your list of words into nouns ( erson, lace or thing), ad1ecti!es (descri"ing words) and !er"s (action words). 2or e0tra ractice use them in sentences of your own. New words I learned during this lesson: Nouns) ,d1ecti!es) 3er"s) /hat can yo$ &o2 Below are some of the language goals you worked on during this lesson. Check () what you learned from this lesson. ,dd more ideas if you wish. I learned to4
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describe your feelings understand a voicemail message learn new vocabulary describe why you call the doctor make an appointment 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
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