STANDARDS FOR ASSESSMENT: 100 level descriptions (if assessment conducted toward the beginning of the cycle); 150 and 200 level descriptions (if assessment conducted toward the end of the cycle). 

Go to REEP Level Descriptions. 

Go to Guide for culminating assessment activities.

Decision-Making Skills: Solve problems and make decisions, use math to solve problems and communicate. 
Interpersonal Skills: Cooperate with others. 
Communication Skills: Read with understanding, speak so others can understand, convey ideas in writing, listen actively. 
Lifelong Learning Skills: Take responsibility for learning, reflect and evaluate. 

Go to EFF Website.

• role cards with pictures and descriptions of illnesses (go to role cards)
• large signs labeled "reception desk," "doctor," and "waiting room" to mark the stations
• a simple sign-in sheet
• a simplified medical form for each student (go to medical forms)
• other realia that will make the simulation more realistic (e.g.: clipboards for the forms, magazines and health brochures or a health video for the waiting room, a scale and yardstick or tape measure, a thermometer).

Preparation: Before class, set up a reception desk, marked with the sign. On this desk, place the sign-in sheet and medical forms. Set up and label an area as the waiting room, and one or two as the examination room (doctor).  

Process: 

Warm-up: Play charades or pictionary to practice previously learned health problems. Students act out or draw health problems and the class says what the problem is. 

Introduction: Ask the class to look around and tell you "where" they are, what they think they will be doing today. Ask where the reception desk and the waiting room are. Ask if anyone went to the doctor recently, and see if students have anything to say about their experiences in doctor's offices. Do their doctors speak English and/or their languages? Were they confused? Are doctor's offices like this in their countries?  

Roles: Hand each student or pair of students a role card (see role cards) with a health problem on it. Have students read their cards and circulate and make sure everyone understands their role. If you have one or two more advanced students, they can play the roles of doctors; otherwise the teacher or ideally a volunteer can play this role. 

Demonstration: Ask students where the reception desk, waiting room, and examination room are. Demonstrate the task for the class by having a student or volunteer go through the simulation with you. The order could be posted somewhere (1. reception desk 2. waiting room...). 

Simulation: Have students line up at the reception desk. The teacher plays the role of the receptionist, showing people where to sign in, handing them the medical forms, and asking them to wait in the waiting room and fill out the form. Finished forms go in a designated place where the doctor can call students' names one by one in the order the forms were completed. The doctor asks the students questions about his/her health problem, answers any questions, and gives advice. If you have studied height and weight, have a scale and yard stick, and students feel comfortable, the doctor can also weigh and measure students and record these on the form.  

Meanwhile: There will probably be times where some students need to wait. You can have magazines, health brochures, or a health video in the waiting room. Having 2 doctors and/or pairing up students for the examinations will also help minimize any waiting time. Also, each examination should be limited to a few minutes. 

Evaluation: The teacher evaluates each student's speaking and listening during the doctor's visit. The teacher should make sure to give every opportunity to speak, and when there are pairs, to make sure both people have a chance to talk about the medical problem. The teacher evaluates reading and writing based on the sign-in sheet and medical form.  

The standards for assessing student performance are the REEP Entry Level Descriptions. (Use the 100 descriptors as the target language at the beginning of the semester. Use the 150 or 200 descriptors toward the end of the semester.) 

Go to REEP Level Descriptions 

Teacher records assessment for individual students on the culminating assessment sheet following procedures in the Culminating Assessment Guide.  

Self-Evaluation (Go to sample Self-Evaluation )

6. Students fill out a self-evaluation form and discuss the simulation in class. If this activity is done mid-cycle, the evaluation and self-evaluation would be good things to discuss at the mid-cycle student-teacher conferences.

Ideas for adapting the activity: This activity can be adapted to any level by increasing the complexity of the roles and medical form, by increasing the level of language used by the doctor, and requiring that the students ask questions. Teachers could also integrate making appointments, height and weight checks, prescriptions, health insurance, payment plans, referrals, follow-up visits, etc.  

Possible extension activities: Take a field trip to a health clinic and write a class LEA story about the visit, video or audio tape the doctor's visits to give feedback on. Later, have students talk about options (home remedies, preventive health) besides going to the doctor for the same health problems they acted out.