Considerations for Lesson Planning
Location: Classroom
Strand: Healthy Living
Topic: Substance Use, Addictions and Related Behaviours
Students:
- Students from Six Nations of the Grand River and the broader Haudenosaunee community
- Consideration: Reflect and respect Haudenosaunee perspectives on health and well-being, ensuring students from Six Nations of the Grand River and the broader Haudenosaunee community feel valued, included, and heard.
- Student with epilepsy
- Consideration: Ensure the student with epilepsy feels included and supported, with careful consideration given to discussions about medication and health practices.
- Students from East Asian backgrounds
- Consideration: Include and validate health practices from East Asian backgrounds, ensuring students recognize their cultural traditions reflected.
Supports: Educational Assistant
Lesson: What’s Your Medicine?
Lesson Overview
Through the creation of a concept map, engaging in a sorting activity, and small and large group discussions, students learn about prescription and non-prescription medicines and choices for their personal health.
Overall and Specific Expectations
D1: D1.3; D3: D3.2
Learning Goals
- We are learning to understand the difference between prescription and non-prescription medicines.
- We are learning to identify the rules for using all medicines properly and safely.
- We are learning to recognize different ways to stay healthy, with or without medication.
Materials
- Access to a shared document (e.g., chart paper and markers, online interactive tool) for a concept map
- Visual, digital, or printed versions of:
- prescription medicines (for example, antibiotics, pain relievers, epinephrine autoinjector)
- non-prescription medicines (for example, cough syrup, allergy medicine, traditional herbal medicines)
- healthy habits and natural healing practices (for example, herbal teas, smudging ceremonies, drinking water, exercise)
- Organizing tool for sorting images (for example, bins, containers, digital sorting tool)
- Teacher Resource: Anecdotal Recording Chart
Assessment for Learning
Use the Teacher Resource: Anecdotal Recording Chart to observe and provide verbal and written feedback on students' ability to explain the difference between prescription and non-prescription medicines, identify the rules for using medicines properly, and share examples of nutritious habits and natural healing practices that contribute to maintaining good health.
Minds On
Share the learning goals with the class and co-construct success criteria with students. Consider posting the success criteria in the learning space for reference throughout the lesson.
Use a shared document to create a concept map to help students make connections between different forms of medicines, healthy habits, and healing practices. Write the word Medicine in the centre of the map. Use the following teacher prompts to explore with students what medicine means and record student ideas branching out from it.
Teacher Prompt: "What comes to mind when you hear the word medicine?"
Student responses may include:
- “Pills.”
- “Cough syrup.”
- “Doctor.”
Teacher Prompt: "What are other ways people help their bodies feel better or stay healthy?"
Student responses may include:
- “Resting.”
- “Water.”
- “Exercise.”
As students add examples, show how different ideas can be connected and grouped (for example, medicines, activities, and cultural practices). This helps students understand that medicine can take many forms.
Introduce the idea that while some people use medicine from doctors, there are many other ways people can maintain their health, including using cultural and traditional remedies. Use the following teacher prompt to encourage students to share their own health practices and add these to the concept map.
Teacher Prompt: “Activities can help us maintain our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. Can you think of activities, foods, or routines in your life that help you feel better? What’s your medicine?”
Student responses may include:
- "Tea when my throat is sore."
- “Resting and listening to music.”
- “Playing a game with my sister.”
- "My mom’s special soup when I feel sick.”
- "Spending time outdoors and connecting with nature."
- “Qigong helps me focus on my breath to relax and connect with my body.”
- "Hugs from my Kokum."
Explain that everyone has unique ways of taking care of their bodies and minds, and today we are going to explore some of these different practices.
Action
Using the Direct Instruction strategy (consult Teaching Strategy Descriptions) and visual examples, provide the following definitions:
- Prescription Medicines: medicines that are given by a doctor, nurse practitioner, or pharmacist to treat a specific person’s illness or medical condition that you can get from a pharmacy with a prescription
Visual example: an image of a doctor’s prescription or a prescription bottle with a label from a pharmacy - Non-Prescription Medicines: medicines that are available that people can buy without needing a prescription (for example, pain relievers, cold medicine, cough syrup, herbal remedies)
Visual example: images of over-the-counter medicines on a store shelf, a bottle of cough syrup, or an herbal remedy -
Healthy Habits and Practices: ways you can take care of your body and mind without using medicine, or along with medicine, which may include:
- Physical methods: stretching, acupuncture, getting enough sleep
- Mind-body practices: deep breathing, meditation, talking to someone
- Traditional and cultural methods: herbal teas, smudging, eating specific foods, energy healing
- Preventative care: eating nourishing foods, being physically active, going outside
Visual example: images of activities like deep breathing or qigong, a person drinking herbal tea, someone meditating, or a person taking medicine
Use the following teacher prompt to highlight with students how, in some cultures, food itself is considered medicine.
Teacher Prompt: “In many East Asian cultures, people drink warm ginger tea for digestion or eat congee when feeling unwell. In Haudenosaunee culture, traditional foods like berries and fish are seen as nourishing medicines that help the body stay strong.”
Group Sorting Activity
Divide students into small groups and give each student an image or item that represents one of the following:
- Prescription Medicine
- Non-Prescription Medicine
- Healthy Habits or Practices
Have groups of students work together to sort the items into the different categories. Use the following teacher prompts to have students discuss and decide where each item belongs based on what they’ve learned so far.
Teacher Prompts:
- “Where do you think this item belongs?”
- “What do we use this medicine or treatment for?”
- “Is this something we need a prescription for, something we can get without a doctor’s prescription, or another way to be healthy?”
Once sorted, have each group share their sorting choices and reflect on how different medicines and healthy habits and practices can support their well-being. Use the following teacher prompts to facilitate a whole-class discussion about how medicines support a person’s wellbeing and any overlap between categories.
Teacher Prompt: “Some people have medical conditions that require them to take medicine regularly. Why is it important to follow a medication routine and use medicine safely?”
Student responses may include:
- "Taking medicine regularly can help control the medical condition and prevents it from getting worse."
- "It helps the person feel better and participate in everyday activities."
- "If someone forgets to take their medicine, it might make them feel sick or cause problems with their health."
- "It helps the person stay safe and avoid getting hurt or feeling unwell."
Teacher Prompt: “Some people use natural remedies alongside prescription medicine. Can anyone think of an example?”
Student responses may include: “Sometimes when I have a cold, I take cold medicine and drink ginger tea to help feel better.”
Teacher Prompt: “Some people try other methods before using medicine. What are some examples?”
Student responses may include:
- “If my muscles hurt, I stretch first before taking pain relievers.”
- “My mom uses cannabis to manage her pain.”
Proper Use of Medication
Use the Think Pair Share strategy (consult Teaching Strategy Descriptions) to guide students in exploring the rules for using medicines properly.
Summarize key points and ensure the following rules are discussed:
- Only take medicine that is given to you by an adult who is caring for you.
- Follow the directions for medicine carefully.
- Never take someone else’s medicine.
- Only use medicine for its intended purpose.
- Keep medicines stored safely.
Consolidation
Use a whole-group discussion and the following teacher prompts to review key concepts, discuss the differences between prescription and non-prescription medicines. Highlight a variety of healthy habits and practices people use to maintain health or treat health problems.
Teacher Prompts:
- “What is something new you learned today about medicine or other ways to take care of your health?”
- “Did anything surprise you?”
- “Why is it important to respect different ways of staying healthy?”
Reinforce that health is a combination of many factors, such as medicine, daily habits, cultural practices, and personal care, and that every person's approach is valuable.
CRRP Strategies Embedded in the Lesson
Components of this lesson are designed to reflect and respect Haudenosaunee perspectives on health and well-being, ensuring students from Six Nations of the Grand River and the broader Haudenosaunee community feel valued and included.
- The lesson acknowledges traditional healing practices, such as the use of herbal medicines, smudging, and engagement in activities.
- Students are encouraged to share their cultural health practices if they feel comfortable, reinforcing the idea that different communities have unique ways of maintaining health.
Components of this lesson are designed to ensure the student with epilepsy feels included and supported, with careful consideration given to discussions about medication and health practices.
- Health practices are discussed in a way that recognize the value of diverse approaches to well-being, while highlighting that for certain medical conditions, like epilepsy, ongoing medical care and medication are critical for maintaining health.
- A supportive environment is created where students engage in discussions about health without feeling pressure to disclose personal medical information.
Components of this lesson are designed to include and validate health practices from East Asian backgrounds, ensuring students notice their cultural traditions reflected.
- The lesson recognizes traditional East Asian health practices, such as drinking herbal teas and acupuncture, as valuable ways people maintain their health and well-being.
- Students are invited to share family health practices if they feel comfortable, reinforcing that all cultural traditions are meaningful.
