Sick Teddy!
Learning Level: Gr 6
Theme Area:
Description: Using a teddy bear as a learning tool, this activity is designed to teach students about safe use of medicines and appropriate responses to health and illness. Students learn to 'diagnose' Teddy based on identification of symptoms and work out appropriate responses to the ailment/illness. Students use inquiry methods to ascertain what is wrong with Teddy, research medicines, and devise a treatment or management plan. They learn to ask teddy questions about how he/she is feeling, and predict when Teddy might recover. The activity requires students to research and reflect on how to avoid ailments and illnesses, reasonable expectations from off the shelf medicines, and when it's appropriate to see a doctor.
Measures of Success: Students will demonstrate their knowledge of ailments, treatments and medicines. They will be able to ask questions about how someone (Teddy) is feeling, identify symptoms and suggest remedies/medicines based on research. They will be able to demonstrate general knowledge about what to do when they are feeling unwell and how to make decisions about feeling better. Teachers comment: “The thing I liked about the sick teddy though is it was quite specific and part of health literacy is actually helping kids understand that it’s okay to be sick and to not feel your best but you need to know when you tell an adult… they need to know when they’re actually sick.”
