Medical tools and a story ending
Doctors have always used tools. Long ago, doctors used bandages of cloth and instruments made of metal and stone, and they looked carefully at the patient. Today doctors also use thermometers, stethoscopes, microscopes and many machines. A thermometer measures temperature. A stethoscope lets a doctor listen to the heart and lungs. A microscope shows things too tiny to see. A doctor also asks questions and writes notes: where does it hurt, how long, and what helps? The very old medical papyrus also tells a doctor to ask where the patient is hurt. To finish a story well, we plan characters, setting, problem and possible solutions. We use time words such as first, then, next and finally. We share the story with a group, who give a compliment and a question as feedback.
| Long ago | Today |
|---|---|
| cloth bandages | bandages and plasters |
| looking and asking | thermometer, stethoscope |
| metal and stone tools | microscopes and machines |
| Doctor asks | Patient says | Doctor’s note |
|---|---|---|
| Where does it hurt? | my tummy | tummy ache |
| Since when? | this morning | since morning |
Doctor and patient. With a partner, act a clinic visit: one is the patient with a small problem, such as a sore knee, and the other is the doctor who asks questions and writes notes. Swap roles. Then plan an ending for Seif’s story: characters, setting, problem and two possible solutions. Write the ending with the time words First, Then, Next and Finally. Read it to a group, who each give one compliment and one question. Use toy tools or real ones such as a thermometer only with a grown-up.