To introduce cancer, identify learners' interests and concerns about cancer, and begin to assess learners' knowledge of cancer, especially breast and cervical cancer.
1. Explain that the next few lessons will be spent on cancer, a hard topic. Take a few minutes to relate the topic to the work you have already done and to acknowledge that cancer may be difficult or painful to discuss. You might share a story of your own about cancer (if you are comfortable doing so) or acknowledge that cancer has touched many lives within the community.
2. Ask learners to write down what they think and feel when they hear the word "cancer" on the Thoughts and Feelings Journal Page.
Give learners five to ten minutes to write down their thoughts in their Health Journals. Ask individual volunteers to read their comments. Record comments on the board or on newsprint and discuss them with the class. Points to make in the discussion include: cancer is/may be scary; cancer is/can be sad; the classroom will be a safe place to learn about and discuss cancer, but people who don't want to talk don't have to, etc.
Explain that as the class progresses, you and your students are going to learn about prevention, detection, and treatment for breast and cervical cancer. Emphasize that the focus for each of these diseases will be on taking action to stay healthy.
3. Explain that because of the strong feelings about cancer, there are many myths about it. Sometimes these myths get confused with the facts. Brainstorm the differences between a fact and a myth. Before you go onto the next step, come up with a working definition of each.
For example:
Fact: something that is known to be true or that has definitely happened.
Myth: an idea or story that many people believe, but that is not true.
4. See Cancer Facts and Myths Journal Page. At this point each learner gets one or two strips of paper with a cancer fact or myth written on each strip. Ask learners to place their strips under the appropriate signs - "fact," "myth," and "don't know" - which have been posted around the classroom. Once this posting is completed, lead a class discussion of each category, moving the strips so that each ends up under the appropriate sign. (This sorting is critical!) Alternatively, if you have a large class, you may want to divide students into small groups to discuss and divide information into categories of fact, myth, and don't know. Then come back together as a large group and discuss decisions.
During this process, you can ask students to talk about why they chose to put particular information in a particular category. If questions come up that you can not answer, refer to Cancer Facts and Myths: Answers and Sources Journal Page.
If something is put in the fact category appropriately, for example, ask the student where she or he learned this or how she or he knew this. This is a way to expand your understanding of how and where students are learning/have learned about health issues.
You might also ask learners to add other pieces of information that they have heard about cancer. You can classify this information as fact, myth, or don't know (if you 31 don't know or if scientists and health professionals don't know). At the end of the discussion, ask one student to summarize the information that is true about cancer, another learner to summarize the myths that have been identified thus far, and a third to list what remains under the don't know heading, if anything.
Ask students to ask a family member or friend to say the first three words that come to mind when she or he hears the word "cancer." Students can write down the three words on the Three Words Journal Page. The next lesson begins with students sharing these findings.
Begin a Community Health Wall display on cancer with these thoughts and feelings. Invite others in your school community to add their thoughts and feelings. Add and change this display as you go through the curriculum.
Encourage all learners to read over the Cancer Facts and Myths Journal Page at their own pace at home.
The time for this activity may be longer for ESOL learners, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It may help to give some examples of myth and fact to clarify. For example, write this statement on the board: It is impossible for adults to learn another language because they do not have good memories. Then ask the students: Is this a myth or a fact? How do you know? You can create your own examples of myths and facts for clarification.
It might be useful to have a poster display of the female body to refer to if the breasts and the cervix need to be identified. The female body diagram included in this curriculum would be a useful display. The diagram can be found on the Female Body Diagram Journal Page in Unit Three, Lesson 4.