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Japanese Health & Sickness

Eighth graders learn to talk about health (けんこう, kenkō) in Japanese — びょうき (byōki, sickness), ねつ (netsu, fever), あたまがいたい (atama ga itai, headache). These words help them explain how they feel at a doctor’s (いしゃ, isha) or hospital.

Grade 8Health & Sickness50 minutes1 class periodACTFL / World LanguagesExplicit teaching4 StandardsACTFL
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Say health words.
  • ✓Explain what hurts.
  • ✓Match words to meanings.
  • ✓Visit a doctor.
Essential Question

If you felt sick in Japan, how would you say what’s wrong? Let’s learn health words.

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Match It · Interactive

Match the Health Word

Project this and match each Japanese health word to its meaning — tap the word, then tap the meaning.

🩹 Match each health word to its meaningTry it
Japanese
Meaning
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The Lesson · Language Flow (Warm-Up · Present · Practice · Speak · Reflect)

50 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — Feeling Sick

6 min

If you felt sick in Japan, how would you explain? Let’s learn health words.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Mime a headache.
  • Ask how to say it.
  • Set the goal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Watch.
  • Guess.
  • Get ready.
2

Present — Health & Sickness

12 min

Students learn.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Match the Health Word.
  • Match each one.
  • Note “___ ga itai.”

🎒 Student Actions

  • Match.
  • Say.
  • Note it.
3

Practice — Practice

13 min

Students practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Say “Atama ga itai.”
  • Say you have a fever.
  • Say byōin.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say it.
  • Say it.
  • Say it.
4

Speak — Speak

13 min

Students speak.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Role-play a doctor visit.
  • Explain what hurts.
  • Trade roles.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Role-play.
  • Explain.
  • Trade.
5

Reflect — Reflect

6 min

Students close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Say a health word.
  • Say what hurts.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say one.
  • Say it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Novice-High).

ACTFL
Communication 1.1

Interpersonal: explain how you feel.

ACTFL
Communication 1.2

Interpretive: understand health words.

ACTFL
Connections 3.1

Connect to health.

ACTFL
Comparisons 4.1

Compare health expressions.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Health cards with romaji.
  • Sentence frame: “___ ga itai.”
  • Use a body diagram.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with netsu & byōin.
  • Match one pair at a time.
  • Use pictures.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add kaze (a cold) & kusuri.
  • Role-play a clinic.
  • Give advice.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🩹Health cards
  • 💻Match the Health Word
  • 🧍A body diagram
  • ✏️Notebooks
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

けんこう (kenkō)healthびょうき (byōki)sicknessねつ (netsu)feverいたい (itai)painfulかぜ (kaze)a coldびょういん (byōin)hospitalくすり (kusuri)medicineいしゃ (isha)doctor
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
How do you say “fever” in Japanese?
ねつ (netsu).
QUESTION 2
How would you say “my head hurts”?
あたまがいたい (atama ga itai).
QUESTION 3
What is a びょういん (byōin)?
A hospital.

Reflect: health & sickness.

Have students say what hurts in Japanese (like “Atama ga itai”). A printable Japanese health sheet is in the World Languages library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Japanese Health & SicknessFlip
Card 1
Term
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Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Japanese Health & SicknessQuiz
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Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Japanese Health & SicknessPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: いしゃ (isha), いたい (itai), かぜ (kaze), くすり (kusuri), けんこう (kenkō), ねつ (netsu), びょういん (byōin), びょうき (byōki)
  1. sickness
  2. medicine
  3. health
  4. painful
  5. fever
  6. doctor
  7. hospital
  8. a cold

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. How do you say “fever” in Japanese?
  2. How would you say “my head hurts”?
  3. What is a びょういん (byōin)?
Answer key — Part A: 1) びょうき (byōki) · 2) くすり (kusuri) · 3) けんこう (kenkō) · 4) いたい (itai) · 5) ねつ (netsu) · 6) いしゃ (isha) · 7) びょういん (byōin) · 8) かぜ (kaze)
Part B: 1) ねつ (netsu). 2) あたまがいたい (atama ga itai). 3) A hospital.