Personal Hygiene—Hand Washing

Michelle Espinoza, Rosa Gonzalez, Samantha King

Title of Lesson: The Importance of Personal Hygiene By Hand-washing 

Grade Level: Third Grade

California Content Standards: 

NHES. 1.5.1. Describe the relationship between healthy behaviors and personal health.

California ELD Standard:

5. Interpretive 5. Listening actively to spoken English in a range of social and academic contexts.

Learning Goals:

• Students will learn to wash their hands through personal hygiene practice.
• Students will understand what materials are necessary for proper hand-washing.
• Students will develop a good grasp on the importance of personal hygiene practices in the classroom.

Materials:

• Poster board and/or slide presentation
• Classroom sink/water
• Antibacterial soap
• Paper towels

Language Objective: 

• Writing skills: Students will engage their writing skills through either their graphic organizer, and or written description of the steps to healthy hand-washing at the end of the lesson.
• Speaking Skills: Students will be asked to engage in a group discussion about what they learned from the demonstration, as well as sharing their key ideas with the class during the teacher facilitated discussion.
• Listening Skills: Students are engaging their listening skills during the instructor presentation, as well as during the group and whole class discussion.

Academic Language & Vocabulary:

• Personal health: the wellness of one’s self
• Hygiene: routines we do to prevent disease through cleanliness  
• Antibacterial: active against destroying bacteria, or suppressing the growth and/or reproduction of bacteria
• Bacteria/germs: Very small organisms that cause disease

Content of The Lesson:

Students will enter third grade knowing that hand-washing is something they need to do anytime they get their hands dirty and/or after using the restroom. Most students have been introduced to hand-washing by their parents/guardians. Other than understanding that hand-washing will remove marker from craft time or dirt from recess, they might not understand the more important aspects of why we regularly wash our hands. 

After engaging in the lesson, Students will have a deeper understanding of bacteria and how it can cause disease and or infections. They will be able to make the connection between practicing good and frequent personal hygiene (specifically hand-washing) and staying healthy through the school year. 

Instruction to Support Learning:

• The lesson will be introduced to the students by reviewing the content objectives. The students will be provided with a visual aid (i.e. Poster or slides) with the key vocabulary for the lesson in english as well as the first languages of the ELL students within the class (i.e. Spanish and/or Vietnamese). 
• Students will then be broken into small groups of three or four. Each small group will then take turns gathering around the sink area while the instructor demonstrates proper hand-washing techniques. It is important to ensure that one group watches the demonstration at a time so that everyone has a clear view of the demonstration. The instructor will briefly explain the materials needed for proper hand-washing. As the professor reviews the materials needed, she is actively pointing to, or if possible holding up each item as she explains. During the instructor’s explanation, he/she will review the academic language and vocabulary related to proper hand-washing.
• The instructor will demonstrate hand washing (visual learners) and orally state the step-by-step procedure (auditory learners). 
• The instructor will sing the ABC song during her hand-washing demonstration to show students the necessary amount of time it takes to properly wash their hands in order to remove and prevent bad bacteria. 
• After each group watches the demonstration, they will be asked to return to their seats and have a discussion with their group members about why they think personal hygiene practices such as thoroughly washing hands, is very important, especially at school. 
• After all groups have had a chance to watch the demonstration and have a group discussion, the instructor will then facilitate a whole class discussion based on what each group talked about. 

Assessment/Checking for Understanding: 

• Formative Assessment:

• The formative assessment is the class discussion. The instructor will have a clear understanding of what the students learned during the lesson, based on what they share with the rest of the class about their group discussion. 

• Summative Assessment:

• Individually, students will be given the options to create a graphic organizer (i.e. comic strip) or write out in words a step-by-step guide on proper hand-washing. 

Enduring Understanding:

Proper personal hygiene is extremely important for young children to grasp at an early age. By Practicing personal hygiene, students will begin to reduce the spread of sickness and disease within the school. Aside from the many personal hygiene strategies that should be practiced at home (i.e. regularly washing hair and brushing teeth), hand-washing is something that can and should be practiced outside of the home, especially at school. Students need to be aware of the connection between washing hands and the prevention of spreading diseases to their peers. By engaging them in an informative, yet interactive activity, students are encouraged to continue the practice of hand-washing both at school and out of school.