KQED: BAY WINDOW

Overview
The purpose of this lesson is to encourage students to examine the rise in the incidence of childhood asthma in the United States. In this lesson, students will view the KQED program Bay Window: Children and Asthma, research the topic of asthma, write a public service announcement for childhood asthma and create a radio news program on asthma.

Grade Levels 9 through 12

Subject Areas Language arts and health

California State Standards

Grades 9 and 10

Reading
2.0 Reading Comprehension (Focus on Informational Materials)
Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material. They analyze the organizational patterns, arguments and positions advanced.

2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation and elaboration.

Written and Oral English Language Conventions
The standards for written and oral English language conventions have been placed between those for writing and for listening and speaking because these conventions are essential to both sets of skills.

1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions.

Grammar and Mechanics of Writing
1.1 Identify and correctly use clauses (e.g., main and subordinate), phrases (e.g., gerund, infinitive and participial), and mechanics of punctuation (e.g., semicolons, colons, ellipses, hyphens).

1.2 Understand sentence construction (e.g., parallel structure, subordination, proper placement of modifiers) and proper English usage (e.g., consistency of verb tenses).

1.3 Demonstrate an understanding of proper English usage and control of grammar, paragraph and sentence structure, diction and syntax.

Grades 11 and 12

Written and Oral English Language Conventions The standards for written and oral English language conventions have been placed between those for writing and for listening and speaking because these conventions are essential to both sets of skills.

1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions.

1.1 Demonstrate control of grammar, diction and paragraph and sentence structure and an understanding of English usage.

1.2 Produce legible work that shows accurate spelling and correct punctuation and capitalization.

1.3 Reflect appropriate manuscript requirements in writing.

Listening and Speaking

1.0 Listening and Speaking Strategies
Students formulate adroit judgments about oral communication. They deliver focused and coherent presentations that convey clear and distinct perspectives and demonstrate solid reasoning. They use gestures, tone and vocabulary tailored to the audience and purpose.

National Standards

Level IV Health
Standard 1: Knows the availability and effective use of health services, products and information Standard 2: Knows environmental and external factors that affect individual and community health

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to do the following:

Synthesize information from a variety of sources
Exhibit knowledge of asthma through the production of a radio news program
Interpret facts and express meaning through the writing of public service announcements

Assessment
To assess students' understanding of the above learning objectives, teachers may rate students on the quality of their writing, their presentations and their participation in group discussions.

They may also have students complete this student self-evaluation:

What did I learn from this lesson?
What do I still want to learn about this topic?
What part of my work on this lesson gives me a sense of achievement?
What would I do differently next time?
In what ways was I able to work effectively with others?
What did I like most about this lesson?

Teachers may also wish to conduct individual conferences in which they discuss the student's self-evaluation and their own observations of the student's participation in the lesson activities.

Time
Two to three 50-minute class periods and one homework assignment

Materials and Teacher Prep
Videotape Bay Window: Children and Asthma
Internet access
Straws
Drawing and writing supplies

Bookmark the following Web sites:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/lungs/asthma_basics.html
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/asthma/quiz/index.html
http://www.aafa.org/
http://www.lungusa.org/asthma/ascchildhoo.html
http://www.lungusa.org/asthma/ascpedfac99.html
http://www.whatsasthma.org/
http://www.epa.gov/rgytgrnj/programs/artd/air/quality/asthma.htm
http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/allergy/asthma.html
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/asthma/introduction.html
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/asthma.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/05/shell.htm
NPR's Morning Edition:
http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display.cfm?segID=29295
NPR's Talk of the Nation:
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/totn/20000303.totn.02.ram

Pre-Viewing Activities

Activity 1
The purpose of this activity is to provide students with an understanding of what it might feel like to have asthma.

1. Tell students that they are going to experience what it feels like to have asthma.

2. Read the directions from the "Asthma Basics" section of the Kid's Health Web site.
Teacher Note: For this activity, you will need a straw for each student.

3. Ask students to complete the activity outline on the Web site.

4. Elicit and discuss students' reactions as to what it would feel like to have asthma.

Activity 2
The purpose of this activity is for students to activate and build background knowledge on the subject of asthma.

1. Activate students' background knowledge on asthma by asking them what they know about asthma.

2. As a class, take the 10-question asthma quiz on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Web site.

3. Ask students to spend a few minutes writing down a list of questions they have or things they want to learn about asthma.

Focus for Viewing

1. Tell the students to divide a piece of paper into six equal sections and write their list of questions from Activity 2 on one section of the paper.

2. Have students write one of the following five questions at the top of each of the other sections:

Why has there been an increase in childhood asthma and what population of children has the highest occurrence of asthma?
What can trigger asthma?
What can people do to avoid an asthma attack?
How is asthma treated?
What is it like to live with asthma?

3. Ask students to record pieces of information in the appropriate sections while they are watching Bay Window: Children and Asthma.

Post-Viewing Activities

Activity 1
The purpose of this activity is for students to gather information on childhood asthma and write a public service announcement on asthma.

1. Divide the class into small groups and assign each group one of the following topics:

Why is the incidence of childhood asthma on the increase?
What population of children has the highest occurrence of asthma? Include possible explanations.
What is asthma and what happens during an attack?
What can trigger an asthma attack?
What can be done to prevent an asthma attack?

2. Explain to students that they are to gather information on their selected topic.

3. Tell students that they may use information from the Bay Window: Children and Asthma program, KQED's Bay Window: Children and Asthma Web site, and the Web sites listed below, as well as from any other resources.

http://www.kqed.org/baywindow/asthma/
http://www.aafa.org/
http://www.lungusa.org/asthma/ascchildhoo.html
http://www.lungusa.org/asthma/ascpedfac99.html
http://www.whatsasthma.org/
http://www.epa.gov/rgytgrnj/programs/artd/air/quality/asthma.htm
http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/allergy/asthma.html
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/asthma/introduction.html
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/asthma.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/05/shell.htm

4. Explain to students that they are going to use the information they gather to create a public service announcement for childhood asthma.

5. Provide time for students to share their announcements with the class. If possible, you may choose to videotape the public service announcements.

Activity 2
In this activity, students will use their knowledge of asthma to produce a radio program on childhood asthma.

1. Explain to students that they are going to create a radio report on childhood asthma.

2. Listen to all or part of one of the following NPR reports and ask students to take notes on how the reports are structured.

Morning Edition: "Asthma and Cockroaches"

Talk of the Nation: "Asthma Report"

3. Divide the class into small groups to create the radio broadcast.

4. Tell the students that they will write a script for the broadcast. The broadcast should include the following items:

A focus for the program
A program host
Guest experts (these may be fictional)
People who call in with questions or comments
National and local resources to learn more about asthma (these need to be real resources) 5. This list includes possible discussion topics for the radio show.
The increased incidence of childhood asthma in the United States, possible causes and the group of people suffering the highest incidence of childhood asthma
What asthma is and what happens during an attack
The outdoor factors that can cause an asthma attack
The indoor factors that can cause an asthma attack
What can be done to prevent an asthma attack
How living with asthma impacts peoples' lives on a personal level

6. Have a conference with each group when it has completed its written transcript.

7. Record each group's radio show.

8. Provide time for each group to share their show with class members.

9. Distribute the tapes to other classes so that they can learn about childhood asthma.

Extension Activity

Create asthma awareness posters and display them around the school