“Joe brought it home from the office. He gave it to Betty and one of his kids and to Betty’s mother. But Betty’s mother went back to California the next day. On her way to the airport, she gave it to a cab driver, a ticket agent and one of the charming stewardesses. At school, Joe’s kid gave it to some other kids and Mrs Meryl got it and gave it to her husband. In California, Betty’s mother gave it to her best friend Dotty. But Dotty had a heart condition and she died. But before she died, Dotty gave it her girlfriend, the mailman, the paper boy, and her vet when she went to pick up her Chihuahua.“
What could it possibly be? Yes, you guessed it - it’s 1976 Swine Flu!
The papers are full of swine flu at the moment (remember to wash your hands after reading) and everyone seems to be talking about it. Perhaps, then, this clip could be used to introduce the subject in the classroom.
For a swine flu lesson plan, start by dictating the paragraph at the beginning of this posting to your students (i.e. “Joe brought it home from the office …“). Ask students to identify what it is before showing them the clip.
Follow this up with any news lesson using newspaper articles on the subject. For example, give a different article to each student, and ask him/her to summarize and present it to the rest of the class. There is no shortage of material here. The following articles, for example, come from today’s Guardian or Guardian Weekly:
- Some people are convinced they will die
- Governments across the worl must prepare for swine flu panic
- Child who could reveal the origin of outbreak
- Global race to find vaccine
- Mexico honeymoon ends in quarantine
For more about the 1976 outbreak, click here.
President Gerald Ford receives swine flu vaccination, 1976.