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April 14, 2025
This lesson enables students to describe and discuss oxygen therapy, and covers multiple skills and vocabulary. It is relevant for nursing students and professionals.
B2 (intermediate) level
Note: this article introduces the first part of the Teachers Notes. There is a link at the bottom to download the complete set of Teacher’s Notes and the Student Worksheet, so you can use this in your lessons.
● Topic: Describing oxygen therapy
● Timing: 45 mins
● Lesson type/focus: speaking, reading, vocabulary and writing
● Speaking: discuss and practise language for oxygen therapy
● Reading: read for specific information
● Vocabulary: learn and review language for oxygen therapy
● Writing: practise organising and presenting information
The focus of the lesson is describing oxygen therapy. The speaking activity introduces the topic and gives students the opportunity to share their ideas and experience. The reading activity contextualises some of this language and practises reading for specific information. The vocabulary activities introduce/review key vocabulary. The writing activity uses language from the lesson and to produce a piece of patient/carer-centred writing.
Note: This lesson supports the language introduced in the following:
● Course: English for Nurses: Getting the Essentials Right
● Unit: Breathing Difficulties
● Module: ‘Breathing equipment’ pages 8 and 12
Put students into pairs or small groups and ask them to discuss questions 1–4 on the student worksheet. Encourage them to share examples from their own experience.
Do whole class feedback to discuss and share answers.
Have students work in individually, or in pairs, to read the text to find the answers to questions 1–6. Tell students to concentrate on finding the answers rather than any words they don’t know at this stage.
Go through the answers as a class.
Have students read the text through again individually and highlight any new words. Deal with any vocabulary queries.
1.c 2.c 3.b 4.b 5.a 6.c
Review the meanings of medical prefixes hyper- and hypo-.
hypo-: low, depressed levels of, reduced
Note: hypo- + word/ word part which starts with o becomes hyp-
hyper-: high, excessive amounts of, increased
Have students identify the medical terms in the text with the prefixes hypo- and hyper- (hypoxia, hyperbaric).
Then have them work in pairs to write down other medical terms which also use these prefixes. Ask them to explain what they mean.
hypo- | hyper- |
hypoxia | hyperbaric |
hypothermia | hyperthermia |
hypotension | hypertension |
hypoglycaemia | hyperglycaemia |
Download the complete lesson plan and student worksheet:
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Back to Menu ↩ English for Nursing Foundation is for nursing students and professional nurses with an elementary or lower-intermediate level of English (A2-B1) who