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Cover Your Cough

Kindergartners learn to cover their coughs and sneezes with their elbow or a tissue — and to wash their hands after — so germs don’t spread to their friends.

KindergartenGerms25 minutes1 class periodSHAPE / Skills-BasedExplicit teaching4 StandardsSHAPE
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Cover my cough.
  • ✓Cover my sneeze.
  • ✓Stop germs.
  • ✓Keep friends healthy.
Essential Question

When you cough or sneeze, tiny germs can fly out! Covering up keeps your friends healthy. How do you cover your cough?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Explore · Interactive

Cover Your Cough Check

Project each item and have children answer about covering coughs and sneezes.

🤮 Understand covering your coughTry it
Answer each question about covering your cough.
The Lesson · Health & PE Flow (Warm-Up · Learn · Practice · Apply · Cool-Down)

25 minutes, five moves

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

1

Warm-Up — Germs Fly!

3 min

When you cough, germs can fly out — how do you stop them?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a big sneeze.
  • Ask how to cover.
  • Get ready.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Look.
  • Guess.
  • Get ready.
2

Learn — Cover Up

7 min

Children learn.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show elbow cover.
  • Show tissue cover.
  • Say wash after.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Learn elbow.
  • Learn tissue.
  • Note it.
3

Practice — Practice

7 min

Children practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Practice a cover cough.
  • Use a tissue.
  • Wash hands.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Cover it.
  • Use tissue.
  • Wash.
4

Apply — Apply

5 min

Children apply.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Cover a pretend sneeze.
  • Wash your hands.
  • Say why.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Cover it.
  • Wash.
  • Say why.
5

Cool-Down — Cool-Down

3 min

Children close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Say how to cover.
  • Say why we cover.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

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

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to SHAPE America National Health Education & Physical Education Standards.

SHAPE
HE.1

Comprehend concepts of germ prevention.

SHAPE
HE.7

Practice covering coughs and sneezes.

SHAPE
HE.4

Communicate healthy habits.

SHAPE
HE.3

Access healthy-habit information.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Cover picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “I cover my cough with ___.”
  • Practice covering.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with elbow cover.
  • Use pictures.
  • Practice once.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Explain germs.
  • Make a cover poster.
  • Remind a friend.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🤮Tissues
  • 💻Cover Your Cough Check
  • 🧼Soap and water
  • 🖍️Crayons
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

coughair out of your mouthsneezea big “achoo!”coverto block itelbowthe bend in your armtissuea soft papergermstiny things that make you sickspreadto go to othershealthynot sick
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 cover your cough?
With your elbow or a tissue.
QUESTION 2
Why do you cover your cough?
So germs don’t spread to your friends.
QUESTION 3
What do you do after you sneeze into your hands?
Wash your hands.

Cool-Down: cover up.

Have children practice covering a pretend cough with their elbow. A printable cough sheet is in the PE & Health 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.

🃏 Cover Your CoughFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

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

📝 Cover Your CoughQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

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.

🖨️ Cover Your CoughPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: cough, cover, elbow, germs, healthy, sneeze, spread, tissue
  1. the bend in your arm
  2. tiny things that make you sick
  3. a big “achoo!”
  4. air out of your mouth
  5. not sick
  6. to block it
  7. to go to others
  8. a soft paper

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. How do you cover your cough?
  2. Why do you cover your cough?
  3. What do you do after you sneeze into your hands?
Answer key — Part A: 1) elbow · 2) germs · 3) sneeze · 4) cough · 5) healthy · 6) cover · 7) spread · 8) tissue
Part B: 1) With your elbow or a tissue. 2) So germs don’t spread to your friends. 3) Wash your hands.