Detailed Sample Task: Stage I
CLB 4 - Speaking
Giving Instructions
Social Connections and Relationships
Real-World Task
In a conversation, give instructions to a familiar person who is taking care of your child or pet.
Planning Context
Context:
- It’s common, when asking someone to care for your child or pet, to provide clear instructions and contact information.
- In Canada, it is common for young people to make extra money by babysitting. They often take a babysitting or an infant CPR course to prepare.
- Discuss leaving an information sheet for the babysitter or pet sitter that includes contact information, instructions for caring for the child, being reachable (e.g., carrying your cell phone), and making plans for a back-up care-giver, such as another family member, if something happens.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- Vocabulary related to daily routines and tasks (e.g., she goes to bed at 6 pm)
- Vocabulary related to where things are in the home (e.g., her medication is on the top shelf of the bathroom cabinet)
- Vocabulary related to wellness and health concerns (e.g., she is allergic to…, limit screen time…)
- Vocabulary related to contact information
- Vocabulary for time expressions and prepositions related to time (e.g., by 8 o’clock, after 9 pm)
Sample Grammar:
- Modals for things that are/ aren’t allowed (e.g., he can’t watch TV after 9 pm).
- Modals and courtesy expressions in instructions and in polite requests (e.g., could you please …).
- Adverbs of sequence (first, next, etc.).
- Adverbs/ adverbials of frequency (every hour,).
- Verbs in imperative form (affirmative and negative).
- Indirect questions in polite requests.
- Wh-questions about specific details in simple present tense (e.g., what time does she go to bed? which blanket is hers? what is her favourite toy?).
- Simple present tense to describe routine activities.
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Strategies to confirm understanding, such as confirming information and paraphrasing.
- Conveying the intended purpose of an utterance through intonation and body language.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Culturally appropriate strategies to convey politeness.
- Socio-cultural conventions related to giving instructions.
- Eye contact and gestures to support the message that is conveyed in speech.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Elicit and compare learners’ experiences with babysitting or pet sitting in Canada and in previous countries.
- Learners watch a video or read a text with advice for babysitters; in pairs, create a list of tips for a friend who is going babysitting.
- Learners listen to a set of instructions about a familiar classroom routine (such as checking homework for the week) and fill in missing time prepositions (by, on, before, after, and so on).
- In pairs, learners give and listen to instructions on how to care for a pet for a day; take notes of the instructions.
- Learners read a description of a child’s nighttime routine. Retell the routine, using sequencing adverbs.
- Have learners listen to someone describe a common household task (e.g., how to clean the coffee maker after use); learners circle the sequencing adverbs used in each statement.
- Make cards with sample child’s routines (e.g., take medication, go to bed, brush teeth). have learners prepare two or three questions to clarify the information, or get more information). For example, for “Take medication”: What time does she take the medication? Where is the medication? So she takes the medication with food?)
- Learners give a spoken summary of a set of instructions about how to complete a common household chore in a few short sentences.
- Give a mixed up set of instructions for a common task (e.g.,how to use a coffee maker) and have learners put the instructions in the correct sequence.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Role play giving instructions for how to complete a common household chore.
- Give instructions to a familiar person on how to care for their home or pet while away.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- In a conversation, give 4 to 5 instructions to a familiar person who is babysitting for the evening.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- Be aware of diverse opinions and practices around childcare and caring for the children of friends and neighbours. Learners may want to share about child care practices in their previous countries, and consider the differences.
Digital Literacy Strategies:
To successfully complete the task, learners need some experience with or knowledge of:
- Sending and receiving text messages.
Instructors can:
- Support learners in developing skills to send and receive text messages.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
Instructors can:
- Recognize that some learners may experience changes to gender roles when they come to Canada. For some, this may be a welcome change, but for others it may be challenging. Address their concerns with sensitivity but teach that Canada is equitable and inclusive to people of all genders.
- Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- People who have experienced trauma may feel stress or anxiety at the thought of discussing their own childhood, their child-care practices, leaving their children, or with leaving their children with a non-family member.
Strategies:
- Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions; learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine.
- Recognize and respect learners’ right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves and their child-care practices.
Resources
Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:
- Invite a guest speaker to present about first aid for children.
- Create a babysitter’s charter of advice for teenage babysitters.
- Learners share one particular parenting practice from their own experience.
- Learners visit a local daycare centre to hear about a day in the daycare.
Realia:
- Canadian Red Cross babysitting manual
- Basic first aid kit
Lessons and Activities:
Detailed Sample Task
This exemplar is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to guide and inform your lesson and module planning. Consult the Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults for detailed performance descriptors at this benchmark and skill.
The information in this document is not exhaustive and can be expanded on. As well, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.
This is NOT a lesson or module plan.
