Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 3L-Speaking
Sharing Information

Education and Learning

Real-World Task

Tell a classmate about your first day in English class.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Present simple
Connecting words: and, or, but, so

Context:

Even if learners have had different educational backgrounds from each other, every learner has experienced a first day at school in Canada.
Learners may have had different feelings about their first day of school in Canada.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

instructor/ teacher
classmate
classroom words: desk, table, chair, board, computer
feeling words: nervous, excited, scared, happy

Sample Grammar:

Past simple with regular verbs

Irregular past tense forms of very common verbs, e.g. went, saw, had, thought, felt, spoke
Introductory prepositional phrase, e.g. On my first day, I…
Adverbs: first, then, next

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Stories about experiences are usually told in chronological order.
We can use words like first, then, and next to help the listener understand.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Learners can support each other.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss: What happened on your first day in English class?
Practice classroom vocabulary words. Label as much as you can in the class, and then use a form of TPR to practice the words: Stand by the window, touch the board, stand on one leg next to a chair, face a classmate, crouch under a table, etc. After a while, ask a learner to call out the commands.
Review the past tense and complete worksheets to practice the regular past tense.
Give learners a very simple story in the present tense. Have them rewrite the story in the past tense. Have learners compare their story to a partner’s.
Complete a variety of activities to practice irregular past tense forms, such as matching, jigsaw, running dictation, Bingo, and memory.
Read a simple story about a first day of class in an English class.
Put the events of a story about a first day in the right order. Add first, then, and next to the story.
Use vocabulary cards with words and pictures or emojis to practice feeling words.
Discuss as a class when learners felt some of the emotions taught. Learners who want to share may do so.
Complete sentence stems with introductory prepositional phrases, e.g. On my first day, I…In the summer, I…After class yesterday, I…
Listen to a dialogue between two learners discussing their first day in English class.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Interview a classmate about their first day in English class.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Tell a classmate about your first day in English class.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Some learners may not have had positive experiences in school, either in Canada or in other countries. Be sensitive to how learners feel. If a learner does not want to talk about their first day in school, offer them an alternate task, such as what they did on the first day of winter or last summer.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline knowledge and digital skills.

Learners may need to:

Have keyboarding and typing skills.
Locate, navigate and use websites.
Use familiar apps, social media platforms and web pages.
Read information from a screen.

Instructors can:

Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners.
Make and/or adapt digital materials.
Introduce websites and/or apps that are relevant to the task(s).
Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites.
Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites or apps.
Introduce tools and apps that can aid learners in coping with communication barriers, such as translation, pronunciation, text to speech, speech to text tools and so on.
Share knowledge and strategies to ensure online safety.
Refer learners to programs to improve their digital skills.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQ+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent. Consider this diversity as you choose names for characters in stories you create as well.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have had negative experiences in school may be triggered by this topic. Be aware of any learner who needs extra support.
When teaching about Canada, you may teach about things that are triggering to learners who have experienced trauma. We can’t know what the triggers might be and what seems commonplace to us may have a triggering component for learners. Be aware of this and be prepared to support learners as needed.

Strategies:

Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware that there may be learners who require support.
Learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine. Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions.
Learners will benefit from positive relationships established in the classroom with the instructor and peers.
Learners who have experienced trauma benefit from having choices.
- Allow learners choice:
  - the choice to work on a different topic
  - the choice to share or not share their own experiences
  - the choice to work alone or to work with others
  - the choice to take care of themselves
  - the choice to step out of the learning environment
When learners have shared personal distressing or traumatic experiences, make space for learners to feel safe and recover from the experience of sharing their experiences. Follow the activities which may make learners feel vulnerable with routine, predictable and comforting activities.
Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.

Resources

Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:

Have learners write down their stories and publish them in a small booklet. Share these stories with another class.
Have learners work in groups to write advice for new learners on their first day in English class.

Realia:

Classroom items, such as staplers, hole-punches, pencils, etc.

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Communicating with a Child’s School: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Classroom Instructions: CLB 3 (Not literacy but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 3 Classroom Activities: Education (p. 311-342) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Understanding School Rules: CLB 3 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Filling Out a School Registration Form: CLB 3 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 3L
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Education