Real-World Task
Complete a very simple job application form with 2 – 3 highly familiar basic personal information details, with the aid of a personal information card.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Straight lines and curves
- Gripping a pencil
- Letter formation
Context:
- Most jobs require job applications; this task is a stepping stone towards a job application.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- job
- application
- first name
- last name
- address
- copy
Sample Grammar:
- Capital letters
- Spaces between letters and words
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Applications are a place for our personal information.
- A personal information card can help you remember your personal information.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- We can use facial expressions and gestures to help communicate with the instructor.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Sing the alphabet song.
- Play the name game: sit in a circle. The first person says their own name. The next person says their own name and the name of the first person, and so on around the circle, until the last person says their own name and all the names.
- Discuss as a class: What is a job? Do any of the learners have jobs? Did any of the learners have jobs before they came to Canada?
- Discuss as a class: What are some jobs they can name? Use images to help learners identify a few common jobs. Include jobs that might be familiar to them, such as farmer, cleaner, security guard, teacher, doctor.
- Practice making straight lines and curves using air writing, sand trays, or pencils.
- Practice tracing letters.
- Practice writing letters independently.
- Create a personal information card for each learner. Include their most important personal information: first name, last name, address, and telephone number.
- Work with each learner in turn. Have them look at their personal information card. Ask them to show you their first name and last name. As learners learn the vocabulary, have them show you their address or telephone number.
- Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Copy your first name.
- Copy your first and last name.
- Identify your address on a personal information card.
- Copy your address.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Complete a very simple, teacher-made job application form with 2 – 3 highly familiar basic personal information details, with the aid of a personal information card.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- Learners may not be used to the idea that they need to fill in a job application to get a job. They may come from cultures where they get jobs through someone they know. If they have enough English to understand, explain that many Canadians get jobs by filling in applications, but some also get jobs from someone they know.
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.
- Type information to appear on screen.
- Complete formatted texts online, such as simple forms.
Instructors can:
- Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners.
- Make and/ or adapt digital materials.
- Introduce websites or apps that are relevant to the task(s).
- Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites or apps.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
- Learners may have worked or may work in any number of different industries. Avoid any judgemental or value language when discussing different jobs. Do not present jobs as “good jobs” or “bad jobs.”
- When discussing jobs, include many jobs that are common for learners at this level to have, as well as jobs of people they may come into contact with, like cleaners, babysitters, gardeners, labourers, security guards, store clerks, teachers, doctors, or nurses.
- 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 experienced trauma can be triggered by people in positions of authority; make sure learners understand their rights in the workplace and give strategies for making polite requests.
- Filling in forms and dealing with authority can be triggering for learners who have experienced trauma, especially for learners who have been in unsafe situations or have been in a political regime. Make sure that learners are always aware of the purpose of the form and be ready to provide support if needed.
- 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
- Allow learners choice:
- 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:
- Visit a nearby employment centre.
- Visit a job fair.
- Look at pictures of people doing different jobs. Have learners identify jobs they have done and would like to do.
- Bring in items associated with different jobs, like a doctor’s coat, a hammer, a spatula, and so on. Have learners role play different jobs.
Realia:
- Items associated with different jobs: doctor’s coat, hammer, spatula, etc.
Units and Modules:
- Tutela (CCLB): Safety at Work: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
- Tutela (CCLB): Greetings and Introductions: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Lessons and Activities:
- LINC 1 Classroom Activities: Job Application Forms (p. 295) (Not literacy or the right level but can be adapted)
- The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
- The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
- Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB FL
- Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
- A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.
Multimedia:
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.
