Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 2L-Writing
Interacting with Others

Indigenization

Real-World Task

Copy a few sentences into a guided message to write an Elder or other Indigenous speaker to thank them for visiting the class.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Present simple
Basic knowledge about Indigenous cultures in Canada
Some basic expressions used in greeting cards and messages.

Context:

Indigenous speakers can come to a class to share knowledge about their culture.
Elders are respected figures in Indigenous cultures.
It is customary to thank a speaker who comes to class.
This task reflects the intention to include all people in Canada in the themes. The language skills in this task could be applied to other contexts.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Indigenous
culture
speaker
visit
share
phrases for saying thank you: thank you for coming, thanks so much, we appreciate it, and so on

Sample Grammar:

Past simple for regular verbs
Capitalization for sentences and names

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Format of a thank you message

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

It is customary to thank someone after visiting the class.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Invite an Elder or another Indigenous person to speak to the class. Before the visit, prepare learners with vocabulary and context.
After the visit, discuss what the speaker shared. Ask learners what they learned from the visit.
Review vocabulary using vocabulary cards with clear pictures. Copy from the vocabulary card to fill in the blanks in simple sentences. Read your sentences to your partner to compare with their answers.
Read a simple instructor-made story about Indigenous cultures. Work with a partner and use cards with pictures and a very short, simple sentence to sequence the ideas of the story.
Discuss as a class: how do you say thank you in your culture? Are Elders respected figures in your culture? Do you give gifts to say thank you?
Listen to a short, simple dialogue between two learners who are discussing what they learned from an Indigenous presenter.
Watch a video about Indigenous cultures, such as Evan’s Drum. Discuss as a class about teaching your culture to your children. Is it important to teach children about their culture?
Incorporate phonics activities based on the vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Review the simple past with regular verbs. Practice the past tense by playing two truths and a lie. Each learner takes a turn saying three things they did last week. Two of the things are true and one is a lie. The rest of the class guesses which one is a lie.
Work with a partner to write sentences about the past, using sentence stems and a word bank to support. Relate the past tense to the task.
Practice the rules of capitalization as it applies to sentence structure and the capitalization of names. Relate capitalization to the task.
Make a list of phrases for saying thank you and practice them as a class. Do a role-play with a partner in which you thank the partner for something they have done for the class.
Use a word bank and sentence stems to write 2-3 short sentences about what you learned from the Indigenous speaker.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Copy a few words or short sentences into a guided message to write to your teacher to thank them for a great lesson that day.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Copy a few words or short sentences into a guided message to write an Elder or other Indigenous speaker to thank them for visiting the class.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Indigenous cultures are an important part of Canadian culture. Elders are respected figures in Indigenous cultures. It is an important part of Indigenous cultures to thank Elders for sharing knowledge. This thank you often comes with a gift, depending on the culture. It is important to check with the speaker to understand what the protocols are.

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.
Type information to appear on screen.

Instructors can:

Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners.
Make and/or adapt digital materials.
Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).
Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites.
Show learners that the size of an image on the screen can be adjusted.

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.
Use authentic Indigenous sources for information about Indigenous cultures and peoples.
Teach learners that Indigenous cultures are an important part of Canadian culture.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma, discrimination, or persecution may be triggered by discussions of injustices to Indigenous peoples in Canada.
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 give very short presentations, of 3-4 sentences, about their own cultures. Thank each learner following their presentation.
Have learners identify people that they would like to thank for something (give suggestions) and have them complete either homemade or dollar store Thank You cards.

Realia:

Indigenous cultural objects if brought by the Elder

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Greetings and Introductions: CLB 1L/2L

Lessons and Activities:

The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Canadian Indigenous Content
The Granddaughter Who Was Eaten by a Big Fish: CLB 2/3 (Not literacy 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 2L
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

NFB: Evan’s Drum