Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL-Writing

Community and Recreation

Real-World Task

Copy 4 or 5 different sports that are available locally (e.g., soccer, hockey, swimming and so on).

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Names of letters or sounds (A, B, C…)
Letter formation

Context:

Many communities in Canada have recreational sports teams or leagues, for both children and adults.
Many communities have recreation centres that have programs that allow children or adults to learn or play different sports without committing to teams or leagues.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Spacing between letters in a word
Simple present: I play…sports/soccer/hockey/basketball. I swim.

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Each word plays a role in the sentence.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Playing community sports is a good way to meet people.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: What are sports? Put up large, clear photographs of different common sports in Canada such as soccer, hockey, swimming, and basketball. Elicit names of these sports from learners.
Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to practice the sports vocabulary. Give each sport an action, such as miming kicking a ball for soccer, holding a hockey stick for hockey, doing front crawl for swimming, and dribbling a ball for basketball. Call out the sport and have learners respond with the correct action. After a few rounds, have learners take turns calling out the sport. Practice over several days.
Use vocabulary cards with clear photographs to practice the vocabulary. Play games such as Bingo or matching.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Ask learners what sport they like. Give learners an opportunity to move around the classroom and ask and answer the question with their classmates.
Listen to an audio where different speakers say what sport they like. In between recordings, have learners repeat the sport they hear.
Read a simple story to learners about sport such as Unite for Literacy: We Love Soccer! Read the story to learners many times over several days. Practice finding the word soccer on the page.
Review the sounds of the alphabet. Teach the alphabet by sounds rather than by the names of the letters: Phonics Alphabet Song
Review and practice forming letters, 2-3 letters at a time, over many days.
Work with a partner and two sets of vocabulary cards with photographs and words. Match the same vocabulary cards together (i.e. match soccer to soccer).
Practice copying vocabulary words using a sandtray and tracing the letters in the sand with your finger.
Copy vocabulary words directly underneath the source word.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Copy 4 or 5 different sports that are available locally (e.g., soccer, hockey, swimming and so on). (Same as the assessment task; only one of the two may be used in the portfolio.)

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Copy 4 or 5 different sports that are available locally (e.g., soccer, hockey, swimming and so on).

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Not all learners play sports. In some cultures, women do not play sports. Respect everyone’s choice to play or not play, but gently show learners that all people in Canada can play sports, regardless of age, gender, or ability/disability.

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

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.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

If possible in your local area, show learners that there are swimming times available that are only for women and girls.
Show diverse examples of athletes, including examples such as wheelchair basketball, sledge hockey, wheelchair races, girls in hijabs playing sports, older people playing sports, and so on.
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:

Some learners who have experienced trauma may not feel comfortable discussing or drawing attention to their bodies and may feel triggered by discussions of sport.
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:

Visit a recreation centre.
Go for a walk to a local park and point out different sports being played.

Realia:

Soccer ball, basketball, hockey puck

Units and Modules:

Tutela (OCDSB): Physical Activity: CLB 1L-3L (Not the right level but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (Archway): Personal Information: Numeric Focus: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Tutela (Archway): Personal Information: Alphabetic Focus: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB FL
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Canadian Indigenous Content
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Unite for Literacy: We Love Soccer!
YouTube: Phonics Alphabet Song