Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL-Writing

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Real-World Task

Copy several orally familiar words about gender and sexuality like man, woman, gay, and trans.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Lowercase and capital letters
Some awareness of gender such as boy and girl, woman and man.

Context:

People have gender and sexuality, and we have a variety of words to describe this.
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:

Sample Grammar:

Spacing between letters and words

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

It is easiest to copy a word directly beneath the source.
Words are written in a straight line.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

People like others to use their preferred gender words.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: what is a man? What is a woman? Put several clear photographs on the board or screen. Have learners identify men and women. If learners are willing, ask them to identify themselves as men or women. Put up photographs of children and teach learners boy and girl.
Discuss as a class: what is a family? If you are willing to share, put up a photograph of your own family. Tell learners about your family. Ask learners to find a man, woman, girl, or boy. Put up pictures of other families. Include a variety of cultures and families, such as multigenerational and single-parent families. Teach the words married and single. Have learners point out people in the families they think are married and people they think are single.
Read a very simple instructor-made story about people, e.g. This is Fati. She is single. This is Tomas. He is married. Read the story to the learners and then choral read and echo read the story.
Go around the class and have learners talk about themselves, if they are willing, e.g. I am Bara. I am married. I am Vikram. I am single.
Put up a photograph of a man and woman holding hands. Elicit from the learners man, woman, and married. Teach the word straight. Tell learners that when a man and a woman are married, they are straight. It may also be helpful to use the word “love” or a heart and indicate that the man loves the woman and the woman loves the man.
Put up a photograph of a man and a man holding hands and a woman and a woman holding hands. Elicit again man, woman, and married. Teach the word gay. Tell learners that when a man and a man are married, or a woman and a woman are married, they are gay. It may also be helpful to use the word love or a heart and indicate that the man loves the man and the woman loves the woman.
Practice letter shapes using a sand tray or air writing, and then practice on paper. Practice straight lines that are vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. Trace and then copy letters with straight lines, such as i, k, l, t, v, w, y, and z.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic such as “b”, the sound of “b” is “buh”, “Buh” as in “boy” and so on.
Trace, copy, and write own name.
Trace vocabulary words.
If computers are available, practice typing vocabulary words in a Word document.
Look at a picture of a person and circle man or woman.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Copy own name and man or woman as you identify.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Copy several orally familiar words about gender and sexuality like man, woman, gay, and married.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Some learners may come from countries where it is illegal to be 2SLGBTQIA+. They may not be familiar with what it means to be 2SLGBTQIA+, and some learners may not believe that it is okay to be 2SLGBTQIA+. Gently focus on what is legal in Canada and work to create an inclusive learning environment for all.
This task uses traditional cis-gendered images of men and women to help learners understand the meaning of the words, along with the meaning of she and he. Avoid using any stereotypical images to represent a gay couple.

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.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have faced discrimination for being 2SLGBTQIA+ may find this topic triggering. 2SLGBTQIA+ learners may not feel safe or comfortable talking about their sexuality. Never require learners to identify their sexuality and only ask learners to identify their gender if they are willing, as a learning tool to understand the basic gender words man and woman.
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:

Go for a community walk and look for 2SLGBTQIA+ symbols such as rainbow flags, stickers in store and business windows, and rainbow crosswalks.
If the class seems open to the discussion, include short, instructor-made stories on diverse couples and diverse families.

Realia:

Pride flags
Photos of people, diverse couples, and families

Units and Modules:

Lessons and Activities:

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

Multimedia: