Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 4L - Listening
Comprehending Instructions

Global Citizenship

Real-World Task

Listen to instructions about how to care for the outside of your home, including taking out the garbage, recycling and compost; trimming hedges and trees; and clearing snow.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Imperative voice for instructions
Different types of housing: house, apartment, townhouse, basement apartment, and so on

Context:

People are responsible for the care of the outside of their homes, including making sure that the sidewalk and the path to their front door is clear of obstructions.
Most communities in Canada have collection for garbage, recycling, and compost.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Modal verbs for obligation and soft instructions: You should…
Introductory clauses with if: If you live in a house, you should…If you live in an apartment, you should…

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Instructions are usually given sequentially.
Clauses with if tell you about a condition.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Keeping the area around your home clear and tidy helps your neighbours and others in the community.
Neighbours generally appreciate it when you keep the area around your home tidy.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: What are the different kinds of housing in your community? Put up photographs of different kinds of housing, such as houses, apartment buildings, basement apartments, and townhouses, and elicit vocabulary.
Discuss the new vocabulary for this task. Have learners copy words to complete a minidictionary of task vocabulary.
Practice the vocabulary using a variety of activities such as Bingo, matching, and letter-by-letter (a trauma-aware game similar to Hangman in which one learner thinks of a vocabulary word and writes down a dash for each letter. The other learners in the group take turns guessing letters. If they guess a letter, the learner writes the letter on the correct dash. They have 8 guesses to guess which word it is.)
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Discuss as a class: What are your responsibilities when you live in a home? What is a landlord? What is the landlord responsible for? What is the resident responsible for?
Work in small groups to brainstorm things you should do to keep your yard or the area around your home tidy. Compare your list with the rest of the class. Discuss which of these tasks are for people who live in houses, apartment buildings, townhouses, and so on.
Review how to give instructions. Review obligation or softer instructions with You should… Practice in small groups by making a list of things you should do.
Write sentences about taking care of a home with You should…
Discuss what if means. Practice reading sentences with if and circling the clause with if. Answer simple comprehension questions, such as: If you are a teacher, you should turn out the lights in the classroom. Anna is a student. Should she turn out the lights?
Read a short flyer about garbage, recycling, and compost. Follow instructions to complete a sorting activity by sorting cards with pictures into the correct waste.
Listen to instructions about caring for a home. Complete a cloze exercise by writing in vocabulary words or key functional words such as if and should.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Listen to instructions about sorting your lunch waste into garbage, recycling, or compost. Demonstrate understanding by answering comprehension questions.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Listen to instructions about how to care for the outside of your home, including taking out the garbage, recycling and compost; trimming hedges and trees; and clearing snow. Demonstrate understanding by answering comprehension questions.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

People from different cultures may have different expectations around what parts of their home they are responsible for. In many communities in Canada, the resident is responsible for clearing the sidewalk in front of their home of snow or branches, even if the sidewalk is on public land. Help learners to understand the expectations and bylaws in your own community.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline digital knowledge and 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.
Navigate camera and microphone.
Adjust volume on device.

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.
Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.
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:

When discussing housing, include images and descriptions of housing that is from your own community and make sure to include housing of different prices, including plenty of examples of low-income housing.
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 lost their homes may find this discussion triggering. Watch out for learners who are upset or who need increased 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:

Go for a neighbourhood walk and identify different types of housing. Take note of any issues that may be visible on the properties you see and discuss when you return to the classroom.
If it is winter, discuss winter safety items to have, such as a snow shovel, candles, and extra blankets.

Realia:

Snow shovel
Clean recyclables

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Caring for the Environment: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela (Toronto Catholic School Board): Housing Rights and Responsibilities: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Paying Utility Bills: CLB 2L/3L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Following Bylaws: CLB 3L/4L

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 4 Classroom Activities At Home in our Community and the World (p. 3-40) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 4L
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Housing
Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Community