Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 3 - Speaking
Interacting with Others

Education and Learning

Real-World Task

Introduce yourself to your child’s teacher at a parent-teacher conference and ask them 1 to 2 questions about themselves as small talk before discussing your child’s progress.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Vocabulary related to K-12 schooling.
Some basic vocabulary related to introductions and greeting people in a more formal environment.
Knowledge of typical communication between teachers and parents.

Context:

In Canada, parents and teachers share a collaborative role in a child’s education. They work together to support a child’s learning and development. Parents are expected to support learning at home as well as to advocate for their child if additional help and support is needed.
Regular and respectful communication between the school and home is a regular expectation.
Parent–teacher conferences give families clear insight into a child’s academic progress, language development, and classroom behavior, while building a shared understanding of goals and expectations.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

school
parent-teacher conference
progress
school subjects such as math, English, science and so on
“Hello, my name is ___. I am ___’s parent.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Thank you for meeting with me.”
“How long have you been at this school?”
“Do you like teaching this grade?”
“I appreciate your help with my child.”
“Thank you for telling me about my child’s progress.”
“Is there anything I can do at home to help?”
“Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.”

Sample Grammar:

Wh-questions and yes / no questions
Adequate pronunciation to convey basic messages

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Convey intended purpose of an utterance through intonation, language, body language, vocalizations, and so on.
Use common expressions for specific purposes (such as greeting and leave-taking, making introductions, attracting attention, inquiring about others)

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Culturally appropriate non-verbal communication strategies
Culturally appropriate strategies to convey politeness and respect

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: Do you enjoy meeting new people in Canada? How do people introduce themselves in Canada? Is this the same or different than in other countries? How do you introduce yourself to neighbours and classmates? Is this the same or different from introducing yourself at work or your child’s school? What questions do you like to ask when you meet people for the first time? How do you show people that you are interested in them when they introduce themselves to you?
Using two sets of cards, one set with a question (such as, What is your name?), the other set with corresponding short statements of personal information (such as, My name is Amal), speak with classmates until you find the matching question and response set.
Review the word order for both yes / no questions and simple wh-questions. Practice making questions by completing gap fill sentences in a handout or digital document.
Listen to a short introduction by a new person in the LINC class. In groups, create two follow up questions you could ask this new classmate to show them you are interested in them.
Listen to an audio of a short conversation between a parent and teacher, likely instructor-created. by a new instructor. Listen again and read along with a text of the introduction. Read the text again, and draw a line upwards when the intonation is rising, downwards when it is falling and straight when it is level. In small groups, take turns reading aloud the conversation trying to match the intonation to the original.
Discuss with the class what happens at parent-teacher interviews, including what are some appropriate small talk topics and questions to ask. Discuss what topics are appropriate and what might not work in this situation.
Create a set of five cards each with one statement you would make to introduce yourself to your child’s teacher and four questions you might ask them. Practice the introduction and questions to a partner. Then introduce yourself to five people in the class and ask each one at least two appropriate questions about themselves. Each time you do your introduction try to speak a little faster and use your cards a little less each time.
Listen to a simple audio of a person introducing themselves to their child’s teacher which has a series of five errors related to both the topics they ask about and their tone and intonation. In small groups, identify the five mistakes and
re-write the introduction to be more appropriate.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Role play with a classmate introducing yourselves and asking each other questions about learning English and coming to Canada. Then, introduce your partner to another classmate using the information you learned from them.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Role play introducing yourself to your child’s teacher at a parent-teacher conference and ask them 1 to 2 questions about themselves as small talk before discussing your child’s progress.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Some learners may not be very familiar with the school system in Canada, including the levels, learner-centred approaches and regularly meeting with instructors common in many Canadian schools. Some learners may expect a more traditional, instructor-led classroom environment, and may expect quizzes and tests rather than projects and collaboration. Teach learners what to expect in a Canadian school and teach that it is all right to speak with your child’s instructor if you have any questions or concerns.

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.
Read information from a screen.
Navigate camera and microphone
Adjust volume on device
Use videoconferencing technology for online meetings.

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.
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:

In some cultures, roles of parents and instructors may be different to those in Canada. Instructors may be seen as unapproachable and authority figures. Parents may not realize that in Canada they are welcome and even expected to ask questions, share concerns, or request meetings.
In some cultures, talking about learning differences may carry stigma or shame. Parents may be unsure how to talk about their child’s needs or may want to avoid stigmatizing or labelling their child.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma triggers:

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.
Dealing with authority, such as instructors and principals 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.

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:

Take a field trip to a parent resource centre to learn more about parents as partners in education.
Invite a guest speaker from a local school to talk about the benefits of parent teacher partnerships in your child’s education.
Take a field trip to a local library to look at parenting resource books or books specifically related to best ways to support your child’s learning.
Look at the website of a local school and identify key information such as the name, what level it is (e.g. elementary, junior high, high school), address, and phone number.

Realia:

Report cards
School newsletters
Websites for local schools
Pictures of Canadian classrooms

Units and Modules:

Tutela: CCLB: Communicating with a Child’s School: CLB 3/4
Tutela: Classroom Instructions: CLB 3

Lessons and Activities:

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Education