Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 3 - Writing
Getting Things Done

Getting Around and Transportation

Real-World Task

Complete 10 to 15 items on an application form to apply for accessible transit services.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Numbers 1-50
Vocabulary related to transit
Knowledge of personal information including name, address and telephone number
Basic knowledge of form structure and fields to be filled

Context:

In Canada, accessible transit services are public transportation options designed to support people with disabilities, older adults, and others who may face mobility challenges. Many Canadian cities have regular buses, subways, and trains that are accessible by including features like low-floor buses with ramps or kneeling features, priority seating near the front for seniors, people with disabilities, pregnant passengers and so on.
For people who cannot use regular accessible transit, cities may offer
door-to-door or shared-ride services. Riders usually must apply for these services and be approved based on disability or medical need. Bookings are made in advance. Vehicles can include wheelchair-accessible vans or minibuses.

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. You could adapt the task to focus on completing
a transit form that is relevant to your location / context.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Capitalization of proper nouns.
Correct date format.

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Recognition of boxes and labels on forms and specific sections
Necessity of providing information clearly and accurately

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Begin to recognize Canadian conventions for sharing personal information.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: How do you get to school or work? Do you take transit to come to your LINC class or to go to work? What do you like about transit? What is a disability? Do you have any friends or family members who have disabilities in Canada or in other countries? What kinds of support or accessibility do they need to take transit? In what ways is taking transit difficult for people who have disabilities? Have you ever seen any special bus / train changes to make it easier for people in a wheelchair to take transit? Use images to support the discussion.
Look at a form for a subsidized transit pass. Add sticky notes to identify the vocabulary words.
Create a word bank for all the vocabulary words about transit to use throughout the activities and later in the module.
Match the vocabulary words to images on flash cards. Then match the image and word to a third set of cards with a simple definition of the word. Add these new words to a vocabulary journal in a notebook or a digital document.
Look at a picture of a person. Listen to an audio of them giving their basic personal information. Complete five sentences with missing words to describe the person’s information.
Match vocabulary words about personal information to pictures.
In pairs, practice asking your partner about a child, family member, or friend. What is their first name? What is their date of birth? What is their phone number? Who is their emergency contact? Who is their parent / guardian (if they are under 18).
Discuss what the purpose of an emergency contact is and who is a good person to list for this section in a form.
As a class, discuss the difference between required and optional information on a form. Include in the discussion that most likely the form will not move forward or submit if required information is missing. Look at a simple blank online form. Find all the required sections. On a printed version of the form, highlight each information field that is “required”.
In pairs, look at an instructor-created resource of several simple forms that have been filled in, with one mistake in each form. Find each mistake and circle it.
Listen to your instructor read five important dates in the LINC term such as the first day of class, the last day of class, days when class is cancelled and so on. Write down the dates using the correct date format on a handout next to the relevant event.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Look at an instructor-created simple form for a subsidized transit pass. On the form, there are 12 pieces of personal information. Each piece of information has a mistake in either the place it has been entered, the capitalization, or where the required information is blank. Using a blank form beneath, enter the information into the form correctly.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Complete 10 to 15 items on an application form to apply for accessible transit services.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

In Canada, there is openness and inclusion around people with disabilities. In Canada, it is safe and acceptable to talk about a disability and to ask for support when needed. Everyone deserves equal access and respect. In some cultures, there may be stigma around disabilities or asking for accommodations or support.
In Canada, Accessibility for persons with disabilities is protected under the Accessible Canada Act (2019) and provincial human rights codes. Transit agencies must remove barriers and provide equal access.
Depending on where you live, there may be a variety of public transportation, such as buses, trains, subway, or ferries. There may also be very little public transportation. Adapt the task to fit the community you live in. If you live in a rural area with little public transportation, choose a regional bus if there is one instead.
In Canada, it is polite to give your seat to someone who has mobility challenges, is a senior or is pregnant.

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
Send and receive text messages and messages on other texting apps.
Send and receive email messages
Complete formatted texts online, such as forms
Navigate and use online learning management systems (LMS) such as Avenue.
Use a search engine to find information

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.
Use digital tools such as translation or pronunciation tools to support language learning and foster autonomous learning.
Share knowledge and strategies to ensure online safety.
Refer learners to programs to improve their digital skills

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.
Recognize that some learners may not feel safe on public transportation, including women and learners who are 2SLGBTQIA+. Discuss strategies for safer use of public transportation, including riding with a friend and avoiding riding after dark, and for other options for transportation, such as ride shares.
Teach learners that all people in Canada have the right to no discrimination.
Teach learners that many people still experience discrimination against people with disabilities in Canada, but that there are things that can be done if you have this experience.
Teach learners appropriate terms for people with disabilities.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma may not feel safe on public transportation. Acknowledge this concern and discuss strategies for safer use of public transportation or alternatives to public transportation.
Filling in forms and dealing with authority 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.
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:

Make sure that learners are always aware of the purpose of the form and be ready to provide support if needed.
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 using public transportation and elicit an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story when you return to class. Have learners use your local website or app to plan the trip together.
Visit the local transit centre and learn about different options for transit, fare tickets and passes and options for subsidized fares.
Draw routes on large maps to show how to travel by transit around various sites in the community.
Take a field trip on local transit to observe the regularly available transit accessibility accommodations.
Invite a guest speaker with a disability to speak about their experiences with transit challenges and accessibility supports.
Create mini-posters using a digital platform to share ways your local transit provider makes services accessible to persons with disabilities.

Realia:

Authentic registration forms from local community programs (such as libraries, women’s centres, food banks, parenting workshops).
Brochures / flyers for transit assistance.
Websites with information about transit disability accommodations in your area
Websites and apps for local public transportation
Maps
Bus schedules

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Getting Around the City: CLB 3-4
Tutela (OCDSB): Taking Public Transit (CLB 2)
(Not the correct level but can be adapted).

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Finding Information about the Train or Bus or Subway: CLB 3
LINC 3 Classroom Activities Transit Schedule (p. 490)
Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Interacting with the Driver on the Bus: CLB 3
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia: