Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 1L - Listening
Comprehending Information

Community and Recreation

Real-World Task

Listen to a short description of a single parent accessing the foodbank to find out the opening hours.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Time
Numbers 0-9

Context:

Foodbanks have regular hours where you can pick up food.
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:

Simple present
Question: What time?

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Format of times

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Many people in Canada access foodbanks to help feed themselves and their families.
There are many different kinds of families, including single-parent families, families with two dads, two moms, or families with mom and dads from different cultures.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: What is a foodbank? What services does a foodbank provide? Who can go to a foodbank? Are there local foodbanks in your community? Where are they?
Listen to a simple instructor-made dialogue between two people talking about going to a foodbank.
Review numbers 0-9. Trace and copy the numbers.
Work with a partner to count objects (stones, marker caps, bingo chips, or something similar) and write down the number.
Stand in a circle. Go around the circle and have each learner say a number in sequence. If someone can’t remember the number, they sit down. The last learner standing wins.
Sing and exercise to Count to 100 by 10s.
Trace and copy times. Draw a line to the digital clock face that shows the same time.
Play “What time?” Ask learners a question about time, such as “What time do you get up in the morning” or “What time do you go to sleep?” Have them respond by writing the time on a personal whiteboard or a piece of paper and holding it up.
Read single-digit numbers out loud and have learners circle the number you have read on their page.
Read a very short, simple instructor-made story about a single-parent family. Discuss as a class: Who are the people in the story? Who is the parent? Who are the children? How old are they?
Read a very short, simple poster for a foodbank and identify the opening hours.
Listen to a short, simple instructor-made story about visiting a foodbank and answer comprehension questions orally.
Read some other business and service texts, online or on paper, to identify opening and closing times such as a library, medical clinic, or gas station.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Listen to a short description of going to English class and identify the hours of the class. From a worksheet with a variety of different times, circle the correct times.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Listen to a short description of a single parent accessing the foodbank to find out the opening hours and answer simple comprehension questions. Identify the times.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Learners may feel there is a stigma in accessing a resource such as
a foodbank or may be unfamiliar with the concept of a foodbank. Explain that foodbanks are there to help people and their families, and that in Canada many people go to a foodbank and many others donate food to a foodbank. Sometimes people who get food from a foodbank are later able to donate to the foodbank when they have more resources.
These days, food banks are very busy. There may be limits as to how often a family can access the food bank over a specified period of time, for example twice a month and so on.

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:

Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQIA+, 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.
Make sure learners understand that any person in need can access a foodbank.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced or are experiencing food scarcity may feel triggered by discussions of foodbanks.
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:

Avoid any kind of judgement on people who access foodbanks and gently correct any learner who expresses judgement.
If you are going to go on a field trip, for example to a community centre, give learners advanced warning and explain where you are going, how you will get there, and what you are going to do there.
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 local grocery store that has a donation bin for the foodbank. Explain to learners what it is. Bring a couple canned or dried goods to donate on behalf of the class. Return to class and elicit an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story about it.
If possible, find an event poster that has in lieu of an entrance fee,
a donation to the foodbank is requested. Illustrate this practice as
a form of a community caring for its own.
Create a poster of foods that can be donated to a foodbank
vs. what foods would be unacceptable.

Realia:

Poster from a local foodbank
Items for counting

Units and Modules:

Archway: Volunteering at a Foodbank: CLB 1L/2L

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (Archway): Personal Information: Alphabetic Focus: CLB 1L/2L
Tutela (Archway): Personal Information: Numeric Focus: CLB 1L/2L
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 1L
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Community