Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 1L - Writing
Reproducing Information

Community and Recreation

Real-World Task

Copy the name and address of a local community centre.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Information included in an address
Formation of lowercase and capital letters
Spaces between letters in a word

Context:

Community centres are hubs of local neighbourhoods and communities.
Community centres often offer lessons, hall rentals, and other services.
Community centres can be good places to meet other people in your community.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Capital letters for street names and locations
Abbreviation of own province

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Format of addresses

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

It is okay to contact community centres to find out about the services they provide.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: What is a community centre? What services does a community centre provide? Find photographs of local community centres or use street view on Google maps. Ask learners if they have been there.
Work on making straight lines, slanted lines, and curves. Practice using air writing, sand trays, and pencils.
Practice copying numbers 0-9.
Have learners count objects, such as pictures of apples on a page, and trace the number.
Play counting games as a class. Sit in a circle and have each learner say a number in English, starting with one and going in order.
Talk with the learners. What is an address? What are the parts of an address?
Have each learner practice copying their own address.
Have learners check for capital letters for street name, community, and province.
As a class, look at the website for the local community centre or centres. If the address is listed on the page, invite learners to point to where the address is.
Read single-digit numbers out loud and have learners circle the number you have read on their page.
Read a short, very simple story about a community centre.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Copy the name and address of your school or organization.
Copy the name and address of a community centre.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Copy the name and address of a community centre.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Learners may not be familiar with what a community centre is or the role it can play in a neighbourhood.

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.
Inform learners about programs that subsidize the cost of lessons, sports, or classes for children in your area.
Make sure learners understand that community centres are for all people in a community, including them.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma may not feel safe to visit a new place. They may feel more secure to return on their own if you first visit a community centre as a class.
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:

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:

Go on a community walk. Point out street signs. Practice finding an address based on the street and number.
Visit a local community centre. Arrange a tour if possible.

Realia:

Website for a recreation centre in your area
Program guide for a recreation centre in your area
Google maps

Units and Modules:

Tutela: Recreation Centre Programs CLB 1-2
(Not literacy but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 1 Classroom Activities: Community Centre Activities (p. 240)
Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Listening to Addresses of Places in the Community CLB 1 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 1L
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Community