Real-World Task
In 4-5 steps, explain how to make your favourite thing to eat in Canada.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Imperative voice for instructions
- Basic food item vocabulary, e.g. rice, noodles, potatoes, chicken, beef, vegetables, and so on
Context:
- It is a useful skill to be able to explain a process, such as preparing a food.
- Food is part of culture, and finding either new foods to eat or ways to prepare familiar foods in a new place is part of adjusting to a new culture.
- If they can’t describe making a Canadian dish, a dish from their own culture can be substituted.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- bake
- roast
- boil
- fry
- simmer
- pot
- pan
- spatula
- wooden spoon
- more advanced food vocabulary depending on learner, such as names of spices, specific meats, vegetables, fruits, and so on
Sample Grammar:
- Coordinating conjunctions: and, or, but, so
- Adverbs of sequence: first, second, third, next, then, finally
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- A speaker will use the imperative voice to give instructions.
- Instructions are usually given in order.
- Recipes usually include a list of ingredients and a list of instructions
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Sharing information and feelings about food is a good way to connect with someone else.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Discuss as a class: What do you like to eat? What did you eat in your country? What do you eat in Canada? Is it the same, or do you eat other food now?
- Work in a small group and bring up images on your phone or device of your favourite dishes. Explain to your group what your favourite foods are. Make a list of vocabulary words. Share this list with the class and make a longer list on the board with the English words for vocabulary learners are interested in.
- Create a word wall by posting vocabulary cards with words and clear photographs. Have learners help to group these food words into categories, such as food preparation words (e.g. bake, boil, fry, and so on), fruits (pomegranate, dragonfruit, guava, and so on), meats, and so on.
- Use vocabulary cards to practice vocabulary. Play games such as Bingo, Charades, Go Fish, and Pictionary (where a learner draws a vocabulary word and others try to guess).
- Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
- As a class, read instructions for making a simple dish such as fried rice. Identify the verbs / action words and elicit from learners that they are in imperative voice. Identify sequencing words.
- Practice sequencing adverbs and put a simple task, such as making tea, into order using sequencing adverbs.
- Write sentences to describe what you eat for lunch every day. Share your sentences with a partner. Introduce your partner to the class and explain what they eat for lunch.
- With a partner, complete a jigsaw activity to put the instructions for making fried rice into order. Write in sequencing words.
- Review coordinating conjunctions and, or, but, so.
- Work with a partner to combine instructions for fried rice into fewer sentences using and. Complete other activities to practice and, or, but, so.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Interview a partner about their favourite thing to eat in Canada and how to make it. Respond to your partner’s questions about your favourite thing and how to make it.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- In 4-5 steps, explain how to make your favourite thing to eat in Canada.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- Food is a very important part of culture. Treat all food with respect and encourage learners not to be judgemental about foods that are not familiar to them (or that they simply don’t like). Help learners to connect with each other to discuss where they can find foods they like in your community.
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.
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:
- Food is expensive and many people in Canada, learners included, struggle to afford food. Discuss strategies for saving money on food (using coupons, making a shopping list, shopping at budget stores, making most of your food at home rather than buying packaged items or restaurant food, and so on).
- 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.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Learners who have experienced or who are experiencing poverty or food scarcity may find discussions of food triggering. Always treat all food with respect and avoid assumptions about what people should eat. Many learners struggle to afford any food and base their choices around what they can afford.
- 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
- Allow learners choice:
- 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:
- Bring in a sample of your favourite food or baked goods to share with the class.
- Work in small groups to prepare a simple no-cook or no-bake recipe.
- Visit a farmer’s market and elicit an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story about it when you are back in class.
- In a small group, read flyers from different grocery stores and compare prices.
- If possible, have a small class potluck so that learners can share their favourite foods with the class.
Realia:
- Recipes
- Food containers
- Grocery store flyers
Units and Modules:
- Tutela (CCLB): Shopping for Groceries: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela: Following Instructions: Canadian Citizenship: CLB 3/4
(Not literacy but can be adapted)
Lessons and Activities:
- LINC 4 Classroom Activities Healthy Eating (p. 461-494) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela (REACH): Talk about Food Preferences and Restrictions: CLB 3/4
(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:
- Bob the Canadian: Learn English at the Grocery Store
- Mad English TV: Shopping in Canada: Going to a Supermarket
- Unite for Literacy: Our Good Food
- Unite for Literacy: Fruits
- Unite for Literacy: Let’s Eat Fruits and Veggies
- Unite for Literacy: Fresh from the Farm
- Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Food
Detailed Sample Task
This exemplar is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to guide and inform your lesson and module planning. Consult the Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults for detailed performance descriptors at this benchmark and skill.
The information in this document is not exhaustive and can be expanded on. As well, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.
This is NOT a lesson or module plan.
