Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy
CLB
1L-Listening
Comprehending Information
Global Citizenship
Real-World Task
Write words to complete a very simple, short text about what you can do to reduce garbage.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Formation of lowercase and capital letters
- Phonics knowledge: sounds of single consonants
Context:
- Too much garbage in the landfill is a serious environmental problem in Canada.
- There are things you can do to reduce how much garbage you throw out.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- garbage
- landfill
- recycle
- compost
- return
- throw out
- put
- food
- drink can
- drink bottle
Sample Grammar:
- Spacing between words
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- The first word of a sentence is capitalized.
- Sentences end with a period.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Many people in Canada care about protecting the environment.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Discuss as a class: What is garbage?
What do you do with garbage? Use images to support your discussion as needed. - Show learners photographs of a Canadian landfill. Choose a local landfill site if possible. Teach them there is too much garbage, and it’s causing problems.
- If your school or organization has a sorting station, visit it as a class. Point to different containers for garbage, recycling, and so on. Ask what goes in each place.
- Post large photographs of a garbage bin (black), a compost bin (green), a recycling bin (blue), and a bin full of drink cans
and bottles on the board. Spread out photographs of different waste items on
a desk. Ask learners to choose a waste item and tape it under the correct bin. - Use TPR (Total Physical Response) and
a set of vocabulary cards with words / pictures to practice the task vocabulary.
Call out a word and have learners respond by holding up the correct card or by using an action. After a few rounds, have learners take turns calling out the words. - Use vocabulary cards with words and pictures to play games such as Bingo, Memory, and Go Fish.
- Practice the sound /r/. Trace, copy, and write <r>. Trace and copy vocabulary words that begin with <r>: recycle, return.
- Read a simple story to learners about returning drink cans and bottles if this is supported in your community: Mala drinks
a can of pop. Don’t throw it out! Mala keeps the can. She returns all her cans to the depot. They recycle the cans. Mala gets some money! Read the story to learners
and discuss what is happening. Ask learners if they have ever been to a depot and returned their cans. Choral read and echo read the story. - Use photographs from the story to sequence the events. Retell the story
to a partner. - As a class, read a very short list of 2-3 things you can do to reduce garbage, illustrated by clear, familiar photographs. Read the list to learners and have them explain what to do. Choral read and echo read the list.
- Read the list with a partner and draw a line to match the item on the list to the correct photograph.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Copy words into the blanks to complete familiar, short sentences about what you can do to reduce garbage.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Write words to complete a very simple, short text about what you can do to reduce garbage, such as Return drink ________ (cans). Put ________ (food) in the compost.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- Learners may not be familiar with ways to reduce garbage. Avoid being judgemental about protecting the environment. Gently teach learners what is available and expected in Canada.
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.
- 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.
- Show learners how to enlarge pictures on a screen.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
- If drink containers can be returned for money in your community, teach learners how they can do that and where the nearest depots are located.
- 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 trauma may not put environmentalism as a high priority. Respect this and give learners space to make their own decisions about recycling.
- 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:
- Visit a recycling centre or depot and create an LEA
(Language Experience Approach) story about it. - Work in a group to make a poster about what can be put into recycling or compost. Cut out pictures from flyers to illustrate your poster.
Realia:
- Recycling sorting stations
- Examples of drink cans and bottles, food containers, and food waste
Units and Modules:
- The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Sorting Waste: CLB FL/1L
Lessons and Activities:
- Tutela (OCDSB): Taking Part in a Neighbourhood Clean Up: CLB 1 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Putting Things in the Correct Recycling Bin: CLB 1L
- The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
- The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
- Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 1L
- Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
- A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.
Multimedia:
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.
