Detailed Sample Task: Stage I
CLB 2 - Reading
Getting Things Done
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Real-World Task
Look at a brochure / website / poster about an event to support women starting a home-based business to find the date, time, and place.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Some basic vocabulary related to
home-based businesses and learning workshops and events. - Some basic knowledge of how to read a formatted text to find specific information.
Context:
- Home-based businesses are very popular. Many people in Canada and around the world start small businesses from their homes. This means they work at home instead of in an office or store. People often start home-based businesses to make extra money, to be able to take care of their children while earning money, and to use a skill they already have (like bookkeeping, sewing, hairdressing, or cleaning). Home businesses can be a good way to start small and grow later.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- event
- support
- home-based business
- date
- time
- place
- cost
- sign up
- workshop
Sample Grammar:
- Word order of simple statements
- Common adjectives
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Beginning recognition of main ideas
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Beginning recognition of textual clues to interpret the purposes of a text
- Beginning recognition of typical formats for workshop / learning event notices
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Discuss as a class: Have you ever had a home-based business, or simply been paid for your services / skills, such as tailoring, alterations, baby sitting? Have you worked in this way in Canada or in other countries in the world? Do you know of any home-based businesses in Canada? What are some good things about a home-based business? What are some downsides of a home-based business?
- Match words from the vocabulary list to corresponding images. When the instructor reads out words from the vocabulary list, hold up the corresponding flash card and repeat saying the word aloud.
- Review some simple adjectives such as Review the use of adjectives in simple sentences, including the placement of adjectives before nouns or after the verb to be, and the use of adjectives to give more detail to descriptions. Practice adding simple adjectives to short sentences by filling in the gaps in a handout or digital document.
- Listen to a very short, instructor-made audio describing a workshop describing a home-based business, answer very simple true / false questions about the description. In pairs, take turns reading the transcript of the audio. On the transcript, circle the adjectives. Check with another pair to see if you correctly identified all of the adjectives.
- Using simple sentences including adjectives, with each word on a separate card, arrange the words into the correct order to make sentences in small groups.
- Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
- Read a simple instructor-made text about a Newcomer woman who started a home-based business. Answer two simple questions about the reading to identify the main idea of the reading.
- Look at a formatted text such as a poster
or website which is announcing an upcoming learning event at the local library. Review scanning strategies to find key pieces of information. Scan the document for numbers to find dates and times. - Present to the class one simple idea you have for a home-based business which identifies the type of business and the skills you have.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Read a website about an upcoming event
at the local community centre for women seeking employment to learn how to write
a resume. From the webpage identify when, where and at what time the workshop takes place.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Look at a brochure / website / poster
about an event to support women starting
a home-based business to find the date, time, and place.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- In Canada, many women start businesses, especially from home,
and it is commonly accepted and supported. Some learners may feel unsure or lack confidence to attend a women’s business event. They may feel they need to ask their husband or family for permission or believe business is limited to men.
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.
- Navigate and use websites.
- Use familiar apps, social media platforms and web pages.
- Read information from a screen.
- Scan online resources 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.
- Teach basic reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
- Recognize that people who identify as women may not have had opportunities to run a business. Make sure these learners are aware of their rights in Canada and the resources and opportunities that are available to them.
- Some learners may experience changes to gender roles when they come to Canada. For some, this may be a welcome change, but for others it may be challenging. Address their concerns with sensitivity but teach that Canada is equitable and inclusive to people of all genders.
- 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.
- Some learners may have different views. You can be sensitive to their differing opinions, but all learners benefit from EDI, and all learners have the right to an inclusive and equitable learning environment.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma triggers:
- 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.
- Learners may have experienced discrimination, racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny or gender-based violence. Discussions of EDI may be triggering: be aware that there may be learners who need help, but it may also provide some comfort and support.
Strategies:
- Raise learner awareness of the need for using appropriate language when discussing gender-related issues and model positive language to avoid stereotypes when discussing women.
- 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:
- Take a field trip to the local library to search the community bulletin boards for workshops and learning events. They can also identify home-based businesses.
- Event poster scavenger hunt: In teams, learners scan a variety of event posters and identify key facts from each one. They can then report back to the class.
- Create basic posters to simply identify a fun community event with the date, time, and location.
Realia:
- Authentic event flyers, posters, or brochures for local events
- Calendars from local community centres
- Simplified registration events
Units and Modules:
Lessons and Activities:
- Tutela: Assessment Task: Registering for a Job Workshop in Person (CLB 2)
- Tutela: CLB 3L/4L Introduction to Employment Centres
(Not the right level but can be adapted.) - Tutela: Assessment Task: Reading a Flyer about Opening a New School in the Community (CLB 2)
- 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.
