Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 2L - Speaking
Interacting with Others

Global Citizenship

Real-World Task

Introduce yourself to a volunteer group at a local food bank.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Basic greetings
Present simple: be

Context:

Many people in Canada volunteer. It is common to introduce yourself when you join a new group.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

introduce
name
phrases: It’s nice to meet you, How are you?
volunteer
group
help
food bank

Sample Grammar:

Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

An introduction usually begins with your name and then one or two things about you.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Many people in Canada volunteer.
Volunteering is a good way to get Canadian work experience and to meet other people.
Introductions often include polite phrases.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

At the beginning of every class during this task, greet each learner as they come into the class and take a moment to have a basic conversation. Gradually expand to include a wider range of greetings and courtesy expressions such as how are you? and It’s nice to see you.
Practice possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her. Have each learner place four or five personal items on the table or desk in front of them, e.g. pencils, water bottles, glasses case, and so on. Take turns holding up an item (with the learners’ permission) and asking Whose pencil is this? Elicit answers such as It’s Amet’s pencil. Repeat the answer, and then repeat again with a possessive adjective: It’s his pencil. Continue with other learners and elicit a variety of sentences using possessive adjectives.
Have learners work in small groups of 4-5. Give each group a set of two dice. Have the learners take turns rolling the dice. Any time a learner rolls doubles (i.e. the same number on each die), that learner must stand up and introduce themselves and every member of the group: My name is Gingat, his name is Tam, her name is Farzana, her name is Mariam.
Discuss as a class: Who has a job? Who had a job in the past? What do / did you do?
Discuss as a class: What is a volunteer? Talk about the benefits of volunteering, such as helping the community, meeting other people, and getting work experience. Ask learners if they know of places where they can volunteer. Elicit some local businesses where it is possible to volunteer in your community.
Discuss as a class: What is a food bank? Who can go to food banks? Where are local food banks in your community? Tell learners that foodbanks are often run by volunteers.
Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to practice task vocabulary. Call out words and have learners respond with actions or by holding up the correct picture. After a few rounds, have learners take turns calling out the words.
Play games with vocabulary cards such as Go Fish, Memory, and Bingo.
Look at the vocabulary word name. Discuss the job of the final silent <e>: to make the <a> sound like its name. Brainstorm other words with silent <e> and practice pronouncing the words. Trace and copy words with a silent <e>.
As a class, look online at a website for a local foodbank. Help identify key words on the website, such as foodbank.
Read a very simple story about joining a volunteer group at a food bank. Read the story to learners and then choral read and echo read the story. Have learners sit with
a partner and read the story together.
Give learners photographs from the story and have them sequence the photos in order of events. Have learners retell the story based on the photographs.
Listen to introductions from people in volunteer groups. Identify key information.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Role-play joining a new group of volunteers. One learner plays the new volunteer and the other learner plays the volunteer coordinator. Introduce yourself to your partner and then switch roles.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Introduce yourself to a volunteer group at a local food bank.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Some learners may not be familiar with volunteering. Help learners understand the role of volunteering in Canada and discuss the reasons why most people volunteer (e.g. to help the 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.
Read information from a screen.
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.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

When discussing food banks, avoid stereotyping or making generalizations about the people who access food banks.
Avoid any kind of judgement about people who access foodbanks. There may be learners in the class who have accessed or will access food banks, and it is good for them to understand this resource is available.
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 hunger or famine or who currently do not have enough money for adequate food may be triggered by discussions of food banks. They may also feel empowered to learn about resources that can help.
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
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:

As a class, run a food drive and then donate the food to a local foodbank. Have learners make posters and staff a table where others, such as instructors, in the school or organization can donate non-perishable goods.
Invite someone who has volunteered, such as another instructor, to come and talk about their experiences.

Realia:

Posters from local food banks
Websites from local food banks

Units and Modules:

Tutela (Archway): Introduction to Volunteering: CLB 1L/2L
Tutela (Archway): Volunteering at a Foodbank: CLB 1L/2L
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Following Bylaws: CLB 3L/4L (Not the right level but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 2 Classroom Activities: How to Keep Out the Cold (p.16)(Not literacy but can be adapted)

A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia: