Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy
CLB
3L-Writing
Recording Information
Getting Around and Transportation
Real-World Task
Copy the address and information on how to take public transportation to a centre for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Basic knowledge of what 2SLGBTQIA+ means. The meanings of each letter in the acronym are not relevant to the lesson.
- Present simple
- Numbers to 1000
Context:
- Public transportation works on a predictable schedule (though it may be late). There are usually brochures, websites, or apps to tell you the schedule for your bus so that you can plan your trip.
- Many people in Canada identify as 2SLGBTQIA+.
- This task reflects the intention to include all people in Canada in the themes. The language skills in this task could be applied to other contexts.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- 2SLGBTQIA+ (learned as a whole phrase to refer to all genders and sexualities)
- forms of transportation: bus, train/subway/metro, ferry, and so on.
- address
- schedule
- route
- stop
- fare
- transfer
Sample Grammar:
- Imperative voice for directions
- Format of addresses and telephone numbers
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Directions using public transportation are usually given from 2-3 key locations in the community, e.g. From downtown, take Bus #46 and get off at Richmond Street.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Public transportation can often let you get around to the places you need to go, giving you independence and the chance to connect with other people.
- There are usually more buses on weekdays, especially during the daytime, and fewer buses in the evenings and on the weekends.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Discuss as a class: how do you get to class? Do you drive, walk, take the bus or use other public transportation? Ask learners how many take the bus on a regular basis. How do they plan their trips? Do they use the bus or other public transportation to go to other places in their cities/towns/ communities?
- Discuss as a class: what does 2SLGBTQIA+ mean? Focus on the overall meaning of all genders and sexualities rather than the meaning of each term in the acronym. Learners may have a variety of opinions, but gently redirect and focus on what is legal and accepted in Canada.
- Review task vocabulary. Have learners copy vocabulary words into very simple definitions to complete a mini-dictionary.
- Practice the vocabulary using vocabulary cards with words and clear pictures. Have learners work in groups and take turns drawing a card and explaining it (without saying the word). The rest of the learners guess which word it is, and whoever guesses first gets a point.
- Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
- Read a simple instructor-made story about taking the bus. Work with a partner and use simple sentence strips to sequence the events of the story.
- As a class, look at the website or app for your local public transportation. Elicit from learners how the website/app works, if any are familiar with it. Plan a sample trip from a familiar location to your school or organization. Determine different arrival times to practice.
- Listen to an instructor-made dialogue between a passenger and a bus driver describing the route, giving instructions about the buses to take, the stops for the locations and where they may have to walk to reach their destination.
- Re-read the story about taking the bus and match up vocabulary cards to the story. Complete sentences to write about your own experiences with public transportation.
- Review the imperative voice and use TPR (Total Physical Response) with common actions to practice. After a number of rounds, have learners take turns calling out the instructions.
- Review the format for addresses and phone numbers and copy contact information for several locations in the community.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Copy the address and information on how to take public transportation to a location in the community, such as a library, school, or mall.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Copy the address and information on how to take public transportation to a centre for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
Teaching Considerations
Cultural Considerations:
- Depending on where you live, there may be a variety of public transportation, such as buses, trains, subway, or ferries. There may also be very little public transportation. Adapt the task to fit the community you live in. If you live in a rural area with little public transportation, choose a regional bus if there is one instead.
- Learners may have different opinions about people who are 2SLGBTQIA+. Some learners may come from places where there is a high amount of discrimination and/or where it is illegal to be 2SLGBTQIA+. Gently focus conversations in the class on what is legal and accepted in Canada and affirm everyone’s right to be included and to learn in a safer environment. An inclusive learning environment benefits all.
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 relevant to the task.
- Use familiar apps, social media platforms and web pages relevant to the task.
- Read information from a screen.
Instructors can:
- Dedicate time to improve digital literacy for learners.
- Make and/ or adapt digital materials.
- Introduce websites and/or apps 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 or apps.
- 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:
- Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQ+, 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.
- Recognize that some learners may not feel safe on public transportation, including women and learners who are 2SLGBTQIA+. Discuss strategies for safer use of public transportation, including riding with a friend and avoiding riding after dark, and for other options for transportation, such as ride shares.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Learners who have experienced trauma may not feel safe on public transportation. Acknowledge this concern and discuss strategies for safer use of public transportation or alternatives to public transportation.
- 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:
- Take a field trip using public transportation and elicit an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story when you return to class. Have learners use your local website or app to plan the trip together.
Realia:
- Websites and apps for local public transportation
- Maps
- Bus schedules
Units and Modules:
- Tutela (CCLB): Getting Around the City: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela (ATESL): Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Lessons and Activities:
- Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Finding Information about the Train or Bus or Subway: CLB 3 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Interacting with the Driver on the Bus: CLB 3 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- LINC 3 Classroom Activities Transit Schedule (p. 490) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
- Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 3L
- A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.
Multimedia:
- Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Community
- Tutela: ESL Image Bank: City Transit
- Tutela: ESL Image Bank: City Maps
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.
