Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 3L - Writing
Sharing Information

Home and Neighbourhood

Real-World Task

Write about a favourite place in your neighbourhood.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

You have favourite places in your community.

Context:

Cities and towns in Canada are usually divided into neighbourhoods.
Neighbourhoods often have their own parks, schools and services.
Residential neighbourhoods are often close to commercial districts with more shops and services available.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Using adjectives.
Simple present.
Using because to give reasons.

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Connecting sentences with and, or, but, so.
Naming the topic of your writing in the first sentence.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Sharing about your favourite places is a way to connect with other people.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

As a class, discuss neighbourhoods in your community. Elicit from learners places they like to go.
As a class, make a list of the places in the neighbourhood around the  school/ organization. Elicit shops, restaurants, parks, libraries and other services or locations.
Describe the places in your neighbourhood to a partner.
From a short, simple instructor-made story on the topic, have learners listen as the instructor reads, following with their finger. Have learners repeat after the instructor to match intonation and fluency. Finally, have learners read the story as a group, and then individually.
Read a story about places in a neighbourhood. Match vocabulary cards with words and images to places in the story.
Read a jigsaw story about a neighbourhood with several sentences. Put the sentences in order and read to a partner.
Look at a map of your community, town or city and identify your neighbourhood.
Read a sentence about a place in your community and write a sentence to describe that place, using an adjective.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Write about a favourite place in your community, town or city.
Write sentences about your neighbourhood including what neighbourhood you live in and what businesses, services and so on are located there.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Write about a favourite place in your neighbourhood.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Neighbourhoods often have their own sense of community. Local communities can be very supportive of the people who live there, providing services, resources and opportunities.
Neighbourhoods often have services such as community centres that provide a wide variety of social support and opportunities, such as clubs, classes, sports teams and child care.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline knowledge and digital skills.

Learners may need to:

Look at a website.
Read information from a screen.
Use a mapping app.

Instructors can:

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.
Share knowledge and strategies to ensure online safety.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

Instructors can:

Use diverse representations of people in all learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent.
Recognize and teach learners that Canada is a diverse place and has people from many different cultures. Canadian culture includes the cultures of all people in Canada.
Recognize that women may not feel comfortable walking around their neighbourhoods.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

People who have experienced trauma may feel uncomfortable sharing their favourite places or taking the same route when they go places.
People who have experienced gender-based violence or misogyny may feel unsafe in their neighbourhoods.
Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware that there may be learners who require support.

Strategies:

Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions; learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine.
Recognize and respect learners’ right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves and their routines.

Resources

Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:

Go for a neighbourhood walk around the school/ organization.
Go on a neighbourhood photo scavenger hunt. Divide into teams and look for and photograph items on your list.
Work in a group to make a poster about a neighbourhood in your community. Include a map, a short description, and pictures from the neighbourhood.
Collect your writing and publish as a booklet. Visit another class to share your stories.

Realia:

Maps
Map apps on phones or other devices

Units and Modules:

Multimedia:

ESL Image Bank: Community