Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 4L - Listening
Comprehending Instructions

Health and Wellness

Real-World Task

Follow instructions for arranging a homecare visit after leaving the hospital.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Modals: can, should, must
Imperative voice for instructions

Context:

Following a surgery or other hospital stay, sometimes there is a homecare visit to provide a check up or ongoing care.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Sequencing adverbs: first, second, third, next, then, before, after

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Instructions are given in sequential order.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

If you have any questions about your medical care, you can ask a doctor, nurse, or sometimes pharmacist.
You can request for someone to be with you during a medical appointment if you need translation or support. You can also request privacy during a medical appointment.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: Have you ever been in the hospital? What happened after you went home? What is surgery? What is a hospital stay? Who takes care of you in a hospital? What happens after you leave the hospital? Discuss what a homecare visit is.
Review the vocabulary for the module and have learners copy words to complete a mini-dictionary.
Practice vocabulary using a variety of activities, such as matching, Bingo, fill in
the blanks, crossword puzzles, putting the words in alphabetical order, and so on.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Practice a dialogue between a nurse and
a patient discussing how to arrange a homecare visit. Practice the dialogue as
a class and review the vocabulary in the dialogue, and then practice with a partner. Perform your dialogue for the class.
Review sequencing adverbs and do a variety of grammar activities to practice, including unscrambling sentences, filling in the blanks, and completing sentence stems.
Complete a jigsaw activity about a common task, such as making rice, and sequence the steps based on the sequencing words. Share your activity with a partner and compare.
Work with a partner to read a very simple instructor-made pamphlet on after-surgery care and arranging a homecare visit. Identify the steps to arranging care with your partner and write instructions using sequencing words.
Listen to a set of instructions for arranging care and circle the correct sequencing word that you heard for each instruction.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Listen to a dialogue between a nurse and
a patient discussing arranging homecare. Demonstrate understanding by answering comprehension questions.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Follow instructions for arranging a homecare visit after leaving the hospital. Demonstrate understanding by answering comprehension questions.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

People from different cultures may have traditional medicines.
Avoid making any judgements on the efficacy of traditional versus western medicine and avoid making any medical recommendations. Help learners to understand that if they have any medical questions in Canada, they can always ask a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist.

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.
Use familiar apps, social media platforms and web pages.
Read information from a screen.
Scan online resources to find information.
Read formatted texts online, such as forms or labels.

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 reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.
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 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.
Recognize that women may not have had access to medical care. Make sure these learners are aware of their rights in Canada and the resources that are available to them.
Make sure that learners understand how to access medical care in Canada. Make sure learners understand what medical care is free, and that there is sometimes a cost involved in a prescription, and that there are ways to get help with those costs.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma may find discussions of medical care triggering.
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:

Attend a talk by a public health nurse.
Have learners write sentences about a home remedy for common ailments, such as headaches, colds, period cramps, and so on.
Have learners present their ideas to the class.

Realia:

Empty medication bottles
Pamphlets or handouts on homecare

Units and Modules:

The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Staying Healthy: CLB 2L/3L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Tutela (CCLB): At the Walk-In Clinic: CLB 3/4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (OCDSB): Assessment Task: Comparing Information on Prescription Medicine Labels: CLB 4 (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 4L
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Health