Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 4L - Reading
Comprehending Instructions

Health and Wellness

Real-World Task

Read a simplified prescription information handout to understand the medication instructions (including when to take medication, whether to take with food and what to avoid) and how to respond to minor side effects of medication.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Modals: can, should, must
Imperative voice for instructions
Instructions for taking medication, including all warnings, are written on the bottle or label.

Context:

Prescription medication comes with instructions for dosage and side effects. This information is important and can impact your health, possible side effects, and the efficacy of the medication.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

dose
side effect
warning
over-the-counter
prescription
medication
types of medication: pill, capsule, tablet, liquid and so on.

Sample Grammar:

Passive voice with modals: can be taken, should be taken, must be taken
Compound sentences with coordinating conjunctions: and, or, but, so

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Prescription instructions are organized into dosage instructions and warnings about possible side effects.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

If you have any questions about a prescription medication, you can ask a pharmacist, nurse, or doctor.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: When do you take medication? What is the difference between over-the-counter medication and prescription medication? Teach learners that over-the-counter medications still have dosages and side-effect warnings.
Review vocabulary and practice using a variety of activities, such as matching, Bingo, Taboo (in which one learner describes a word without saying it and the other learners guess), crossword puzzles, putting the words in alphabetical order, and so on.
Practice a dialogue between a doctor and a patient in which the doctor is prescribing medication.
Practice a dialogue between a patient and a pharmacist in which the patient is picking up a prescription.
Work together in small groups to identify the steps to getting prescription medication, from the point you start to feel sick.
Review modals: can, should, must and practice by filling in blanks, editing incorrect sentences, and writing sentences.
Teach the passive voice with modals: can, should, must. Teach as a pattern: can be __________, should be __________, must be __________.
Practice passive modals. Elicit from learners what are things that can be done, should be done, and must be done. Include “must be taken with food/must not be taken with alcohol” and so on.
Discuss side effects. Read a list of common possible side effects. Talk about the difference between common side effects and possible side effects.
Review time expressions: daily, once a day, twice a day, etc.
Read common dosage instructions using passive modals: should be taken with food.
Have learners role-play a discussion between a patient and a pharmacist about medications and side effects.
Read a simplified prescription information handout. Circle the dosage instructions. Underline the side effects.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Read medication labels and identify patient, medication, and dosage.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Read a simplified prescription information handout to understand the medication instructions (including when to take medication, whether to take with food and what to avoid) and how to respond to minor side effects of medication.

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.

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 people who identify as 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.
Some prescription medication is for mental health. Recognize that mental health issues are often stigmatized and work to reduce the stigma.

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 on medication.
Visit a pharmacy and complete an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story.
Look up local pharmacies online and note the closest one, including the address, phone number, and opening hours.

Realia:

Empty medication bottles
Medication labels
Pamphlets or handouts on medication

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