Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL - Listening
Getting Things Done

Home and Neighbourhood

Real-World Task

Listen to a neighbour ask for help.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

There are different kinds of housing in Canada, but people usually have close neighbours.

Context:

Neighbours often help each other.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Imperative voice for single-word commands: Help!

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

When you call for help, you only need to say one word to make a sentence: Help!

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Neighbours often help each other.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Put large, clear photographs of different kinds of housing on the board, e.g. a house, a townhouse, a basement apartment, and several different kinds of apartment buildings. Try to use photographs that represent likely housing choices for learners in your community. Discuss as a class: Where do you live? Is this similar or different from their countries of origin?
Give each learner a sticky note to place by the kind of housing where they live.
Have learners repeat: I live in an apartment. I live in a house. I live in a townhouse. Point to each photo as you say the word. Try variations based on the learners in the class: Dug lives in an apartment. Ani lives in a house. Gebredin lives in a townhouse.
Look at a photograph of a row of houses and practice the word neighbour. Show a photograph of two people meeting in the hallway to an apartment building and elicit from learners: neighbours.
Use clear photographs and TPR (Total Physical Response) to practice task vocabulary.
Practice vocabulary by playing games such as Bingo or Matching.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Look at gentle pictures of people having problems outside their house or apartment building, such as falling on the ice, carrying too many bags, or lying on the ground next to the ladder. Elicit from learners as many words as they know about the pictures. Teach learners the word help.
Give learners prompt cards with a photograph of a problem. Have each learner look at their card and say help and something about the problem, e.g. Help! Ice. Help! Fall. Help! Food bags.
Read a very simple instructor-made story about a neighbour helping another neighbour, e.g. Deng falls down. Ice. Help! Ali helps Deng. Read the story to learners and then echo read and choral read the story. Read the story several times over several days and practice for fluency.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Listen to the instructor ask for help by saying help, ice! or help, fall! Demonstrate understanding by pointing to the correct picture.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Listen to a neighbour ask for help. Demonstrate understanding by pointing to a familiar photograph from the skill-building activities that shows a neighbour who needs help.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Some learners may come from cultures where multigenerational families living together is the norm and may now be living in what
is for them very unusual circumstances in Canada.
In Canada, it is common to greet your neighbour when you see them, but it is less common to stop by without arranging it first. This may be unusual for some learners.

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.
Type information to appear on screen.

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:

Recognize that housing is expensive in Canada, and that many learners may be in insecure housing situations. Try to choose images of housing that represent actual housing in your community that learners may live in.
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.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have been forced to flee from their own land
may be triggered by discussions of home and housing.
Learners who have been attacked or betrayed by their neighbours during a conflict or war may be triggered by discussions of neighbours. Some learners may not feel that their neighbours are safe people. If learners show signs of being upset by talking about neighbours, choose classmate or friend instead.
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:

Go on a community walk and point out different kinds of housing. Return to class and elicit an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story about it.
Copy housing words underneath clear photographs.
Practice a very simple dialogue between two neighbours.

Realia:

Housing ads
Photographs of housing
Photographs of common problems a neighbour might need help with

Units and Modules:

CCLB: Finding a Place to Live: CLB 1L/2L
(Not the right level but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB FL
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
Tutela: Teaching the Mechanics of Writing and Letter Formation
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Housing