Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL - Reading

Home and Neighbourhood

Real-World Task

Read your name and celebration word on a very simple card (Pride, Ramadan, birthday and so on).

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Letter formation: capital and lowercase letters
Spelling of own name
Some phonics: some single initial consonants

Context:

It is common to exchange greeting cards on holidays and birthdays.
This example task uses birthdays, but you could use any upcoming holiday.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

months of the year: January, February, and so on
card
give
write
read
specific words for greetings cards (choose 1-2): happy birthday, Ramadan, Eid, Pride, Christmas, and so on)

Sample Grammar:

Capital letters for names and names
of holidays

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

A card includes the name of the person who the card is for, a greeting, and the name of the person who sent the card.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

It is friendly to exchange cards on holidays with family, friends, neighbours, classmates, and so on.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Put large, clear photographs of birthday celebrations on the board. Ask learners: What is happening in these pictures?
What are they celebrating?
Sing the 12 Months of the Year Song.
At the start of each class, write the day and date on the board. Read it together with learners.
Discuss as a class: What is a birthday? When is your birthday?
Use vocabulary cards with large clear pictures to learn the task vocabulary. Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to practice the vocabulary.
Introduce vocabulary cards with the same large clear pictures and with words.
Trace 2-3 vocabulary words, e.g. read, write, birthday.
Practice vocabulary by playing games such as Bingo or Matching.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Trace and then copy own name. Show learners that names start with a capital letter.
Make a large class birthday calendar by writing each month at the top of a piece of chart paper. Write the names of all learners who have a birthday in that month. Practice saying sentences about the birthday calendar: Marta has a birthday in June. Happy birthday Marta. Ahmet has a birthday in September. Happy birthday Ahmet. Jin and Nyadeng have birthdays in October. Happy birthday Jin and Nyadeng.
Give learners a card with their own name and a ball of tape on the back. Have them find their name on the class birthday calendar and tape their card on top.
Read a very simple instructor-made story about a birthday party, e.g. Gar has a birthday. Gar invites friends. Gar eats cake. Happy birthday, Gar! 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.
Read very simple, instructor-made greeting cards. Circle own name.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Read your name and a celebration word on a very simple card. Show understanding by putting your card in your mailbox (e.g. a file folder for each learner with their name written clearly on it).

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Read your name and celebration word on a very simple card (Pride, Ramadan, birthday and so on). Demonstrate understanding by pointing to own name and birthday or by saying them outloud.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Depending on the culture, some learners may not celebrate their birthdays. Some learners do not know their birthdays and are assigned a birthday when they immigrate to Canada; in this case, the birthday is usually January 1.
Learners may celebrate birthdays in different ways if they do celebrate. Typical symbols of birthdays in Canada, such as candles, cakes, party hats, and balloons, may not symbolize birthdays for 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 people in different cultures celebrate different holidays and celebrate differently. Avoid making assumptions about how people celebrate. Ask learners if and how they celebrate birthdays.
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 lost family members or children may be triggered by discussions of birthdays. If a learner is upset by birthdays, try working on a different holiday, such as a secular Canadian holiday, which may have less emotional impact, such as Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, and so on.
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:

Hold a class birthday party for all learners who have birthdays
that month/semester/term. Have learners copy names to write an invitation to a classmate. Share treats, such as cupcakes, and sing Happy Birthday.
Give each learner a mailbox (e.g. a file folder with the sides stapled/taped together). Have them copy their name onto the front
of the mailbox if they can. Use inexpensive cards from the dollar store or print cards from online and have learners copy names to write cards to each other and then “mail” the cards by placing them in the right mailbox.

Realia:

Greeting cards
Birthday decorations such as candles, party hats, and streamers

Units and Modules:

Tutela: Writing Family Members: CLB FL/1L
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Starting a New English Class: CLB FL/1L

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:

YouTube: 12 Months of the Year Song
YouTube: ABC Phonics Chant