Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL - Speaking
Interacting with Others

Home and Neighbourhood

Real-World Task

Say your address.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Numbers 0-9

Context:

It is common to have to give your address in many different contexts.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

address
my
your
name of own street/road
name of own community/town/city

Sample Grammar:

Possessive adjectives my and your
Present simple: is

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Format of addresses

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

If you can say your address, you can give information to someone to help you.
It is a good strategy to keep a personal information card in your wallet that has your name, phone number, and address written down.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

At the start of class every day, greet each learner, and over a number of days gradually expand to create a short dialogue about personal information: Hi, what is your name, it’s nice to see you, how are you, and so on.
Count and workout to Count by 1s to 10.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Work with a partner to count objects (e.g. bingo chips, stones, markers, and so on).
Trace the numbers 1-10. Work in a sand tray to write the numbers 1-10.
Mingle with your classmates and introduce yourself to each classmate, saying a greeting and asking What is your name? Respond to your classmate’s question with My name is _________.
Read a simple instructor-made story between an instructor and a learner: Hi. / Hi. / What is your name? / My name is Anteneh. / What is your phone number? / My phone number is 902-555-6822. / What is your address? / My address is 589 North Street. Read the story to learners several times over several days. Read the story to learners, then choral read and echo read
the story.
Copy your own phone number from a personal information card created by your instructor. Ask your partner: What is your phone number? Respond to their question with My phone number is _____________.
Copy your own address from a personal information card created by your instructor. Ask your partner: What is your address? Respond to their question with My address is ____________.
Interview your partner: What is your name? What is your phone number? What is your address?

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Copy and say your own name and telephone number.
Copy and say the address of your school
or organization.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Say your address.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Learners may not be familiar with the format of Canadian addresses (street number followed by street name). Learners may not be familiar with the addresses of apartments, which usually have the apartment number followed by the street number and street name. Help learners to learn the format of addresses.

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. If you’re giving examples, 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.
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 for a community walk. Have learners practice identifying the number of houses on the street and practice saying the street number and street name together, e.g. 462 Main Street. Point out that the numbers do not go up in order (it is likely far too challenging to try to explain even numbers on one side of the street and odd numbers on the other side).

Realia:

Personal information cards

Units and Modules:

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

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (Archway): Personal Information: Numeric Focus: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Tutela (Archway): Personal Information: Alphabetic Focus: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
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
YouTube: Count by 1s to 10