Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 1L - Reading
Comprehending Information

Canada

Real-World Task

Read a simple sentence about your own province / territory in Canada.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Identifying letters, including uppercase and lowercase
Some letter-sound correspondence
Sight words: I, in

Context:

The different provinces and territories have their own geography and regional cultures.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Canada
name of own province / territory and a few other nearby provinces / territories (e.g. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador)
name of own community / town / city and a few other nearby communities, towns, or cities in your province or territory
live

Sample Grammar:

Simple present: I live in…
capital letters for names and place names

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Sentences are made up of words.
There is a space between each word.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Identifying where you live can help you connect with people who live in the same place.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Look at a large map of Canada. Elicit from learners which province / territory you live in and find it on the map. Learn the names of the provinces / territories to either side or nearby.
Sing The Canada Song by Nancy Kopman or This Land is Your Land (Canadian Version) or Oh Canada.
Learn a short dialogue: Where do you live?
I live in… Practice with learners using their own community and province / territory.
Practice making 3-4 capital letters. Choose the initial letters from your community and province/territory and 1-2 others. Trace the letters, write the letters in a sand tray, and write the letters independently.
Listen to a song about your own
province / territory.
Copy own province / territory and 2-3 other nearby provinces / territories. Choose abbreviations where appropriate, e.g. B.C., P.E.I., N.W.T.
Give learners cards with the target letters. Make one of the four sounds and have learners hold up the card that corresponds with that sound. Practice this for a while, and then have learners take turns making the sounds.
Work with a partner to match target capital letters to lowercase letters using cards.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Work with learners to read a short message from a friend saying where they live. Write the message on the board. Use your own city / community name, e.g. Hi. I live in Kamloops. Practice different reading approaches, such as choral reading and echo reading. Give learners large sticky notes with words from the sentence and have them match their sticky note to the correct word.
Have learners interview each other: Where do you live? I live in…
Read a very simple story about five people in Canada that follows the repeated format: ”This is David. David lives in New Brunswick. This is Sarah. Sarah lives in Saskatchewan.” As best as possible, use your community and province / territory.
Copy own community name and
province / territory to complete sentences about yourself: I live in _______, _______,
e.g. I live in Kingston, Ontario.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Read a list of three familiar
provinces / territories supported by clear, familiar photographs. Circle the name of your province / territory.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Read a simple sentence about your own province / territory in Canada. Demonstrate comprehension by answering a simple question orally. Point to the word that says your province / territory name.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Canada is a multicultural country, and Canadian culture includes the cultures of all the people who live in Canada. There are also regional cultures for different areas of Canada, such as the prairies or Atlantic Canada.

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.
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.
Show learners that the size of an image on the screen can be adjusted.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

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.
Teach learners that Canada is an inclusive, multicultural country.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have come to Canada as refugees may have fled a dangerous situation rather than specifically choosing Canada as a new home and may have ambivalent feelings about Canada.
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:

Teach learners that Canada is an inclusive, multicultural country, and that all people have equal rights in Canada.
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:

Colour a map of Canada.
Work with a partner to put together a very simple jigsaw puzzle of Canada.
If possible, visit a landmark in your community, such as a legislative building or monument.
Create a class poster of your province / territory and mark the capital and other communities.

Realia:

Maps
Provincial / territorial flags

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Greetings and Introductions: CLB 1L/2L
Tutela (ISANS): Canada Theme: CLB FL/1L

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (ISANS): Bookfolds for Canada Theme: CLB FL/1L
Tutela (RODS): My Canada Book
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia: