Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 1L - Speaking
Giving Instructions

Community and Recreation

Real-World Task

Ask a classmate to sit down and close their binder when attending an Indigenous learning event such as a guest speaker.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

There are many Indigenous Peoples
in Canada.
Indigenous Peoples are the first people
in Canada.
Some basic actions to practice the imperative such as “Touch your…”,
“Stand up”, “Sit down” and so on.

Context:

It is common to invite people to get ready for an event or a class speaker.
Learning about Indigenous cultures is an important part of learning about Canada.
This task reflects the intention to include all people in Canada in the themes.
The language skills in this task could be applied to other contexts.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Imperative voice

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Someone usually introduces a guest speaker before the speaker begins to talk.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

It is polite to sit, watch, and listen quietly to a guest speaker.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: who are the people in Canada? Where are they from? Discuss how Canada is multicultural, with people from many different cultures. Talk about different groups of people in Canada, like French people, English people, other groups of immigrant peoples, and Indigenous Peoples. Ask learners who the Indigenous Peoples are. Elicit that they are the first people in Canada.
Show images of Indigenous Peoples. Choose historic and modern images. Discuss with learners that Indigenous cultures are an important part of Canadian culture.
Read a story from the Canadian Indigenous Content series from The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES. Read the story to learners. Choral read and echo read the story. Show learners how they can play the audio for the story and read along on their own devices.
Watch a video about Indigenous culture such as Evan’s Drum. Discuss the video: who is Evan? Who is his mother? Why is he making a drum?
Discuss as a class: what is a guest speaker? What do you do to prepare for a guest speaker? Elicit from the learners things like welcoming the guest, sitting down, listening quietly, closing their binders and thanking them at the end.
Use TPR (Total Physical Response) and familiar vocabulary to practice the imperative voice for commands. Call out instructions such as touch your nose, stand up, sit down, open your book, close your book, and so on. Have learners respond by doing the physical action. After a few rounds, invite a learner to give the instructions.
Use vocabulary cards with pictures and words for commands: sit down, close your binder, and listen. Practice these commands in small groups: one learner draws a card and says the command, and the other learners respond by doing the action. Learners take turns drawing cards and giving commands.
Listen to a short, simple instructor-made dialogue welcoming a guest speaker to a class. Practice the dialogue as a class and then with a partner. Perform the dialogue for the class.
As a class, look at a resource such as Whose Land to find out which Indigenous land your community is on. Learn the names of the Indigenous People(s) whose land you’re on.
Role-play introducing a speaker to the class. The instructor can play the part of the speaker, and learners can take turns welcoming the speaker and preparing the class: “Welcome. Please sit down. Close your binders.”

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Give three classroom commands, such as
sit down, open your binder, and pick up
your pen.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

In a role play, ask a classmate to sit down and close their binder when attending an Indigenous learning event such as a guest speaker.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Indigenous cultures are an important part of Canadian culture, and learning about Canada includes learning about Indigenous Peoples, cultures, and history.

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:

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.
Whenever possible, use authentic Indigenous voices to talk about Indigenous Peoples and cultures, such as stories written by Indigenous people (like the Canadian Indigenous Content series from The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES) and films made by Indigenous filmmakers (such as Evan’s Drum).

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

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.
Learners who have experienced discrimination or persecution, or learners who have been forced to leave their homes may be triggered by discussions of Indigenous peoples.

Strategies:

If you are going to go on a field trip, for example to a community centre, give learners advanced warning and explain where you are going, how you will get there, and what you are going to do there.
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:

Invite a speaker such as an Elder to the class to talk about Indigenous cultures.
Using a simple topic, have learners prepare short one or two sentence “presentations”. Practice introducing partners and asking the class to prepare by sitting, closing their binders, and listening. Learners can thank each learner for their presentation with clapping and words.

Realia:

Indigenous cultural objects, when brought by an Indigenous speaker

Units and Modules:

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (Archway): Items in the Classroom: CLB 1L/2L
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Canadian Indigenous Content
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 1L
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: