Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 1L - Writing
Interacting with Others

Community and Recreation

Real-World Task

Write words to complete a very simple, short guided message to a friend about what you can do at the park.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Present simple: forms of be
basic park vocabulary: trees, plants, bushes, flowers, children, dogs

Context:

Parks are inclusive, free public spaces. They are an excellent way to spend time outdoors, especially if you do not have access to a yard.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

park
playground
bench
pond
ducks
garden
activities: frisbee, soccer, baseball, picnic, barbeque

Sample Grammar:

Modal verbs: very simple sentences with can

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Messages begin with a greeting

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Many people use public parks as a place to meet with friends, family, or neighbours.
You can meet new people at a park, especially if you’re doing the same activity, such as watching your children at the playground or playing frisbee.
It is important to ensure that everyone leaves the park as they found it, cleaning up garbage and taking everything with them.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: what is a park? What kinds of things are found at parks? Elicit vocabulary from learners. Ask learners if they have been to parks in their countries of origin. What did they do there? Use images to support your discussion.
Use vocabulary cards with words and clear pictures to practice vocabulary. Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to have learners indicate the correct card. Add actions when possible; e.g. mime throwing a frisbee or flapping wings for a duck.
Work together with a partner to organize vocabulary cards in alphabetical order.
Do phonics activities to practice the difference between /p/ and /b/. Give learners a flag for /p/ and for /b/ (e.g. a sticky note on a pencil). Read a list of simple words with either /p/ or /b/ in the initial position. Have learners hold up the flag for the sound they hear. Have learners take turns calling out the vocabulary words with /p/ or /b/: park, playground, bench, pond, picnic
Write two copies of the vocabulary words on the board. Split learners into two teams. Give one learner from each team a fly swatter. Call out a vocabulary word; the first learner to swat the correct word gets a point for their team. Give each learner a turn.
Learn a short dialogue between two friends going to the park. Practice the dialogue with a partner and perform for the class. Example dialogue:
- Hi Ramon.
- Hi Sasha.
- Let’s go to the park.
- OK. We can play soccer.
- Yes and we can see the ducks.
- Let’s go!
Read a message from a friend who is going to the park. Match vocabulary words to the words in the message. Example text:
- Hi Katia. Let’s go to the park. We can walk in the garden. From Liesl.
Read several messages from friends describing different activities they are doing at the park. Answer simple yes / no questions orally. (Be aware of not using the part of our future tenses as it’s high for a CLB 1L)
Complete short sentences about the park by filling in the blanks with vocabulary words.
Play I can. Place chairs in a circle. Have all learners stand up in front of a chair. Each learner in turn says one thing they can do, e.g. I can ride a bike, I can speak Farsi, I can make injera. Any learner who CANNOT do that must sit down and stay sitting for the round. The last player standing wins.
As a class, look at Google Maps. Find local parks in your community. Write the names of the parks on the board, and ask learners to place a sticky note by each park they have been to. Use these sticky notes to create a simple bar graph (write the name of the park in the bottom axis of the graph, and stack the sticky notes for each park in a column above). Ask learners simple questions, such as which park is the most popular, least popular, and so on.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Write words to complete a few very simple, short guided sentences about what you like to do in the park.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Write words to complete a very simple, short guided message to a friend about what you can do at the park.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

While this may vary from park to park, there is an overall cultural expectation in Canada that parks are kept clean. Teach learners that they should clean up after their dogs and either pack out garbage or find a garbage bin.

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.
Teach learners that parks are inclusive spaces and all are welcome.
Some learners may not feel safe in open public spaces such as a park. Take these concerns seriously, and discuss possible ways to stay safer in a park, such as going with a friend or not walking through a park alone after dark.
Depending on the individual park, some parks may have dangerous litter such as broken glass or needles. Teach learners that it is safest if they and their children wear shoes in a park.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have experienced trauma may not feel safe in an open public space, such as a park.
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:

Visit a local park as a class. Bring a picnic, frisbee, or soccer ball. When you are back in the classroom, elicit an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story from the learners and illustrate it with photographs (with permission) from the day.
If available and applicable, use a brochure or poster to showcase events, such as festivals or markets, being held at local parks. Create a poster for the classroom.

Realia:

Google maps
Frisbees, soccer balls

Units and Modules:

The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Staying Healthy: CLB 2L/3L

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 1 Classroom Activities: Community and Government Services (p. 227-256) (Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 1L
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Community
Unite for Literacy: The City Park
Unite for Literacy: Community Matters