Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 2L - Speaking
Getting Things Done

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Real-World Task

Ask for support from your teacher and explain one thing that will help you.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Common classroom words: teacher, instructor, student, learn, chair, desk, board
Common polite phrases to interrupt: Excuse me

Context:

Many learners need support to be successful in education.
It is okay to ask for help, support,
or accommodations.
Learners with disabilities or who are neurodivergent have the right to accommodations.
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. There doesn’t necessarily need to be a disability to
ask for support.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Adverbs with -ly to say how to do something
Modal verb: can
Question with can (learned as a phrase): Can you help me?

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

It is common to ask for help before saying what you need.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

It is okay to ask an instructor for help.
It is okay to need support or accommodations.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Learn the word can. Give examples and then ask learners what they can do and make a list on the board, e.g. Ali can speak Arabic, Indira can knit, Marcos can cook, Jana can ride a bike.
Practice can. Stand in a circle. One learner says something they can do. Anyone who cannot do that must sit down. Go around the circle. The last person standing wins.
Use vocabulary cards with words and clear pictures to practice the vocabulary. Play games such as Bingo, Matching, and Go Fish.
Practice adverbs. Teach slowly, quickly, clearly, and unclearly. Have one learner stand in front of the class and do something. The rest of the class describes how the learner is moving/speaking, e.g.
She is speaking clearly, he is moving slowly.
Copy adverbs to complete very simple sentences.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Practice getting the instructor’s attention and asking for help: Excuse me _________; can you help me?
Read a very simple instructor-made story about learning that includes very simple ways to learn best. Match vocabulary words to words in the story and answer very simple yes/no and comprehension questions.
Discuss as a class: How do you learn best? Make a list of common supports to learning on the board, e.g. I learn best when…I can see the board/I can hear the teacher/The teacher repeats him/herself/The teacher speaks slowly and clearly/I have glasses, etc.
Read the list of supports to learners.
Choral read and echo read the list. Give each learner a word on a sticky note and have them match their word to a word on the board.
Look at the list of supports and discuss
with learners why someone needs these supports. Use can and can’t. Yulia needs to sit at the front because she can’t hear. Ali needs glasses because he can’t see well. Vivienne wants the teacher to speak slowly because the teacher speaks too fast.
Have each learner choose one support and explain to their partner what they need to learn best: e.g. I learn best when I sit at the front.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Use a prompt card to say what someone needs to learn best, e.g. This is Harald. He learns best when he can hear the teacher.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Ask for support from your teacher and explain one thing that will help you.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Some learners may come from cultures where there is a stigma to having a disability, being neurodiverse, or needing help. Teach learners that all people in Canada have the right to accommodations so they can learn best.

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.
Read information from a screen.
Adjust volume on device.

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:

Teach learners that having a disability or being neurodiverse is a protected ground under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that all people in Canada have the same rights and freedoms.
Some learners in the class may have a disability or be neurodiverse. Never require learners to identify or label themselves, but allow it if any learner wishes to speak about how they learn best, including accommodations for a disability or a different kind of brain. Avoid judgemental, patronizing, or ableist language about any person.
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 with a disability or who are neurodiverse, or learners who have children or family with a disability or who are neurodiverse, may have experienced discrimination and ableism and may be triggered by this topic. They may also feel empowered to know what their rights are in 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:

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 guest speaker who understands the level to speak about disabilities in Canada.
Discuss common accommodations and look for them in your school or organization, such as wheelchair ramps and Braille on signs.

Realia:

Common accommodations around the school or organization,
such as wheelchair ramps

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): A Child’s Education: CLB 1L/2L

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 2 Classroom Activities Education (p. 271-314)
(Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 2L
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Games to Learn English (adverb practice)
Learning Chocolate (adverb practice)