Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 2L - Writing
Recording Information

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Real-World Task

Choose two words from another culture and copy their meanings
and sample sentences like the word “prayer” and “dance.”

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Capital and lowercase letters
Phonics knowledge of single sounds
and some blends

Context:

Canada is a multi-cultural country, and learning about Canada means learning about many different cultures.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

culture
multi-cultural
prayer
dance
clothes
food
traditions
specific names of cultures or faiths
of learners in the class

Sample Grammar:

Capital letters for proper nouns

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

When we learn a new word, we often use the word in a sentence as an example to see how it’s used.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Canada is a multi-cultural country, and learning about Canada means learning about many different cultures.
Learning about a different culture is a good way to get to know other people.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: What does culture mean? Ask learners to share a difference between living in their countries and living in Canada. Focus on cultural differences, such as languages, food, clothing, holidays, and traditions. Use images to support your discussions as necessary.
Go around the class and ask each learner: Where are you from? Write learners’ names and countries on the board. Make a chart and add a column for food, clothes, religion, and traditions. Ask learners for an example of each from their culture and fill in the chart.
Help learners read the chart. Ask questions such as What food does Fatih eat?
Help learners find Fatih, food, and the intersection of the row and column
(e.g. injera).
Copy task vocabulary next to pictures.
Use TPR (Total Physical Response) to practice the words. Call out one of the words and have learners respond with either an action or by holding up the
correct picture.
Use word and picture cards to practice the vocabulary. Play games such as Bingo, Memory, and Go Fish.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Copy vocabulary words to complete simple sentences about culture.
Copy simple sentences about yourself and your culture. Double-check that you’ve used a capital letter for the names of countries, languages, cultures, and people.
Listen to sentences about people and their cultures, such as Carlos is from Mexico. He is Mexican. He speaks Spanish. He eats food like tacos and beef. Circle words that you hear. Copy sentences.
Work in a small group. Place vocabulary cards face down. Take turns drawing a card and explaining what it means. The other learners try to guess the word. Whoever guesses correctly gets a point.
Have learners take turns teaching the class a word from their language. Write simple sentences to clarify the meaning. For example: Amour is love in French.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Copy three words and a sample sentence for each word. Write the correct word in
the blanks in sentences below.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Choose two words from another culture and copy their meanings and sample sentences like the words “prayer” and “dance.”

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Canada is a multi-cultural country. Help learners to understand that there are many different cultures in 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.
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:

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.
When giving examples of Canada as a multi-cultural country,
be sure to include Francophone culture and Indigenous cultures.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Many learners may experience or have experienced discrimination. They may be triggered by discussions of multi-culturalism, but they may also feel empowered to know what their rights are in Canada. Make sure that all learners understand the right to no discrimination.
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:

Read a story about Indigenous cultures in Canada, such as one
from the Canadian Indigenous Content.
Make an “Our Cultures” book of all the learners in the class.
Give each learner a page and have them copy or write words to complete sentences about themselves. With their permission
include a photo. Use this book for reading activities.
Have learners give very short presentations to share facts about themselves and their cultures.

Realia:

Examples of food or clothing from different cultures
Music or videos from different cultures

Units and Modules:

Tutela (CCLB): Greetings and Introductions: CLB 1L/2L

Lessons and Activities:

LINC 2 Classroom Activities Nice to Meet You (p. 3)
(Not literacy but can be adapted)
Tutela (Archway): Personal Information: Alphabetic Focus: CLB 1L/2L
Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB 2L
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Canadian Indigenous Content
Tutela: Foundation L-CLB 2L Phonics Curriculum
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia:

Unite for Literacy: Community Matters