Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 3L - Reading
Getting Things Done

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Real-World Task

Read a message from a friend with an invitation to celebrate their cultural holiday at their home.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

People from different cultures celebrate different holidays or celebrate similar holidays in different ways.

Context:

Canada is a multicultural country. There are people from many different cultures, and it is common for people in Canada to celebrate a wide range of holidays.
Many people in Canada have friends from different cultures.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

invite
celebrate
holiday
culture
meal
family
specific words to the holiday, such as Eid, Diwali, Christmas or Hanukkah

Sample Grammar:

Present continuous to express the future.
Invitations with would.

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Making invitations.
Structure of a message.
Connecting words such as coordinating conjunctions.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Using dear and other courtesy formulas to make a polite and friendly invitation.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss cultural holidays as a class. Make a list on the board and elicit how you celebrate each holiday.
Discuss a common holiday in Canada, such as Thanksgiving. Elicit from learners how Thanksgiving is celebrated. Invite other people who have grown up in Canada, such as other instructors or staff at the school or organization, to share how they celebrate Thanksgiving. Compare and contrast the differences and similarities as a class.
In partners or a small group, lay out vocabulary cards upside down. Take turns flipping over a card, reading the word and explaining it. Keep the card if you get it right. Learner with the most cards wins.
From a short, simple instructor-made story on the topic, have learners listen as the instructor reads, following with their finger. Have learners repeat after the instructor to match intonation and fluency. Finally, have learners read the story as a group, and then individually.
Read a very simple and short jigsaw story about celebrating a holiday together with the sentences out of order. Put the sentences in the correct order.
Read an invitation to celebrate a holiday. Circle all the information for who, where and when.
Read an invitation to a party at someone’s house. Circle all the words that make the invitation sound polite.
Interview a partner about a cultural holiday. Ask them how they celebrate.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Read a message from a friend with an invitation to celebrate a common Canadian holiday, such as Thanksgiving, at their home.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Read a message from a friend with an invitation to celebrate their cultural holiday at their home.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

There are many different cultures in Canada, and there are also regional differences in Canadian culture. Canadian culture is not a fixed idea; even people whose families have been in Canada for many generations may celebrate different holidays or celebrate the same holidays in different ways. Help learners to understand  how multicultural Canada is.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline knowledge and digital skills.

Learners may need to:

Read a text message.
Read an email.

Instructors can:

Show learners how to send and receive text messages.
Show learners how to open, read and reply to email messages.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

Instructors can:

Use diverse representations of people in all learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous, Francophone and of other cultures, and people who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent.
Teach that race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, genetic characteristics and disability are all protected grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners may have experienced racism, and discussions of racism may be triggering.
Give learners advance warning of this topic and be aware that there may be learners who require support.

Strategies

Create a safe and supportive classroom environment by establishing familiar routines, repeated activities, and model friendly and non-evaluative interactions; learners who have experienced trauma often benefit from having routine.
Recognize and respect learners’ right to choose if, when and what they share about themselves and their routines.

Resources

Outings, Guest Speaker Suggestions, Extension Activities:

Invite a guest speaker from a different culture to share about a holiday and how they celebrate it.
If there is a holiday being celebrated in your community, visit a place where there are decorations, such as looking at Christmas lights downtown before Christmas, seeing New Year’s celebrations for Chinese New Year’s, and so on.
If there is a holiday being celebrated in your community, do a craft associated with that holiday, such as dyeing eggs at Easter, making valentines for Valentine’s Day, carving a pumpkin at Halloween, and so on.
Read a story about a holiday in Canada.
Write a thank you message to a friend after visiting their home.
Host a potluck in your class and have learners bring a small amount  of food to share from their culture.

Realia:

Holiday decorations
Cultural foods

Units and Modules:

Socializing with Others (not literacy but can be adapted)
Canadian Holidays and Celebrations (CLB 2 but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

Inviting a Friend to an Event (not literacy but can be adapted)