Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB 3L - Speaking
Getting Things Done

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Real-World Task

Ask for support in school for a child with a disability and explain two things they need.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

There are many different kinds of needs.
Some people have disabilities.
Some people are neurodivergent.

Context:

Everyone has different needs.
Everyone has the right to accommodations to have their needs met in the class.
It is appropriate in Canada to ask a teacher for help.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Simple present.
Making requests with could or would.

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Making requests.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Using please, would and could to make a polite request.
It is appropriate and expected to ask the teacher for help.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss different kinds of disabilities as a class. Discuss the right to accommodation in Canadian classes.
Make a chart as a class with two columns: disability and accommodation. Elicit different disabilities and the accommodations, including very common disabilities such as nearsightedness and glasses.
Organize vocabulary words into groups based on the number of syllables.
Work with vocabulary cards with words and pictures; match words  to pictures, and then match disabilities  to accommodations.
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 short story about a learner with a disability and fill in the blanks with target vocabulary words.
Look at a photograph of a classroom as a class. Discuss the barriers to learning for someone who is in a wheelchair, who is deaf and who is visually impaired.
Discuss famous Canadians with disabilities, such as Terry Fox (ran halfway across Canada on one leg), Chantal Benoit (wheelchair basketball player), or Michelle Stillwell (paralympian and former MLA and minister).
Listen to a dialogue between a parent and a teacher in which the parent asks for help for their child. Listen several times, and then take the parts of the parent and teacher.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Ask for help for yourself in class and explain what you need to be able to learn well.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Ask for support in school for a child with a disability and explain two things they need.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

In Canada, it is appropriate and expected for learners to ask the instructor for help if they need it. Learners should make requests politely (through their tone and by use of the word please).
In Canada, learners have the right to accommodations to meet their needs in the class (and in the workplace).

Digital Literacy Strategies:

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

Learners may need to:

Look at a website.
Read information from a screen.

Instructors can:

Introduce websites that are relevant to the task(s).

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.
Recognize that learners with disabilities and learners who are neurodivergent may need accommodations in the class or workplace; when possible, help learners of all abilities understand their rights in the class or workplace.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have disabilities or who are neurodivergent may have experienced ableism or discrimination. Discussions of these topics can be triggering for these learners.
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:

Go on a walk through your school or organization and notice barriers and accommodations for people in wheelchairs.
If your school or organization has one, visit the learner services or learner accommodations centre.
Invite a guest speaker who is in a wheelchair to share their experiences.
Read a story about Terry Fox.

Realia:

Assistive technology, such as voice to text apps on the learners’ phones

Units and Modules:

Communicating with a Child’s School (not literacy but can be adapted)

Lessons and Activities:

Filling Out a School Registration Form (not literacy but can be adapted)
Reading a Report Card (not literacy but can be adapted)