Detailed Sample Task: EAL Literacy

CLB FL-Listening
Comprehending Information

Community and Recreation

Real-World Task

Listen to a short description of a single parent accessing the food bank to find out the opening hours.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Basic family words: mother, father, parent, child, husband, wife
Numbers 0-12

Context:

Many people in Canada access the food bank.
There are many different kinds of families.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Simple present
Subject pronouns: I, you, he, she

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Each word plays a role in the sentence.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

There are many different ways to get support in the community, including a food bank.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Put large, clear photographs of people on the board. Elicit the words from learners: man, woman, boy, girl, husband, wife. Say sentences about each person, emphasizing the subject pronoun, and have learners repeat: She is a woman, he is a man, she is a girl, he is a boy, she is a mother, he is a father, she is a child, he is a child. Invite learners to start making sentences.
Sit in a circle. Go around the circle and say your name: I am Maria. I am Kamal. Have each learner go around the circle and introduce their classmates using he and she, e.g. She is Maria, he is Kamal.
Put a large, clear photograph of a food bank on the board. Ask learners: What is this? What happens there? What can you get there? How much does it cost? Review the basic idea of a food bank and teach the words: food bank, goes, and gives.
Practice counting to 12. Sit in a circle and count. Then count again, clapping the right number of times for each number, so eventually you are clapping 12 times. Invite learners to stand up and stand in groups. Ask each group to count how many people are in their group.
Trace the numbers 1-12.
Work with a partner. Count objects and write the number.
Listen to a very simple dialogue between two people at the food bank as they talk about the time it opens and the time it closes.Practice the dialogue as a class and then practice with a partner. Role-play your dialogue for the class.
Work with a partner to read the time (whole hours only, e.g. 1:00, 2:00, 3:00) on clear images of digital clocks.
Bring a large, clear digital clock to the class. Every class, throughout the class, have learners check the time and read it aloud.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Put up large, clear photographs of different families. Choose families with one parent and families with two parents, families from different cultures, etc. Elicit from learners who is in the family, e.g. He is the father she is the mother, he is the child and so on. Teach the word single parent.
Listen to the time (whole hours only) and repeat back what time it is or circle a picture of a digital clock with the correct time.
Listen to a story about visiting a food bank. Give oral answers to very simple questions about the story including the time it opens and closes.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Listen to a very simple story about going to the store and say the opening and closing hours.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Listen to a short description of a single parent accessing the food bank to find out the opening and closing hours.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Teach learners that many people in Canada access the food bank. Don’t pass any judgements on people who access the food bank or any other form of support.

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 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.
Teach learners that food banks in the community are available for anyone to use.
Food banks can accommodate many different kinds of food preferences such as vegan or halal.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners who have lived through famine or who are in a food scarce situation might be triggered by discussions of the food bank.
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:

As a class, visit a supermarket that has a donation bin for the food bank. Bring a few items for the class to donate. Elicit an LEA (Language Experience Approach) story about the experience when you return to class.
Go on a community walk. Visit local businesses in your area and notice the opening hours.

Realia:

Canned goods
Signs showing opening and closing hours
Information about local food banks

Units and Modules:

The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Eating Fruit: CLB FL/1L
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Making Fruit Salad: CLB FL/1L

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (Archway): Volunteering at a Foodbank: CLB 1L/2L (Not the right level but can be adapted)
Tutela: Norquest LINC Phonics Curriculum: CLB FL
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
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:

Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Community
Tutela: ESL Image Bank: Food