Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 1 - Reading
Comprehending Information

Canada

Real-World Task

Read 2 to 4 very short sentences accompanying a picture of Canada’s national flag and find the name of its symbol, the colours and the year it became our national flag.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Some basic knowledge related to Canada, the provinces and territories.
Some basic vocabulary related to colors, dates, and places.

Context:

Canada’s national flag is an important national symbol and is often seen on government buildings, schools, public buildings, and during national celebrations such as Canada Day.
The maple leaf has been associated with Canada for many years and is widely recognized as a Canadian symbol.
Canada’s current national flag was officially adopted in 1965.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Canada
red / white
maple leaf
flag
It became our flag in 1965.

Sample Grammar:

Simple present: The flag of Canada is …
Simple past – a very simple introduction to the simple past to talk about past events, The Maple Leaf flag became Canada’s flag in 1965.
uppercase letters for countries

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Sentences are made up of words.
You can often find names such as countries and cities in a sentence / text by identifying uppercase letters.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Recognizing and understanding the Canadian flag can help you connect with other Canadians

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Look at a large map of Canada. Elicit from learners which province / territory you live in and find it on the map. Learn the names of the provinces / territories to either side or nearby. Look at a more detailed map of your own province. Locate your own town / city on the map. Elicit learners’ knowledge of the national flag of Canada and whether they can recognize the provincial flag. Do learners recognise the flags of neighbouring provinces?
Practice the vocabulary words by matching the words to corresponding images. Copy the vocabulary word list into a notebook or digital document. Hold up the correct word when your instructor reads the vocabulary words aloud.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Practice matching uppercase and lowercase letters. Complete gap- fill sentences where the first letter of different words are missing. The missing letters are a mix of upper and lowercase letters and learners work in groups to check their answers. Copy these sentences into a notebook.
Complete sentences about the Maple Leaf flag by filling in the missing vocabulary words.
Ask learners when they have recently seen a Maple Leaf flag? Where was it?
Work with learners to read a short reading text about Canada. The simple sentences describe when Canada became a country, information about the provinces and territories and the capital city. Practice different reading approaches, such as choral reading and echo reading. Give learners large sticky notes with words from the sentence and have them match their sticky note to the correct word.
Read very simple sentence stems about the past related to Canada. Read from the board sentences such as Canada became a country in 1867. The Maple Leaf flag became the flag in 1965., and so on.
Copy the sentences into a notebook or digital document.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Read a list of three sentences, each one about a different provincial flag, accompanied by images. This is the flag
of Nova Scotia. It is white with a blue cross. Circle the name of your province.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Read 2 to 4 very short sentences accompanying a picture of Canada’s national flag and circle the name of its symbol, the colours and the year it
became our national flag.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Canada is a large country, and it is made of 10 provinces and 3 territories. Each province and territory has its own flag but all of Canada has one flag to bring us together.
Canada’s national flag, often called the Maple Leaf, became the official flag on February 15, 1965. The red and white colours are Canada’s national colours, and the maple leaf is a long-standing symbol of Canadian identity, nature, and unity.
Learning about the flag can help Newcomers understand
important national symbols and build cultural knowledge
connected to citizenship and community life 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.
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.
Show learners that the size of an image on the screen can be adjusted.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

Use diverse representations of people in all your learning resources and images, including people who are 2SLGBTQIA+, 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 Canada is an inclusive, multicultural country.
National symbols like the flag can help bring people across Canada together.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma triggers:

Learners who have come to Canada as refugees may have fled a dangerous situation rather than specifically choosing Canada as a new home and may have ambivalent feelings about 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:

Recognize that some learners may have mixed feelings about being in Canada.
Allow learners to have their own opinions and feelings about Canada.
Teach learners that Canada is an inclusive, multicultural country, and that all people have equal rights in Canada.
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:

Colour a flag of Canada.
Work with a partner to put together a very simple jigsaw puzzle of Canada / a Maple Leaf flag.
If possible, visit a landmark in your community, such as a legislative building or monument.
Create a class poster of your province / territory and mark the capital and other communities.

Realia:

Maps
Provincial / territorial flags
Canadian flags

Units and Modules:

Tutela: CLB 1 Module Plan – Canadian Culture
Tutela: CLB 1 Understanding Canada’s Peoples Module
Tutela (ISANS): Canada Theme: CLB FL/1L
(For literacy, but may be appropriate for CLB 1)

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela (ISANS): Bookfolds for Canada Theme: CLB FL/1L
Tutela (RODS): My Canada Book
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Reading Skills Stories
The Literacy Centre of Expertise at TIES: Adults Learn to Print
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia: