Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 2 -Reading
Comprehending Information

Canada

Real-World Task

Read a short, simple message from a Francophone Canadian friend saying 1 to 2 things about their community.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Some basic vocabulary related to community such as language, food, music and so on.
Knowledge of how communities connect and celebrate.

Context:

Canada is built on a diverse network
of communities which include a range of linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and regional communities. Many people identify strongly with both their local neighborhood and their cultural or language group.
Canada is officially bilingual English and French, but also home to hundreds of language communities.
Francophone communities exist in every province and territory, not just Quebec. They play a vital role in maintaining French language and culture across Canada.
Other heritage language communities, such as Filipino (Tagalog), Mandarin, Punjabi, Arabic, Spanish, and many others are part of Canada’s multilingual identity.
This task reflects the intention to include all people in Canada in the themes. The language skills in this task could be applied to other contexts.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Simple present verb tense to express general truths

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Beginning recognition of main ideas.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Beginning recognition of textual clues to interpret the purposes of a text.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: What community / communities are you a part of? What are one or two things you would like to share about your community? What activities do you do with your community? Is this the same or different from the community
in your home country? How is it the same or different? Why is community an important part of life?
Listen to your instructor read the vocabulary words aloud. Hold up the matching image when you hear each word. Next listen to the list of vocabulary words again and this time hold up the correct word card. Now copy the list of vocabulary words into a vocabulary notebook or digital vocabulary word bank.
Create a word bank in the classroom for words connected to community to use for this task and throughout the module.
Incorporate phonics activities based on vocabulary words and other vocabulary related to the topic.
Listen to your instructor read a few short sentences about their community. Now read the transcript they read. Circle any vocabulary words you can find in the transcript. In pairs, take turns reading one sentence each from the transcript aloud. Repeat this activity at the start of each new class on this topic to reinforce vocabulary and learning completed so far..
In small groups, talk about one important part of your community. Explain in simple terms what community events are like. For example, talk about an event like Filipino heritage events or a community wedding, and so on.
Read a few simple phrases to describe different community events in your local area, such as a Punjabi Folk Festival. Discuss the use of the simple present verb to describe these events. Help learners to write one sentence using the simple present verb tense to describe a community event in their own community, such as “The Filipino community has a food bank drive each December.” or “The Chinese community teaches a Mandarin language class on Saturdays.” and so on.
Arrange simple sentences using the simple present verb tense from jumbled word cards about Francophone communities in your province. Check the word order of your sentences with a partner and take turns reading the sentences aloud.
Practice the present tense with various activities and worksheets.
Discuss as a class: How do you communicate with your friends? Elicit ideas such as phone calls, text messages, emails and so on.
Read several messages of 2 or 3 sentences from friends. Identify the greetings, closings,and what they are writing about.
Fill in a simple message with several missing details, with words from the word bank used previously such as “ My friend is from the Syrian __________”, “ I enjoy eating the _________”. “The ________ is very fun and many people are dancing”.
Look at a photograph of a community event on a website. Identify any of the vocabulary words from the list or word bank that you can find in the photo image. Learners could look at different images of different communities on websites and share with a partner or small group which words they found.
Read a few simple sentences written about a Francophone event in your local area.
Fill in the missing words with items from the vocabulary list.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Read short sentences about a Chinese Lunar New Year event in your area and find some basic details in the sentences by underlining activities mentioned in the text.
Read a short, simple message from a Filipino-Canadian friend saying 1 to 2 things about their community. From a set of picture flashcards of community-related words, choose only the ones which are mentioned in the text.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Read a short, simple message from a Francophone Canadian friend saying 1 to 2 things about their community. Identify a few key, concrete facts by answering simple
true / false questions.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Canada is officially bilingual: English and French have equal
status at the federal level.
Francophone communities exist across the country, not only in Quebec but also in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta,
and the North. Some Newcomers may be surprised that French is used outside Quebec.
Francophone communities often center around language, culture, and shared traditions (e.g., Francophonie Week, French media, local schools). This reflects a broader Canadian value: belonging to a community while being part of a multicultural society.
In Canada, we tend to focus on language, culture, and events when describing community rather than politics or religious issues.

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.
Read information from a screen.
Scan online resources to find information.

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.
Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.

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.
Recognize and teach learners that Canada is a diverse place and has people from many different cultures. Canadian communities represent the different cultures of the different people in Canada.
Refugee learners may not have had a choice in leaving their countries and coming to Canada; recognize that some learners may have mixed feelings about being in Canada. Allow learners to have their own opinions and feelings about Canada.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma triggers:

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.
Learners who have experienced discrimination or persecution may find this topic triggering.
Learners may have experienced discrimination, racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny or gender-based violence. Discussions of community may be triggering: be aware that there may be learners who need help, but it may also provide some comfort and support.

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:

Take a field trip to a local Francophone school or community centre to see the language used and services and events hosted there.
Visit local multicultural events that may be held throughout the year.
Invite a guest speaker from the local Francophone community to share what community events are upcoming.
Create a table comparing a learner’s community with the characteristics outlined in the Francophone community message.
Have a mini-multicultural day to allow learners to showcase their culture.

Realia:

Authentic bilingual signs or images of such signs
Food packaging with French and English labels
Maps highlighting French communities in your province or across Canada.

Units and Modules:

Tutela: (CLB2) Geography of Canada – SCORM package
Tutela: CLB 3-4 UNIT: Canada and Diversity (Not correct level but can be adapted.)

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela: Assessment task Canada-City and Province
Tutela: Assessment Task: Canada’s Provinces
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia: