Detailed Sample Task: Stage I
CLB 3 - Reading
Comprehending Instructions
Employment - At the Workplace
Real-World Task
Read and follow up to 5 instructions to set the security system when you leave.
Planning Context
Helpful Knowledge:
- Some knowledge of simple security systems.
- Simple vocabulary related to security systems or other technological devices.
Context:
- Many workplaces (offices, warehouses, fast-food restaurants, construction sites) have security systems that require employees to activate or deactivate when entering or exiting, especially if they are the first or last person entering or exiting a building.
- Following procedures and processes to ensure workplace health and safety standards are met is a requirement of most jobs.
Vocabulary and Grammar
Sample Vocabulary:
- Words and phrases related to specific security and tech devices
- keypad/ touchpad
- button/ key
- signal
- passcode/ password
- alarm
- beep
- delay
- Verbs
- press
- hold
- turn on/ off
- Sequence words
- first, then, next, etc.
Sample Grammar:
- Words and phrases used for giving instructions for setting security systems in the workplace.
- Positive and negative imperatives.
Knowledge and Strategies
Textual and Functional Knowledge:
- Sequence words and phrases.
- Format for instructions (point form, list).
- Scanning to find specific information and details.
- Recognizes symbols such as pound key (#) and star (*).
Sociolinguistic Knowledge:
- Technical language and terms.
Activities and Tasks
Sample Skill-Building Activities:
- Show a picture of someone using a device in the workplace and elicit responses to prompts such as “What are they doing?”; “Why” and so on. Elicit other types of tasks or devices you commonly use at work.
- Read a short story with pictures about someone reading a set of instructions to set a security alarm (or other device) at work. Answer a few simple questions to check understanding.
- Match vocabulary with pictures or simple definitions.
- Use fill in the blank to identify imperatives from a list of verbs.
- Put a set of instructions in the correct order.
- Match instructions with pictures for each step.
- Read and act out the instructions.
- Create a short, simple instructor-made story on the topic, and 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. These activities practice vocabulary in context, show relevancy of the language and improve fluency.
Sample Skill-Using Tasks:
- Read up to 5 instructions to use a device at work and answer 7-10 questions.
Sample Assessment Tasks:
- Read up to 5 instructions to set the security alarm when you leave the workplace and answer 7-10 questions.
Teaching Considerations
Digital Literacy Strategies:
Successful completion of some tasks may require some baseline digital knowledge and skills.
Learners may need to:
- Use videoconferencing technology for online meetings.
- Navigate and use online learning management systems (LMS) such as Avenue.
- Be familiar with or use common devices and machines used in the workplace (photocopiers, coffee machine, phone or security system, point of sale system).
Instructors can:
- Help learners develop strategies for learning new digital skills and problem solving when they encounter challenges with technology and other devices.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:
Instructors can:
- 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.
- Recognize that learners with disabilities and learners who are neurodivergent may need accommodations in the workplace; when possible, help learners of all abilities understand their rights in the workplace.
Trauma-informed Strategies:
Possible Trauma Triggers:
- Learners who have been bullied in the workplace or have worked in conditions that made them fearful of reprisal may be afraid to ask for assistance or request help.
Strategies:
- Share information about workers’ rights and employer obligations.
- Model making a request to your supervisor.
- Giving learners the knowledge, skills and language to access resources can be empowering.
- 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:
- Identify problem solving strategies for situations at work when you don’t know how to do something.
- Practice expressions for requesting assistance and describing the problem.
- Work through a series of workplace related problems with other classmates. Identify possible solutions and choose the best one.
- Have learners take pictures of devices they use in the workplace, school or at home and have them record or write simple step by step instructions for using them.
Realia:
- Small devices, appliances or tech gadgets you might use at work
- Authentic employee handbooks or manuals for training new employees
- Videos or how-to webpages on how to use devices
Units and Modules:
- Tutela Collections:
- LINC Works CLB 3 Part 2 (Norquest College)
- Employment Curriculum
- Tutela Resources:
- Avenue Course Builder:
Lessons and Activities:
Detailed Sample Task
This exemplar is aligned with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and is designed to guide and inform your lesson and module planning. Consult the Canadian Language Benchmarks English as a Second Language for Adults for detailed performance descriptors at this benchmark and skill.
The information in this document is not exhaustive and can be expanded on. As well, you can use more learner-friendly language in your materials and assessments.
This is NOT a lesson or module plan.
