Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 3 - Reading
Getting Things Done

Getting Around and Transportation

Real-World Task

Use a simple transit app to understand details about a route like the length, number of stops or alternative routes.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Vocabulary related to using local transit.
Knowledge of basic map and direction concepts.
Familiarity with time concepts.
Knowledge of numbers 1-100

Context:

In Canada, many people utilize public transit, even when they own a car.
Transit is often cheaper, more convenient, less stressful and cheaper than paying for parking.
You can make transit journeys more efficient if you plan your routes first.
You can use website schedules or transit apps. Many communities provide free app downloads for local transit services. These apps allow you to enter your starting point and destination into the app to get a personalized route as well as stating your preference for mode of transportation and timing of the journey.

Vocabulary and Grammar

Sample Vocabulary:

Sample Grammar:

Prepositions to describe direction of movement, such as from, to, and to describe time such as at, in, before

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Use textual and contextual clues to interpret the purpose of a text, such as a schedule in an app.
Typical formats and wording information for a specific purpose, such as a transit schedule in an app.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Elicit how many learners take transit regularly and ask them how they find their way around and plan their transit trips.
In pairs, using printable clock handouts,
one learner draws in a time and their partner makes a sentence about their everyday habits at that time.
Describe to a partner three items from your daily routine with a focus on which prepositions are used to describe time,
such as I get up at 7:00 am, and so on.
In pairs, describe how to move around the school building to find different key locations, such as the main office, cafeteria, washroom, and library.
Match picture flashcards showing different icons from a local transit app to the corresponding words.
Listen to a list of three to four items found on a route planning transit app; circle each item, on a screenshot handout of a local transit app, such as starting point, destination, journey time, bus number.
Complete four to five simple sentences with prepositions relating to direction of travel, such as You can take a bus, train or cab ____ the airport, and so on.
Listen to a person describe their transit journey and answer three multiple choice questions about that journey.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Enter the location of the school as the starting point and a local landmark, such as a hospital, city hall or high school as the destination into a transit app and explain to a partner which bus number / train line you will take from school to this destination.
Read simple instructions for how to travel from the school to a local landmark, such as a hospital, city hall or high school as the destination and compare the information to a screenshot of the transit app. Correct the mistakes in the simple instructions.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Use a simple transit app to understand details about a route like the length,
number of stops or alternative routes.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Have learners compare and contrast modes of transportation from other countries and Canada to develop intercultural awareness.
Consider the specific context of your learners and adapt materials as needed. For example, what are the common modes of public transportation in your area?
Apps and other platforms are often used for way-finding and navigation of public transportation systems.

Digital Literacy Strategies:

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

Learners may need to:

Navigate and use transit apps to get information about local transit options, schedules and routes.
Have keyboarding and typing skills.
Use familiar apps, social media platforms and web pages.
Read information from a screen.
Scan online resources to find information.

Instructors can:

Make and/ or adapt digital materials.
Introduce websites or apps that are relevant to the task such as those found in the app store for local transit services. Use screenshots to provide orientation to transit apps to build skills before using the digital apps.
Support learners in finding, navigating and using websites or apps.
Share knowledge and strategies to support the safe download and use of apps, including recognizing in-app ads.
Teach reading strategies such as skimming and scanning to find information on websites.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization Strategies:

Recognize that people who identify as women may not have used public transit alone before coming to Canada. Make sure these learners are aware of their rights in Canada and the resources that are available to them to feel safe when accessing transit services.
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.
Recognize that learners with disabilities and learners who are neurodivergent may need different help to navigate public transit; when possible, help learners of all abilities understand how to access transit services.

Trauma-informed Strategies:

Possible Trauma Triggers:

Learners may be triggered by feeling like they are in dangerous or risky situations.
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:

Consider discussing strategies for safety when using public transportation (such as walking with a friend, phoning a friend before you leave and when you get home, staying in well-lit areas, and so on.
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:

Plan a trip on local transit using the app and then take that trip
as a class to see how it compares to the plan.
Extend getting things done by planning other forms of moving around the city including taking a ride hailing service, or walking using the relevant apps.

Realia:

transit tickets / passes
transit route maps
transit apps from different regions

Units and Modules:

Tutela: Blended Module CLB 3-4 Getting Around a City
(May need to be adapted for the level you teach.)
Tutela: Module: Preparing to Take Public Transit (CLB 3)

Lessons and Activities:

Ellii: Transportation Simple Sentences CLB 2-4 
(May need to be adjusted for the level you teach.)
Ellii: Bus Schedules CLB 2-4
(May need to be adjusted for the level you teach.)
Ellii: Taking the Bus CLB 3-4
(May need to be adjusted for the level you teach.)
Tutela: Skill-Using Task: Understanding Transit Signs (CLB 3)
A search of NLCG (nlcg.achev.ca) may provide additional tasks that can be adapted.

Multimedia: