Detailed Sample Task: Stage I

CLB 4 - Reading
Getting Things Done

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Real-World Task

Read about 3 to 4 Black History Month events taking place in your area, including the date, time, location and a few sentences about each event,
and decide which you can attend.

Planning Context

Helpful Knowledge:

Vocabulary related to dates and times
Knowledge of human rights for everyone, including BIPOC people, in Canada and ways in which we can support each other in the community.

Context:

Posters and other information about events will include the date, date, time and location. It may also include different things you can see or experience at the event and a cost if any.
In Canada, Black History Month is in February.
Libraries, schools, and community centers often organize:
- film screenings
- talks and presentations
- book displays
- cultural events
Libraries and communities often host events like this to show respect and learn about different cultures, to build inclusion and celebrate diversity.
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:

Black History Month
event / workshop / discussion
screening
culture
celebrate
event
attend
register
participate
No cost / By donation / Pay what you can
Everyone welcome / Open to all

Sample Grammar:

Future verb tenses using will
Prepositions of time, place and date
Giving reasons using subordinating conjunction, because

Knowledge and Strategies

Textual and Functional Knowledge:

Recognition of main ideas and text types.

Sociolinguistic Knowledge:

Recognition of textual clues to interpret the purposes of a text.
Recognition of typical formats for event notices.

Activities and Tasks

Sample Skill-Building Activities:

Discuss as a class: Have you heard of Black History Month or any other events like National Indigenous Peoples Day? Why do we celebrate specific events?
What cultural celebrations or community events have you attended recently? What did you do there? Have you, or any friends / family attended any Black History Month events in Canada?
Match the vocabulary words to images on flash cards. Then match the image and word to a third set of cards with a simple definition of the word. Add these new words to a vocabulary journal in a notebook or a digital document. Categorize the words into their parts of speech, nouns, verbs and adjectives.
Discuss the significance of Black History Month and what kinds of events take place during this time, such as museum exhibits about Black Canadians, related story time and children’s programs at the library, music and dance performances, community celebrations and guest speaker talks. Look at pictures of different Black History Month events and match them to a list of activities.
Create a word wall of the vocabulary words related to Black History Month. Organize the words by events, activities, and locations. Add words to the word wall related to other cultural events in the community.
Listen to a description of an event for
Black History Month read by the instructor. Answer a set of short questions about the listening.
Now look at the transcript of the description. Circle any of the vocabulary words you can find in the description. Read the description aloud to a partner and listen as they read it to you.
As a class, look at a webpage describing events for Black History Month. Identify the day, date, time and location for each event. Discuss some helpful reading strategies when reviewing a webpage. Focus first on pre-reading strategies such as looking at the title, images, and sub-headings to predict the focus of the text. Next, skim the text to get the gist of the overall profile, such as what the event is and when it takes place. Then, scan the text to find key details without having to read / understand every word of the webpage, such as the event in general terms. In pairs, review a webpage and scan the text for one piece of information such as location / date.
Review the grammar rules for making and using the simple future verb tense, will. Read a gap-fill paragraph in a handout or digital document about ways to talk about upcoming events in the community. Fill in the missing future verb forms to complete the sentences, such as “We will be showing a documentary about Black Railway porters in Canada on February 19th”, and so on.
Complete a simple handout or digital document about upcoming events in the community by filling in the missing future will-verb forms to complete the sentences.
Review the different prepositions used to describe when and where events will take place, such as on, at, in and so on. Complete a simple paragraph about multicultural community events including Orange Shirt Day, Black History Month and Heritage Days events which have missing prepositions. Practice reading the paragraph aloud with a partner taking turns to read one sentence each.
Read several posters about upcoming community events and choose one that you would like to attend. Are you able to attend each event? Why did you choose the event you did? Share with a classmate using can and cannot explain your reasons such as
“I can go on Saturday because I am not working.” or “I cannot go on Tuesday evening because my children go to bed early.”
Role play with a partner, a conversation to plan to attend a local festival, telling your partner when and where the events take place.

Sample Skill-Using Tasks:

Read a simple event poster and locate five key pieces of information.
Read a simple event poster that is incomplete and list four key details that you would need to know if you plan to attend this event.
Visit a local library or community centre and look for the posters that advertise upcoming community events. Choose one to report on and share the information with the class including what the event is, the date, time and location.

Sample Assessment Tasks:

Read about 3-4 Black History Month events taking place in your area, including the date, time, location and a few sentences about each event, and decide which you can attend.

Teaching Considerations

Cultural Considerations:

Black History Month is a time to learn about the history and achievements of Black people, to celebrate culture, community leaders, and important events. Anyone can attend community activities, talks, and films.

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.
Send and receive text messages and messages on other texting apps.
Send and receive email messages
Read formatted texts online, such as forms
Navigate and use online learning management systems (LMS) such as Avenue.
Recognize a phishing attempt of a scam message.
Evaluate online search results.
Open and read PDF attachments to email

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.
Use digital tools such as translation or pronunciation tools to support language learning and foster autonomous learning.

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 celebrations represent the different cultures of the different people in Canada.
Some learners may have different views. You can be sensitive to their differing opinions, but all learners benefit from EDI, and all learners have the right to an inclusive and equitable learning environment.

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 may have experienced discrimination, racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny or gender-based violence. Discussions of EDI 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 visit a public Black History Month event, including a “what to look for” activity for learners.
Visit a local Indigenous cultural centre or museum to observe aspects of Indigenous culture.
Invite a guest speaker from the local library to present simple information about multicultural heritage events in the community.

Realia:

Authentic posters for Black History Month events and other community / community heritage events
Images of multicultural artists, dancers, or speakers
Images of Black Canadians from the past up to the present day

Units and Modules:

Lessons and Activities:

Tutela: Anti-racism, Indigenous Cultures and Histories Resources for ESL Instructors developed by WoodGreen Community Services

Multimedia: