2021 Census Adult Education Kit—Stand-alone activity: Profiles of Canadians

Overview

In this activity, students will read short, fictional profiles about people who have answered census questions. They will identify new vocabulary and develop questions that could be answered with the information contained in these profiles, using prompts and vocabulary lists for support.

Census knowledge

• Understand and use key terminology from the Census of Population.
• Understand the kinds of information gathered by the Census of Population.

Specific learning objectives

Listening

• Understand short, simple communications about a person or situation, and identify factual details and expressions (Canadian Language Benchmark 3).

Speaking

• Briefly describe people and situations, and provide some basic details (Canadian Language Benchmark 3).
• Use simple questions to ask about another person (Canadian Language Benchmark 3).

Reading

• Get information from simple, clear, one- to two-paragraph texts related to everyday topics (Canadian Language Benchmark 3).
• Use standard reference texts such as vocabulary lists to identify and understand new vocabulary (Canadian Language Benchmark 3).

Writing

• Copy or record words and sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation (Canadian Language Benchmark 3).
• Compose short, basic questions about a text (Canadian Language Benchmark 3).

Essential employment skill areas

• Read, using references
• Communicate, asking questions
• Work with others

Materials

Supplies

• Scissors
• Pens or pencils

Handouts

• Profiles of Canadians—version A, B or C
• Profiles of Canadians worksheet
• Census vocabulary from the Instructor's Guide (optional)

Activity

1. Prepare photocopies of the Profiles of Canadians handouts and have students choose one profile. This can be done by cutting the printed profiles into strips and distributing them, or by allowing students to select a profile.

Three different types of profile documents are included in this activity. Instructors should select the most appropriate profile handout for their students.

• Profiles of Canadians—Profile A: This profile handout uses basic language and includes definitions for some potentially challenging vocabulary.
• Profiles of Canadians—Profile B: This profile handout uses basic language and includes a section for students to identify and define words or expressions that are challenging.
• Profiles of Canadians—Profile C: This profile handout uses more advanced sentence structure and idiomatic language.

In a larger classroom, there may be more than one student working with the same profile.

2. Have students read through the profile, first quietly to themselves and then aloud with a partner. Ask partners to repeat back key information after listening.

Ask students to highlight any vocabulary that looks unfamiliar or challenging.

3. As a group, make a list of challenging words or expressions and then work together to create definitions.

Alternatively, challenge students to work with a partner and use reference materials (vocabulary lists, dictionaries, etc.) to determine the meaning and write their own definitions.

4. Individually or in pairs, have students summarize the important points of the profile they read with their partner, using their own words.

5. Have students complete the Profiles of Canadians worksheet, which asks them to come up with original questions that would result in the kind of information presented in the profiles.

If more than one student is working with the same profile, it may be useful for them to share and compare their summaries.

Modifications

If students require additional support, try the following:

• Select the most appropriate version of the Profiles of Canadians handout for your students. Some students may benefit from having potentially challenging vocabulary defined for them (Profile A), while others may benefit from identifying vocabulary that is challenging and using available resources to create definitions that are more personally relevant (profiles B or C).
• To help students create questions, generate a few sample questions using who, what, when, where and how. Post the sample questions in the classroom, along with sample answers, so that students can reference them as models for their own questions.
• Vocabulary may be written on a set of cue cards, and prepared definitions may be written on another set. Students who find it challenging to create their own definitions may work at matching words with their corresponding definitions. These cue cards can be used to create a word wall that students can reference throughout census activities.

If students require an additional challenge, try the following:

• Encourage students to brainstorm or search for synonyms, idiomatic expressions or other ways of expressing the same concept for vocabulary used in the profile(s) they are reading.
• Provide students with Profile C for more complex sentence structure and more idiomatic vocabulary.

Next steps

• Ask students to select one to three words or expressions from the Profiles of Canadians handout that they think will be useful to them in their day-to-day lives. Ask students to use these words or expressions in a conversation with a partner to describe themselves (e.g., I am also a lone parent. I have a degree in chemistry. I run a sewing business. I live in the suburbs).
• Ask students to roleplay the profile they have been given. Put them in pairs and tell them to introduce themselves to a partner, speaking in the first person as their profile character and using their own words. Partners can guess which profile is being used.
• In May, when the Census of Population is underway, repeat the same activity with several different profiles as a warm-up at the beginning of class.
• Integrate the profiles of Canadians from this activity into other census activities in the classroom.