Things we can and can’t do lesson plan
“We can do it”
Lesson 4 Level 4 Age 9-12
Lesson plans for ESL kids teachers
Lesson 4
Things we can and can’t do
In this lesson we talk about ability and say what people and animals can and can’t do. Your students will also learn how to ask ability questions and read a text about bears.
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Materials:
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Age: 9-12 years
Time: 1 hour – 1 hour 30 mins
Objectives: Asking about and saying what animals and people can and can’t do, saying how well you can do things.
Structures: “Can you?”, “Yes, I can / No, I can’t”.
Key vocabulary: swim, fly, walk, jump, dive, play (a musical instrument), cook (delicious meals), drive (a car), ride (a bike), speak (another language), run (very fast), touch (your toes), eat, climb (trees), very / quite / not very well,
Grammar focus:
– Using “can” for ability
– Using quantifiers to say how well you can do things
Your students will need:
- a pen
- a pencil
- a notebook
- [hide_on_uk]colored[/hide_on_uk][hide_on_us]coloured[/hide_on_us] pencils
For this level 4 course, use either the PDF mini-textbooks – print out copies for each student, or if you have a projector or large screen you can use PowerPoint lessons. In both cases, follow the lesson through as it appears in the materials. The lesson is self-explanatory, and there are additional teaching notes below.
Lesson procedure:
Lesson objectives
Say what animals and people can and can’t do
Write a text about this topic
Say what you can do
Read about bears
1. Review pronouns
Students review pronouns from last lesson. They also practice asking questions.
2. Asking about ability using can and can’t
Students learn some common action verbs and then ask if animals and people can do those things.
1a: Have students match the verbs to the pictures and then do the actions for these verbs along with the teacher. Students them practice using can and can’t to ask ability questions about animals and people.
1b: Have students write a short text about an animal using the example about penguins as a guide. Have them read and display these texts.
1c: Introduce some more verbs. Have students match the verbs to the phrases and pictures.
1d: In pairs, have students ask each other yes/no questions to find out what they can and can’t do. They can also say how well they do these things.
3. Reading for information
2a: Students read a factual text about bears. Start by having students read together in pairs (taking turns to read each sentence) to answer the question on page 1d. Then have students read through alone again to find the answers to the question on this page.
Finally, go through the answers as a class.
Other lessons
Levels:
Level 1 lessons (Age 3-5)
Level 2 lessons (Age 5-7)
Level 3 lessons (Age 7-9)
Level 4 lessons (Age 9-12)
Mini lessons (all ages)
Lessons in this level:
- Introductions and classroom objects
- Classroom objects and spelling things
- Pronouns and personal details
- Things we can and can’t do
- Describing your home
- Nationalities and describing your town
- Places and geographical features
- Describing your bedroom
- Talking about family members
- Describing the weather
- School subjects and timetables
- Daily routines (1)
- Daily routines (2)
- Food and drink
- Dishes from around the world
- Cooking and recipes
