A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

Lesson Plan
School : “Vasile Scurtu” – Parva, Secondary School
English teacher : Aneta Pop
Topic: I can sing, I can dance, I can hop
Form : the 3rd A, 1st year of study
Type of lesson: acquiring new information
(CAN- expressing ability)
Skills : speaking, writing, listening
Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to review the language taught previously(action
verbs) and to introduce and practice the verb CAN – expressing ability.
Aims :
 to recycle the language taught previously (parts of the body, action verbs)
 to practice vocabulary related to the topic
 to enable the students to use expressions such as I can/(I
can’t)…What can you do?
 to enrich their vocabulary with verbs(skip the rope, drive a car, cook)
 to practice their speaking, writing, listening skills
 to consolidate the target language making up a poster, working in
groups, singing English songs
 to give Sts confidence in their ability to use the English
language
 to end the lesson in a fun atmosphere
Time: 45 min.
English teacher: Aneta Pop 1
 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

Didactic strategies:
…
 methods and procedures: ice-breaking, conversation,
explanation, dialogues, listen-and-do activities, role-play,
singing and miming, making up a poster
 materials and equipment: handouts, flashcards,
worksheets, glue, puppets, large drawing boards (larger then
A3), P.C. , video projector (a short cartoon –“What can you
do?”), audio cassettes, CD player
 organization: class work, individual work, group work

Anticipated problems :
Some students may be shy to speak English (or to mime). The teacher will encourage them to speak English
(and to have fun, miming).If they remain silent, they are less likely to learn. T. will explain to them that it is better
for them to risk getting something wrong, than not to say anything. All learners need to experiment and make
errors.

Notes:
This is a high energy lesson which is great fun and allows my students to pick up the structures
quickly.Parts of this lesson can be used in other lessons as energy burners (especially the song I used
many times in the past: “Hop to the tree”).

English teacher: Aneta Pop 2

 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

Lesson Procedure
…

ACTIVITY 1 : WARM-UP
AIMS :
 to get things started, wake up tired Sts and prepare brains, mouths, ears and eyes for English
 to generate interest, to make pupils relax

PROCEDURE INTERACTION TIMING

Sts start singing “Hello” song to
establish a relaxed, anxiety-free atmosphere in T-S 2 min
the classroom.
Sts sing a song, shake their hands, dance
and mime:

Hello, hello, hello

Hello, hello, hello
Hello, hello, hello
Hello, how are you?

Hello, hello, hello Frontal

Hello, hello, hello Speaking
Listening
Hello, hello, hello
I am fine, thank you!

3 min
Let’s move to the music! (ACTIVITY RAP):

“Hello, again – and it’s time to listen and move to the

music. Are you ready? Okay, let’s go!
Stand up, please. Yes, please stand up.
English teacher: Aneta Pop 3
 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

And sit down, all sit down.

And stand up, stand … up. dancing
And sit down, all sit down.
And stand up, please.

Good. Thank you.

Now raise your arms – and up and down. (4X)

Go on, don’t stop – and up and down and up and down.

Thank you. move to the music

Don’t sit down now. Let’s go on.

Now snap your fingers. First your right fingers, then your
left. Listen. (snapping fingers)
It’s easy.
Now it’s your turn – right, left (6X)
listening
Thank you. You’re doing fine!
miming
Now clap your hands. Here we go – one, two. (5X)
Now clap your hands again and count to ten.
Count to ten in English.
Ready, steady, go: one, two……….ten. Thank you and
back from ten to one. Ten, nine………..one. GOOD.

Now sit down, please. Sit back and close your eyes. Okay.
Please, close your eyes. Yes, close your eyes and listen to
the music. Relax….

English teacher: Aneta Pop 4

 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

ACTIVITY 2: CHECKING AND PRACTICE THE PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE

…
AIM:
 to recycle and practice the language taught previously (parts of the body, action
verbs)

PROCEDURE INTERACTION TIMING

All right, everyone! We are not here to relax…but dancing 5 min
having fun! So…we need more action now:
 Stand up!
 Sit down!
 Clap your hands!
 Stomp your feet!
 Snap your fingers!
 Blink your eyes
 Smile!/ Hop!/ Jump!/Spin!
 Walk!/ Run!/
 Play football!/
 Play basketball!
 Play tennis!
 Play the piano!/ Play the violin!
 Play the quitar!/Play the drums!
 Ride a bike!/ Ride a horse!
 Skate!
 Fly!
 Swim!

Very good! Now… Let’s play “Teacher says”!

 This is the game “Simon Says” but using the word
“teacher” instead. T. goes straight into the game – no
explanations necessary – by saying “Teacher says touch
your…(head)”. T. does the action and makes sure
everyone else follows along. She does a few more “touch
your eyes, touch your toes”, etc. Then at some point T. gives

English teacher: Aneta Pop 5

 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

command without the “Teacher says” part - e.g. “Touch

your eyes” but … teacher touches her ears. Play the game
faster and faster. When a student makes a mistake they
have to sit the rest of the game out.)
Teacher says:
 Touch your head!
 Touch your body!
 Touch your legs!
 Touch your eyes/ ears/ mouth/ nose!
 Touch your shoulders!
 Touch your knees!
 Touch your toes!
We end this activity by singing “Head and Shoulders” song.
(Appendix 1)

ACTIVITY 3: PRESENTATION & PRACTICE– listening, speaking,

writing activity
AIM:
 to present and activate the vocabulary of the lesson
 to develop the pupils listening skills
 to practice their speaking / listening/ writing skills
 to enable the students to use expressions such as I can/ (I can’t)…
 to enrich their vocabulary with action verbs (skip the rope, drive a car, cook)
 to give Sts confidence in their ability to use the English language
PROCEDURE INTERACTION TIMING
Teacher teaches "Can you ..?", "I can …"
Great song! I can touch my knees, too. And I can touch my
toes! Can you all see me doing this? Watch me! T-Ss
(Teacher touches her knees/ toes)
I can do a lot of things. Look! Hear, on this blackboard, are 10 min
some pictures representing things that I CAN do, and on the Listening
other blackboard you can see what I CAN’T do.
T. also shows children some pictures of her (using a video
projector).

English teacher: Aneta Pop 6

 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

Look! I can dance/ cook/ climb a tree…

…
T. takes out two more flashcards for the actions “fly” and
“ride a bike”. All the students sit down. T. pulls out the Listen and do
“Jump” flashcard. says “I can jump” – point to herself and
nod her head. Then jumps and again says “I can jump”. Sts
repeat and do the same action. T. does the same for
another flashcard (e.g. run). Then pulls out the "fly"
flashcard. Looks surprised and shakes her head, saying
“No. I can’t fly”. Motion trying to fly but falling on the
ground. T. can also asks some students “Can you fly?” –
some are bound to say “Yes”, but T. looks shocked and
says: “No. No I don’t think so.”. Next does a few more
actions (turn around, hop) and then pulls out the “ride a
bike” flashcard. Again, says “I can’t ride a bike” and
motion trying to but falling off. Then T. finishes with the
remaining flashcards.
Now, pulls out a flashcard (e.g. hop) and says to the class
“Can you hop?”. Encourage everyone to say, “Yes, I can
hop” and show you how. T. does this with all of the
flashcards – try and encourage some to say they can’t do
some actions (e.g. ride a bike, swim and especially fly!).

I can sing! Listen! (T. sings a song) Can you sing? Children sing Listening
BIG/ LITTLE song. (Appendix 2)

Wow! We can do a lot of things! Let’s see what a pumpkin

can/can’t do!

- T and Sts watch a short cartoon (“Learn English - Actions”):

- First pumpkin, come in.What can you do?

- I can run. I can jump. I can swing. (watching the
cartoon)
- Can you fly?
- No, I can’t. I can’t fly.
- Sorry. Next. What can you do?
- I can throw a ball. I can climb. I can catch.
English teacher: Aneta Pop 7
 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

- Can you catch an elephant?

-
…
No, I can’t. I can’t catch an elephant.
- Next. What can you do?
- I can Kick . I can hit. I can fight.
- Can you fight a monkey and a crocodile?
- No, I can’t. I can’t fight a monkey and a crocodile.
- Too bad. Next. What can you do?
- I can smile. I can cry. I can walk .
- Can you swim?
- No, I can’t. I can’t swim.
- Sorry. Next pumpkin.What can you do?
- I can sleep. I can drink . And…I can eat.
- Can you eat a tree?
- Yes, I can. I can eat a tree.
- Yeah! He’s the one! Get him in here.Take him. We’ll take him.

ACTIVITY 4: PRACTICE and REINFORCEMENT

AIMS:
 to practice their speaking and writing skills
 to build confidence, to work in groups
 to practice and consolidate the target language by making up a poster
 to stimulate Sts’ imagination and creativity
 to enable the Sts to use expressions such as “ I can..”

PROCEDURE INTERACTION TIMING

APPLICATION 1.
I guess you liked the cartoon. Now it’t time to work!
INDIVIDUAL – WORK –writing and miming IW
-T. distributes Sts. worksheets with the verb CAN. (Appendix 3)
10 min

Please, complete the sentences for each picture,

writing can:

English teacher: Aneta Pop 8

 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

-Sts. work individually: Writing

I can sing. …
I can draw……

APPLICATION 2. GROUP WORK

GW
-When the Sts have finished writing their workfiles, they have to work in
groups .

-T devides the class into groups of 4. St –St

Speaking
-Each group will receive a large sheet of paper (larger than A3), and an
envelope with some labels and pictures (action verbs)
Listening
-T explains the task. Sts have to write down their names and to stick the T-Ss
pictures/ activities on the paper. After that, they stick the labels with the right
action verb under each picture.
-T models the task providing a visual aids. (Appendix 4) As they work in
groups they listen to songs in English:

Can you clap?

Can you do it?
Can you swim?
Can an elephant jump?
What can you do?
I can sing, I can dance, I can hop
I can run

ACTIVITY 5 : FEED-BACK- “What, what, what can you do?”(Singing-and-do

activity.) MIME
AIMS:
 to consolidate vocabulary related to actions

English teacher: Aneta Pop 9

 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…
 to have fun while studying English language , singing and role-playing
…PROCEDURE INTERACTION TIMING
-When the Sts have finished writing their names and 10 min
sticking all the pictures and the right labels, they come in
front of the classroom and talk about activities they can/
can’t do.
Sts sing and mime like this:
(the tape is playing, too)

What, what, what can you do?

What, what, what can you do?
What, what, what can you do? T-Sts
What, what can you do? (Appendix 5) Speaking
singing
One child will be the reporter: miming
Alex, what can you do? Sts-Sts
I can play football!
Show us.
(Alex mimes playing football.)

What, what, what can you do?

What, what, what can you do?
What, what, what can you do?
What, what can you do?
Ionel, what can you do?
I can play basketball!
Show us!
(He mimes playing basketball.)

What, what, what can you do?

What, what, what can you do?
What, what, what can you do?
What, what can you do?
Maria , what can you do?
I can ski!
Show us!

English teacher: Aneta Pop 10

 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

(She mimes skiing.) … and so on

… gives a golden medal to all the
After each moment teacher
active children. The colleagues will applaud.

ACTIVITY 6 : ENDING THE LESSON

AIMS:
 to assign Sts’ homework
 to evaluate Sts’ work
 to end the lesson in a fun atmosphere
PROCEDURE INTERACTION TIMING
HOMEWORK: 5 min
T. assigns the homework by giving clear instructions. (Appendix 6)
ASSESSMENT:
T. appreciates the Sts that were active during the entire lesson and
give advices to the less active ones.
All Sts will get a GREAT WORK diploma and a smily face to T-Sts
remind them of this funny lesson.

Speaking
Listening

Sts finish the lesson in a fun atmosphere. They listen a very funny
song: HOP TO THE TREE, dancing and miming.
I can dance
I can sing
I can hop, hop, hop
I hop to the tree
And then I stop.
Hop, hop, hop to the tree
Hop, hop, hop to the tree
STOP, HOP, STOP, HOP.
(They mime dancing, singing, hopping to the tree, playing the drums and dance)

English teacher: Aneta Pop 11

 A teacher takes a hand, opens

PARVA
a mind, touches a heart…

English teacher: Aneta Pop 12