we can 1 unit 5 (4 hours)

We Can 1 Unit 5 (4 hours)

Goals:

[C] Try to introduce another person by saying what he or she can and can't do.

[F] Become familiar with the expressions for asking and answering questions about

what someone else can and can't do.

Expressions: Can you (sing well)? Yes, I can. / No, I can't. [I / You / He / She] [can /

can't] (sing well).

Vocabulary: 動作 [actions] (play [soccer /badminton /table tennis /volleyball /shogi

/kendama /the recorder /the piano], do [kendo /judo], ride [a bicycle /a unicycle],

swim, skate, ski, cook, run fast, jump high, sing well), can, can't, he, she

Previously learned vocabulary: [actions] (play, swim, cook, ride), [musical

instruments] (piano, recorder), スポーツ [sports] (basketball, soccer, baseball,

badminton, table tennis, unicycle) [third person pronouns]

Previously learned expressions: I can / can't ～. Can you ～? Yes, I can. / No, I

can't. He can/ can't ～. She can/can't ～ .

Let’s Play

Guess what animal it is.

Let’s Watch and Think 1

Watch the video. Who is speaking? Write the

number under the picture.

Let’s Listen 1

Who is speaking? Write the number under the

picture.

Let’s Listen 2

Which animal is speaking? Write the number

under the picture.

Activity 1

Look at the pictures below. Chose five things you

would like to ask your friends. Predict whether they

can or can’t do the actions/activities.

Activity 2

Interview your classmates. Get them to sign your

book.

Answer box: students

write a “○” or a “△.” Prediction box: Students

write a “○” or a “△.”

Signature space: Students get

their classmates to sign here.

Shinya Yakanaka Yuto Nagatomo Kasumi Ishikawa

Let’s Watch and Think

Watch the video. What can the characters do? Draw

a circle around things they can do. What can’t they

do? Draw a triangle around things they can’t do.

Write what the characters can do in the boxes.

Activity 3

Prepare for an interview. Predict what your

teacher can do. Use the cards from the back of

the book. Students can place them on the

book or draw a picture.

Activity 4

What did you find out in the interview? Write

some notes here.

Students draw a picture of

the teacher they want to

interview here.

Write the teacher’s name in

English on the blank below.

below.

Let’s Listen

Which character is being described?

Write the number in the spaces below the character.

Activity 5

Make a speech. Introduce what your teacher can and

can’t do. Also, talk about what you can and can’t do.

About this unit:

In this unit students will encounter third person pronouns and verb tenses for the

first time. In foreign language activities at the 3rd and 4th grade level, students

were only exposed to first person and second person pronouns. Exposure to third

person pronouns at this stage is a natural step as the third person is used when

talking about or introducing family members and friends. Considering the

developmental stage of students and their existing background knowledge, third

person pronouns should not be too great of a task for students. Junior high school

students often struggle with verb conjugations that accompany the different

tenses, and the burden is even greater for elementary school students. However,

this unit intentionally avoids difficult verb conjugations. Students use the word

“can” to introduce their friends and to confirm what they know about their

classmates. Through these activities students develop a greater knowledge of

their classmates.

Also in this unit, students are exposed to letters not only nouns, but as symbols

that represent a sound. Through Units 1 to 4 of this book, students are shown

again the uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet. They became familiar

with these letters during foreign language activities at the 3rd and 4th grade levels.

Students have seen many letters by now and know that they can find many

alphabet letters in their environment. More than a few students have by now

come to realize that letters are not only nouns, but are also a representation of a

sound within a word. Through encouraging students to notice the first letter of

different words, students can become more aware of the relationships between

letters and the sounds they make. Students will begin to recognize and read the

written form of some words that they already know from listening and speaking.

This strategy for instruction connects with the MEXT goal of having students

become familiar with the spoken forms of words and phrases first, and then the

written forms later. By encountering the spoken form first, students can build a

solid base from which reading ability will subsequently emerge. Instruction of

writing begins by focusing on only one word at a time, which often takes the form

of activities that require taking notes or writing down information that will be

used during a presentation.

Part 1: Predicting what will be studied in this unit (2 hours)

The animals are competing with each other to see who can run the fastest,

jump the highest, and swim the fastest. Through just looking at the page,

students can guess the meaning of the phrases “I can ～ ”and “You can

～.”The information on this page serves as a hint for Let’s Listen 1 and

Let’s Listen 2.

Part 2: Hearing the expressions “can” and “can’t” (2 hours)

Using familiar figures from the world of sports and a famous researcher,

students are exposed to the key phrase while discovering this information

for the first time. This will be an exciting activity for students. Also, in the

activity section, students will hear again the action words they know from

their previous learning. This page can serve as a reference page for

speaking activities or review.

Part 3: Noticing third person pronouns (2 hours)

After listening to two characters talk about what they can and cannot do,

two different characters, who were in fact listening to the conversation,

introduce the first two characters. Students hear the third person being

used for the first time. After this, students can interview their own teachers

and think of English expressions to introduce their own teacher(s). By

becoming familiar with the language in this way, students can develop a

deeper understanding of the target expressions.

Part 4: Introduce someone you know (2 hours)

After hearing the teacher or the characters in the book talk about famous

athletes and characters, students use this as a model and introduce the

teachers that they interviewed. During storytime, Kazu finds out for the

first time that Maria is good at math. Discovering to one’s own surprise that

a classmate can do something or is good at something is a situation that is

familiar to the students.

Overview of the Unit (8 total hours)

Let’s Play 1

Goal: Students guess what the characters can and can't do.

Students answer the questions.

・Before beginning this activity, the teacher should pretend

to be one of the animals and introduce what he or she can’t

do. The teacher should also take note of the following

points.

・The kangaroo is running on the track, but kangaroos don’t

run. They jump to travel long distances. Accordingly, the

expression “I can jump long” is used in place of the

expression “I can run fast.” Students can see a hippo in the

water with other animals. However, the hippo doesn’t

actually swim; it walks at a fast pace through the water. As

such, the phrase “I can walk fast” was chosen.

・One student can pretend to be an animal that is on the

page. Other group members can ask questions to find out

which animal the student is.

Student 2: Can you jump?

Student 1: Yes. I can. I can jump.

Student 3: Can you sing?

Student 1: No, I can’t. I can’t sing.

Student 4: Can you swim?

Student 1: No, I can’t. I can’t swim.

Student 2,3,4: (deciding together) Are you a grasshopper?

Student 1: No, I’m not. I’m a rabbit.

Students switch roles and continue.

Let’s Chant: Can you sing well?

Goal: Students become familiar with the expressions through repeated listening.

・Play the “ゆっくり” version first and have students develop familiarity with the

chant at a slow speed.

・Divide the class in half and assign groups different parts of the chant to say.

・After students are familiar with the slow version, play the chants at normal speed

and then go on to the karaoke version. This progression allows students to become

familiar with the chants in stages.

ALT Tip: Before listening to chants for the first time, one technique is covering the

screen or having students close their eyes while listening. After the chant finishes,

ask students what they heard or what they noticed.

Jingle: Animal Jingle

Listen to the audio file that accompanies the digital materials. Students become

familiar with the 26 letters of the alphabet, and are shown an animal that begins

with each letter.

・Rather than teaching or explaining the material to the students, the exposure to

the material itself is important. Students can listen to this multiple times which

promotes deeper learning. Here is the suggested way of using the jingle:

1. Emphasize the words or phrases in the jingle that the students can say

confidently. Say those words together with them.

2. Draw attention to the first letter of the animal and the sound that letter

makes.

3. Listen to a different version. For the words or phrases that the students can

say confidently, say those together with the students.

4. Using the pictures on the page at the back of the book (pg.77), students can

say the chants back and forth in pairs.

5. Say the words of the jingle while looking at the letters of the alphabet.

ALT Tip: The words in the animal jingle serve as anchor words. Through

remembering the correct pronunciation of these words, students will begin to

recognize and sound out written forms of other words they already know.

Classroom English Expressions

・Look at your textbooks. ・I’m going to tell you about one

animal in the picture. ・Listen to me. ・What animal is

it? ・That’s right. It’s a rabbit.

Let’s Listen 2

Goal: Listen to the audio files and think about what animal it is. Write the

answer in the blank.

・As in Let’s Listen 1, confirm what the animals are by having the

students look at pages 34 and 35. Which animals do these illustrations

represent?

・In contrast with Let’s Listen 1, these animals have a more detailed skill

set which are described by longer phrases such as “run fast” and “jump

high.”

Let’s Listen 1

Goal: Listen to the audio files and think about which character is speaking.

Write the number under the illustration.

・First, confirm what the animals are by having the students look at pages 34

and 35. Which animals do these illustrations represent?

・When checking the answers after listening, encourage the students to try

to say the expressions they actually heard using “I can” and “I’m” rather than

having the students just say the number.

・Draw attention to the words “and” and “but.” Rather than just telling the

students the meaning of these words, try to show meaning in a natural

context and give multiple examples. Students should first try to understand

the meaning through their own observations, rather than just being told the

meaning by the teacher.

Let’s Play 2

Goal: Students listen to the actions and expressions that the teacher says.

Students touch the picture that corresponds with what they heard.

・First, students do the activity using their own books. Through doing the

activity individually first, students have sufficient time to hear all the

expressions and look at all the pictures. After students are accustomed to

the expressions and can identify the correct picture by touching it in their

own book, have the students make pairs and use one textbook.

・Students can cooperate and touch the pictures together. Students can

also see who can touch the picture faster. It is important to watch the

students and make appropriate changes to the activity as needed.

・Before the Pointing Game begins, check all 15 pictures with the

students and make sure they familiar with the expressions.

・After students are familiar with the activity, the teacher can slowly

increase the difficulty level by using the expressions “I can” and I can’t.”


Goal: Listen to the audio file and watch the video clip. While repeatedly

hearing the expressions “can” and “can’t,” students are exposed to the words

and expressions for actions. Students can see the trajectory of the unit and

get a feel for the end goals of the unit.

・First, show students the video without giving them any hints. Ask the

students what they heard or what the noticed.

・Use the information that the students picked up during the first viewing

(elicit the information from the students), and have the students guess what

the characters talked about

・Most students will know who the characters are on the page, but students

all have different experiences and varying degrees of knowledge. After the

activity is over, provide supplemental information on the figures to further

enrich the activity. (ALT Tip: Think-pair-share style activities can be used

with Let’s Watch and Think segments. After observing the video, students

think about what they heard and note a few observations they can share with

a partner. Then, they talk in pairs or groups. Next, groups share their ideas

with the entire class. As observations differ with each group, the class as a

whole can put all the information together to form a collaborative

understanding, or share common questions. Watch the video again and

repeat.

Activity 1

Goal: Using the 5 questions that each student selects beforehand,

students guess what their partners can and can’t do. Students write a

circle or a triangle to indicate either a positive or negative prediction.

Students ask their partners to find out the real answer. Students check to

see whether their predictions were accurate.

・When students ask questions to their partners, encourage them to

repeat what their partner said and make comments such as “Oh. You can

swim” and “That’s great,” etc.

・After the activity is finished, use the expressions “can” and “can’t” and

get the students to share some of their findings that came to light during

their interviews and when talking to their peers.

Activity 2

Goal: Students walk around the classroom and interview their classmates

to find out whether their classmates or can’t do an activity. Students

write their classmates’ names in the blanks under the picture.

・If a student’s partner responds “Yes, I can,” the student can write their

partner’s name in the blanks in their own books.

・After the activity is finished, ask the students what they thought about

the activity. Draw attention to the results of their interviews and get

students to look for any discoveries or surprising findings. Use the

reflection time to share knowledge about each other and build a closer

class atmosphere. The content of this activity is something that students

do not often ask their classmates in their own language, so this is a

valuable activity for the class. Also, through speaking with many different

classmates, students get a chance to talk with classmates they might not

have spoken to before now. This activity becomes one where students can

experience firsthand the joy of talking and communicating with others.


Goal: The digital materials contain a conversation between two children who talk about themselves and ask each what they can and can’t do. Students watch this

video clip and listen for details. Students write a circle or a triangle to indicate what the characters can and can’t do.

・Depending on the needs and the level of the students, one option is to have students predict or guess what expressions might be used in the video.

・The dialogue between the two characters is lengthy. For practical considerations, listening to the dialogue all the way through, and then listening to it a second

time while stopping midway to check information is an option to consider. Adjust listening and viewing techniques based on the level and needs of the class.

・Satoshi, who listens to the conversation, summarizes the content of the conversation while using the words “he” and “she.” Students write the information they

hear in the corresponding bubbles.

・Students listen to the second part (Satoshi) and check to see if their answers from the first part (the top of the page) match.

・Depending on the level of the students, getting the students to write information or take notes in English is a possibility. As a large gap in writing ability is

foreseeable, the teacher must be careful getting students to write in English. The main point, however, is to expose students to the expressions “he” and “she,”

rather than having students accurately hear all the information in the conversation.

・It is possible to play the dialogue as many times as necessary until the students understand.

Activity 3

Goal: Each group decides a teacher to interview and prepares for the

interview. Students write the name of the teacher as well as 4 sentences

that begin with either “he” or “she.” Students guess what the teacher can

and can’t do by placing the cards on their books. (The cards are located in

the back of the text and need to be cut.)

・Using what is written on the cards as a hint, students carefully write the

words on their worksheet while thinking about the meaning of the words.

・Depending on the situation of the class, students can draw “kuji” (draw

straws) to see which teacher they will interview.

・Students should think of questions that don’t overlap or have a similar

meaning. Students should think of the questions together as a group and

prepare for the interview together.

・Students should go to the teacher and ask the questions sometime

before the next English class begins. Give the students some guidelines

and advice as how to approach the teachers. (ALT Tip: Providing a

compelling and memorable model for students will help, as students will

be doing this outside of normal class time.)

・ The writing space on the interview preparation page (pg. 39), has

spaces of varying width in between lines. This was done so that students

can write the small letters easily. It is a different spacing from what

students are accustomed to from learning romanji. Explain to the students

that the lines are this way in order to make writing lowercase letters

easier.

Activity 4

Goal: Using the results of the teacher interview (from Activity 3), students

make a speech and present it to their partner. Students should also talk

about themselves in their speeches.

(Preparation)

・Before students start making their speeches, get students to think

about what kind of English expressions they can use. Ask the class to think

of some qualities of both a good speech and a bad speech, and share

some ideas together in a comfortable whole class setting.

・Have each pair of students give each other feedback. Get them to talk

about what was difficult to understand and what kind of gestures they

could add to make their partner’s speech easier to understand.

(Presentation)

・Before students begin their presentations (speeches), the teacher

should perform a bad example for students to observe. Get students to

think about what kind of things they could do to make this bad example

better.

・ After establishing a common goal as a class and agreeing on a shared

evaluation criteria for a good speech, students perform their speeches.

The students that are listening fill in information they heard in a

worksheet.

・ After half of the speeches are finished and before the pairs change

roles, remind the students again of the qualities of a good speech

・Remind students the importance of listening to others. Students should

also record information that they heard during their partner’s speech.


・Let’s prepare for the interview.

・Who do you want to interview?

・Write “He” or “She” on the line.

Activity 5

Goal: Organize the results of the interview and prepare a speech. Make a

speech.

・Students talk about themselves and communicate their ideas to others.

・On page 40 there is an example where one of the characters makes a

speech. Part of the speech is written in English, while in other parts

illustrations are used. This is to familiarize students with the structure of

English sentences and show visually how words can be substituted with

the expressions. See excerpt to the right below.

・Following the example in the textbook, students can also make a poster

to use during their speech and do a show-and-tell style of presentation.

By looking at one’s own poster while speaking, students will be less

rushed and feel more comfortable. Also, the contents of the speech will

be easier to understand for the students that are listening.

・When making a poster, it is not necessary to display all of the

information in English. Tell the students that it is quite difficult to say 8

sentences in English and for that reason it is helpful to have a poster or a

visual aid. If some students want to write some information on their

poster in English, praise them for their positives attitude.

.

Let’s Listen 3

Goal: Listen to the audio file. Write the corresponding number under the

picture.

・First, listen to the file together as a class. Play the file as many times as

necessary. Listening multiple times will increase understanding.

・ Instead of having students just say the numbers when checking the

answers, have the students repeat after the audio file sentence by

sentence.

・The teacher can also lead the students by making statements such as

“She can…… ” and “She can’t…….” The students complete the sentences.

This type of activity deepens the students’ understanding.

Activity 5: Excerpt from page 40

ALT TIP: In the early lessons of the unit, or

at the beginning of a class for review,

doing an oral introduction while using

realia such as stuffed animals, photos of

famous people, or photos you may have

brought with you to Japan is one way to

get the students’ attention while

effectively exposing them to the phrases

“he can” and “she can.” Example: (show

picture of sister) This is my sister. She can

play ice hockey. She can play the piano.

She can speak Japanese.

STORY TIME

Goal: Through listening to a storybook in English, students become

familiar with reading.

・The English expressions that are used in the story time section of each

unit are mainly expressions that students have become familiar with up

until this point. Through reading familiar expressions first, students are

more likely to be successful and more motivated to read. Getting the

students to try to read the expressions on the page before playing the

audio file is one way to approach this particular story time.

・This is the fifth page from story page. The transfer student, Maria, has

a new seat beside Kazu in math class. Maria does not have a textbook

yet, so Kazu is sharing his textbook with her. Maria does not understand

a lot of Japanese yet, but she is good at math. Kazu uses an expression

he learned in foreign language activities and asks Maria, “Do you like

math?” Maria says that she likes math a lot. Kazu, who doesn’t like math

as much as she does, probably sees Maria as a reliable partner for math

class.

(Suggestions from WC1-U1 Storytime) Students do not have to read this

passage. However, the experience of listening to the passage while

following the letters will later connect with reading. As such, it is

important that students encounter story books in way that is enjoyable.

When the teacher reads the text aloud, he or she shouldn’t just read

through the text from start to finish, but allow for time after words or

sentences, and give students opportunities to touch the pictures of the

words they hear. Also, having the information represented on the page

in pictures gives the teacher a chance to ask questions and bring

students into the world of reading. Using the digital materials or having

the ALT read the text aloud are also possibilities for this section. In any

case, it is important to read the text while interacting with students.

Small Talk:

Teacher: Look! Look at this. What’s this?

Student: A racket.

Teacher: Yes, that’s right. It’s a racket. It’s a badminton racket. This is a

badminton racket. This is my badminton racket. I can play badminton

very well (swings the racket). Can you play badminton well? Do you

like badminton? I love badminton. It’s a lot of fun. I’m a good

badminton player. I can play badminton very well. Can you play

badminton? Can you play soccer well (pretend to kick a ball)? Can you

play the piano well (pretend to play the piano)? Can you dance well

(pretend to dance)? Can you do kendo (pretend to hold a “shinai”)?

I can play badminton well.


・Can you guess what he/she can do?

・If you think she can do it, put a circle on the picture.

・If you think she can’t do it, put a triangle on the picture.

Supplementary Worksheet provided by MEXT for writing practice

http://mext-next-kyozai.net/top/index.html

we can 1 unit 5 (4 hours)

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