Can you juggle? Can you jump? This is a fun I can/I can’t Circus EFL ESL lesson plan for preschool and primary kids from about 3 to 6 years old. It will last about one hour although you can adapt the activities depending on the length of your class. This is part of a series of circus themed lessons that I’ve taught recently and it could be used as part of a Circus project or as a stand-alone lesson. You can find the other circus lesson plans here.
Use this lesson plan in your classes to talk about things you can and can’t do and then put on your own class circus. It’s a great way of practicing different action verbs and introducing new vocabulary to your class. You won’t need any special equipment but we’ll learn lots of new fun songs and games. Get ready to create your circus, it’s time for our I can/I can’t Circus lesson plan!
For this I can/I can’t EFL ESL Circus lesson plan, you will need:
- Circus flashcards with different circus people – make your own or use something like these
- Any balls, ribbons, skittles or other equipment you may have lying around and could use for a circus. If you don’t have anything, it’s not a problem.
- Drawing paper and coloring markers
Songs and videos:
Yes I can! | Animal Song for Children by Super Simple Songs
Introduction: Can you……?
Start the lesson with your usual Hello routine or, if you prefer, use one of my favorite Hello songs. Then start introducing your action verbs. Ask the class, using lots of actions, “Can you swim?” and get them to put their hands up if they can and say ” Yes, I can”. If they can’t, get them to shake their heads and say “no, I can’t”. Do the same thing with lots of different action verbs like jump, swim, walk, run, and remember to use lots of TPR so the kids recognize and remember the verbs. Introduce some verbs too that you will need for your circus: juggle, balance, dance, somersault, anything that you think will be useful. Let the kids take turns asking the questions to the class too.
Sing a song
Learn the Yes I Can! song and then sing it together doing the actions along with the words and a thumbs up or head shake for yes I can and no I can’t. Then sing it without the music and use different verbs and the names of the children. For example: “Elise, Elise, can you dance?”. The child has to say the reply: “Yes, I can. Yes, I can. I can dance.”
Introduce the Circus People
If you haven’t already learned about the different people who work at the circus in a previous lesson, this is the moment to introduce them. If you’ve already learned this vocabulary, it’s a good chance to revise it. Use your flashcards and plenty of TPR to introduce each person. Then play a game to help the children remember each one. You could play a what’s missing game in a circle where you show all the flashcards and then have to hide one for the children to guess what’s missing. Alternatively play a version of Get Down where you go around the circle saying the list of people until you reach one, for example Ringmaster, where the child who says it has to sit down. The last one standing is the winner.
What can Circus people do?
Give out the flashcards to the kids and tell them they are the person on the card. Ask each one in turn who they are and what they can do and get them to reply using the actions they have learned. “I am a clown, I can juggle” or “I am a magician, I can do magic”, etc. Then put the kids in pairs and do a mingle where they have to ask each other what they can do. Swap partners each time and make sure everyone has a go. When you’ve done this, you can sing the song again and this time use your circus people instead of animals: “Acrobat, acrobat, can you jump?”.
Can you put on a circus?
It’s time to go to the Circus! Tell the kids that they are going to put on a circus and ask them what they can do. Let them choose what they want to be in the circus and if you’ve got any equipment, give it out to them. If not, it’s not a problem, they can pretend. If you have a big group, split them into smaller groups and give each group a role. They could be people or animals too. Does anyone want to be the ringmaster and introduce each act? Give them some time to prepare and while they are doing this, make some space in the classroom and put the chairs around the circus ring. Maybe you could invite parents or another class to watch.
Once everyone is ready, one at a time, let them introduce themselves and say what they can do before showing a short act. It really doesn’t matter if it’s something simple or even not really something you’d find in a real circus. The important thing is to get the kids speaking and talking about what they can do. “I am the clown, I can jump and roll”, “I am the acrobat, I can dance and balance”. You could also ask them to say something they can’t do too.
Tell a story or watch a video
When you’ve finished your circus, it would be nice to watch a video of a real circus. I found this one which is done by children but there are lots on YouTube to choose from. As you watch it, don’t forget to ask the kids about what each person is and what they can do. Alternatively you could read a circus story. There is a huge selection of circus books here so you could choose one of these and do the same thing as you read.
Draw a picture of your circus
To finish, if you’ve still got time, ask the kids to draw a picture of their circus and what they were doing in it. As they draw, go around the class asking each child to tell you what they were in the circus and ask them questions about what they can and can’t do.
Conclusion
Tidy up the classroom and put everything back to normal and then you can finish your class. You could either do this by singing the Yes I can! song again, or sing your usual Goodbye song. Alternatively, use one of my favorite Goodbye songs which you can find here.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this I can/I can’t Circus EFL ESL lesson plan. If you’ve found it useful and would like to see some of my other lesson plans, you can find them all here. I’d love to hear how it went if you do this lesson with your class, so please let me know in the comments. If you’d like to keep in touch with news and new articles and lesson plans, please follow the GoogooEnglish Facebook page or sign up for email below.