Teaching with songs: Can We Pretend – P!nk feat. Cash Cash

Description:
This song-based activity lesson plan for English language teaching features the song ‘Can We Pretend” by P!nk feat. Cash Cash and its Lyric video. Students answer Have You Ever questions with Wheeldecide.com, do a matching exercise with vowel sounds and diphthongs, listen to the song and put the words in order.

Language level: Pre-intermediate (A2+ - B1) and above
Learner type: All ages
Skills: speaking, reading, listening, pronunciation (vowel sounds and diphthongs)
Topic: Experiences and Pretense
Language and Grammar: Vocabulary related to experiences, Present Perfect tense
Materials: Youtube video, worksheet pdf and mp3 file
Duration: 1 hour 
Downloadable materials:  instructions; Vowel sound worksheet; song mp3

PART 1 – Warm Up + Have you ever…? (Is it real or just pretending?)

Important information:

This warm-up uses WheelDecide.com – a free online spinner tool that allows you to create your own digital wheels for decision-making – more info here. However, this can be substituted. (See step 2.).

The teacher must also have a list of possible Have you ever questions and follow-up questions in hand.

Example questions:
– Have you ever been on TV? When? Why?
– Have you ever broken a bone? How did it happen?
– Have you ever ridden a horse or another animal? give us details
– Have you ever forgotten someone’s birthday? What happened?
– Have you ever received a gift that you did not like? What was it?
– Have you ever fallen asleep in class or at work? Did you get in trouble because of if?
– Have you ever been in a car accident? How did it happen?
– Have you ever tried an extreme sport? How did you feel?

Step 1.

A student comes to the board. Explain to him/her he/she is going to answer a question according to what the wheel dictates! If the wheel says yes, he/she has to pretend they really did that activity and invent details. Tell them to do their best to be convincing. After the student answers, the class is going to vote if it was real or just pretense!

Step 2.

The teacher asks a Have you ever question and with the help of a magic pen or the mouse, the student spins this wheel. (in our school we use a white board with a projector connected to a computer with Internet access). The options are just YES or NO. OBS: As an alternative to wheeldecide.com, you can use a die (even numbers meaning yes, odd numbers, no), or a coin (heads means yes, tails means no).

Step 3.

The student answers the question according to the wheeldecide (or coin/die) and the teacher then asks follow-up questions (only if the answer was ‘yes’.).

Step 4.

After the student answers, the teacher asks the rest of the class if they think the student was telling the truth or just pretending.

Step 5.

The student says if it was true or just pretense.

Step 6.

Have another student come to the front to answer another question according to the wheel (or die/coin). This can go on for about 15 – 20 min. or as long as it is still fun for the students to do it!

PART 2 – Vowel Sounds & Diphthongs Worksheet

Step 7.

Hand out the worksheet and quickly review the vowel sounds and diphthongs. Show the symbols on the table and have students repeat the model words.

Tell students that they are going to work with 10 words from the song “Can We Pretend” by Pink and Cash Cash. Their task is to put the words in the box in their appropriate places in the phonetic table:

Answer key exercise A

(see)	*/iː/*	feeling
(go)	*/əʊ/*	nowhere
(my)	*/ɑɪ/*	sometimes
(say)	*/eɪ/*	conversations
(saw)	*/ɔː/*	walked
(cat)	*/æ/*	daddy
(sit)	*/ɪ/*	pictures lips miss
*(two)*	*/uː/*	dudes

PART 3 – Listening

Step 8.

After checking the answers, divide students into small groups. They are going to listen to the song and order the words they worked with in exercise A, according to the order they appear in the song.

Step 9. Play the lyric video for students to watch and check their answers

Answer key Exercise B

Conversations ( 1    )
Daddy (  6 )
Dudes ( 10   )
Feeling (  8 )
Lips (  9 )
Miss ( 7    )
Nowhere (  3 )
Pictures (  2 )
Sometimes  ( 4 )
Walked (  5 )

This song-based lesson plan is sure to spice up your classes! However, would you like to think, feel and act more creatively on your own to be able to turn ANY song you want into an engaging lesson plan?
HERE are TIME-SAVING ideas that do the heavy work so you can focus on the most important: INSPIRING and MOTIVATING YOUR STUDENTS to learn CREATIVELY!