Can

Can
Daily Grammar Sentences

Instructions:  Give the student the sentences in the second column (Sentences to be Corrected).  Students write corrected sentences and turn them in to the teacher to be checked.

Theme: Sports	Sentences to be Corrected	Corrected Sentences
Monday	Can play you soccer me with? The goalie can uses hands. The ball other players no can touches.	Can you play soccer with me? The goalie can use hands. Other players cannot touch the ball.
Tuesday	He cans hit ball with bat. He can runs around all the bases?  We not can catch ball without a glove.	He can hit the ball with the bat. Can he run around all the bases? We cannot catch the ball without a glove.
Wednesday	Girls plays football too? She makes can a touchdown. They no can tackle her.	Can girls play football too? She can make a touchdown. They cannot tackle her.
Thursday	I can plays today basketball. No can the team bounce the ball out of the court. You shoots can the ball in the hoop?	I can play basketball today. The team can’t bounce the ball out of the court. Can you shoot the ball in the hoop?
Friday	We not can argues with the referee. He cans make sure the game is fair. The coach tell us can how to play?	We cannot argue with the referee. He can make sure the game is fair. Can the coach tell us how to play?

Assessment can be made on three levels in Daily Grammar Sentences:

1. Did the student recognize the mistake?
2. Can they fix it?
3. Can they produce a sentence using that grammar point in free speech?

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Activity
Look What I Can Do!
Type of Activity:  Independent
Materials Needed:  Cassette tape and recorder
Directions for student:
Make a tape of a list of the sports and games that you can and can't play.

Assessment:   Through teacher observation, based on the quality of sentences produced.

You Can/You Can’t
Type of Activity:  Independent
Materials Needed:  Paper folded into a book, markers, crayons, pencil
Directions for student:
Think of things you need to play sports and things you don’t need.  Make a book of opposites.  On one page, write a sentence telling something you can use for a sport.  On the next page, write something you can’t use.  For example:  You can play soccer with a ball.  You can’t play soccer with a horse.  You can use a racquet to play tennis.  You can’t use a banana to play tennis.  Illustrate your book.  Read it to the class and put it in the classroom library.

Assessment:   Through written work and teacher observation, based on the quality of sentences produced.

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Grammar Explanation Can expresses something you are able to do.  It is another auxiliary (“helping”) verb, but is special in that it does not change form with the third person singular . In negatives and questions, the auxiliary can replaces the auxiliary do.  With negatives, cannot becomes one word unless using the contraction can’t.

I do not go changes to I cannot go. 
Do they go?  changes to Can they go?

One very important point for learners is being able to distinguish between the positive (can) and the negative (can't).  In normal speech the positive (can) is unstressed and the "a" sound becomes a "schwa" (the upside-down e).  The negative (can't) is usually stressed but the "t" is still not heard unless it gets combined with the first sound of the next word (and sometimes this doesn't even happen in American English).  Learners must be able to hear this difference before they can be expected to produce it.  More importantly, this is an area that is simply impossible to get without one-on-one interaction with a native speaking teacher.