Learners can handle the basics of daily life. They talk about routines, possessions and immediate needs using simple present-tense structures, if the other person speaks slowly and clearly.
Printable one-to-one lesson plan
can for ability and permission
Use can and can’t for ability and present possibility, ask and answer questions, request permission, and make friendly everyday requests.
Use after the complete A1 sequence, not as a lesson quiz.
Open diagnostic →15–20 minutes optional: Tutor-read can meaning and spoken-contrast listening check · Five-minute next-day can retrieval
Derived from this lesson’s source
Lesson-specific teaching brief
This is not a second lesson registry. The plan reads the same native content that produces the learner page.
What the learner should do
Use can and can’t for ability and present possibility, ask and answer questions, request permission, and make friendly everyday requests.
What must become clear
Can presents an action as possible now. A skill can make it possible, a situation can make it possible, or a person or rule can allow it. In a question to another person, can can also ask for help.
High-value friction points
- She can swim very well.Can never changes. It has no -s form, even after she, he, or it.
- Can you drive?Can makes its own questions. Move can in front of the subject and drop do.
- She can speak English.A modal is followed directly by the base verb: can speak, not can to speak.
Protect these lesson moments
- Three quick checks from earlier lessons
- Discovery check: choose the pattern
- Drill 1: ability, permission, or request
- Tutor-read listening check
- Drill 2: type the question word or short answer
Learner production
Fictional skills card: Choose a character such as a cafe worker, neighbor, traveler, or new employee. Give the character three abilities and one skill they do not have yet. Ari can make coffee and use the register, but he can’t repair the machine yet.
- Situation change: Give the character one action that is generally possible but unavailable today. She can drive, but she can’t drive today because the car is at the repair shop.
- Information desk: Ask two permission questions and make two requests. The teacher responds naturally with Sure , Of course , or a short reason for saying no.
- Meaning switch: Use the same beginning, Can you use the printer...? , once to ask about ability and once to make a request. Add enough context to make each meaning clear.
Carry this language into the next session
Retrieve can for ability and permission in one true sentence at the next lesson.
Tutor-only contrastive support
L1 Transfer Lens
Test a pattern. Do not label a learner. Use this only after the learner’s actual production gives you evidence.
Select a first language to reveal only the contrasts relevant to this lesson.
Turkish → English
One pattern to test
Select an English auxiliary instead of one question particle
- Possible transfer
You coffee like? / She at home?
- English rebuild
Do you like coffee? / Is she at home?
Why it can happen: Turkish has a highly regular question particle. English spreads that work across be, do, have, and modal verbs, and the correct helper depends on the verb phrase already present in the statement.
Natural English:
- Can you join the call?
- Did they send the invoice?
Use while teaching
Operational teaching notes
Choose a route before class, but change it when the learner’s production gives you better evidence.
Ask before explaining
- Which examples in “Three quick checks from earlier lessons” express the same core meaning?
- How would you explain this decision in your own words: Can presents an action as possible now. A skill can make it possible, a situation can make it possible, or a person or rule can allow it. In a question to another person, can can also ask for help.
- What needs to change in this repair, and why: She can swim very well.
Correct for the stage
- Controlled work: correct immediately, then require the complete repaired sentence.
- Fluency building: note repeated errors and reformulate after the learner finishes the thought.
- Communication: interrupt only when meaning breaks down or the target decision is the lesson’s main evidence.
Retrieve, do not reteach
Retrieve can for ability and permission in one true sentence at the next lesson.
Short, core, or extended
Choose the route
All three routes end in learner production. More time means more contrast and transfer, not a longer explanation.
Short route
Retrieve for 3 minutes. Notice and discover for 8. Use the two most diagnostic tasks from Three quick checks from earlier lessons and Discovery check: choose the pattern for 12. Protect 9 minutes for Learner production, then reflect for 3.
Core route
Follow the six-stage sequence below. Reduce repeated controlled items when accuracy is already stable, but keep the nearest useful contrast and final production.
Stretch route
Add Tutor-read can meaning and spoken-contrast listening check · Five-minute next-day can retrieval, then repeat the communication task with a new situation or stricter success criteria.
45–55 minutes core working plan
Session sequence
Protect the final communication and reflection time. If the learner needs more support, reduce the number of controlled items instead of removing production.
- 5 min
Retrieve
Activate what the learner already controls and check any prerequisite language.
Teacher move: Open with the first practice route: Three quick checks from earlier lessons · Discovery check: choose the pattern · Drill 1: ability, permission, or request.
- 6–8 min
Notice
Let the learner observe meaning and form in a small sample before naming the rule.
Teacher move: Keep the noticing conversation anchored to this decision: Can presents an action as possible now. A skill can make it possible, a situation can make it possible, or a person or rule can allow it. In a question to another person, can can also ask for help.
- 8–10 min
Discover
Connect form, meaning, use, word order, and the nearest useful contrast.
Teacher move: Test the learner’s explanation against this repair: She can swim very well. Can never changes. It has no -s form, even after she, he, or it.
- 12–15 min
Build + drill
Move from accurate choices to faster retrieval and sentence construction.
Teacher move: Prioritize these lesson tasks: Three quick checks from earlier lessons · Discovery check: choose the pattern · Drill 1: ability, permission, or request · Tutor-read listening check. Reduce repetitions if needed, but keep the final production time.
- 12–15 min
Communicate
Use the target language for a real adult purpose the learner cannot complete by copying.
Teacher move: Learner production: Fictional skills card: Choose a character such as a cafe worker, neighbor, traveler, or new employee. Give the character three abilities and one skill they do not have yet. Ari can make coffee and use the register, but he can’t repair the machine yet.
- 3–5 min
Reflect
Make progress visible and choose one specific next use.
Teacher move: Retrieve can for ability and permission in one true sentence at the next lesson.
Tutor-only source
Listening scripts
Read these lines from the tutor plan while the learner lesson remains on screen. Each clip names the learner item it supports.
Tutor-read can meaning and spoken-contrast listening check
- Clip 1
Read: Mina can repair bicycles. She works at a neighborhood bike shop.
Supports: Clip 1 mainly expresses listen .
- Clip 2
Read: My meeting is over, so I can talk now.
Supports: Clip 2 mainly expresses listen .
- Clip 3
Read: My battery is low. Can I charge my phone here?
Supports: Clip 3 is a listen .
- Clip 4
Read: You can use the desk by the window. Nobody is using it.
Supports: Clip 4 expresses listen .
- Clip 5
Read: I understand the topic, but the pace is fast. Can you speak more slowly, please?
Supports: Clip 5 is a listen .
- Clip 6
Read: The 6:00 train is canceled, so we can’t take it today.
Supports: Clip 6 mainly expresses listen .
Delivery and evidence notes
- Read the ordinary positive can weakly and the negative can’t with a clear beat. Keep the surrounding context natural.
Keep only useful evidence
After-lesson notes
These notes are for deliberate tutor records or printing. Nothing is stored in the learner’s browser.
The learner can now…
Write one observable use of the target language.
Still needs support with…
Record one repeated error, contrast, or point of hesitation.
Next retrieval prompt
Write one short prompt the learner will answer at the next session.
Anonymous live-lesson evidence
Learner pilot worksheet
A1 · can for ability and permission
Pilot 1 of 30 recorded · 3 remaining
Date
Approximate starting level
Core lesson time
Starting evidence
What did the learner already control? What was the first misconception, hesitation, or contrast that mattered?
Did the principle become clear?
Can presents an action as possible now. A skill can make it possible, a situation can make it possible, or a person or rule can allow it. In a question to another person, can can also ask for help.
Did the first hint help?
Record the first item that caused difficulty and whether the contextual hint led to self-correction before the full repair appeared.
Could the learner do the outcome?
Use can and can’t for ability and present possibility, ask and answer questions, request permission, and make friendly everyday requests.
Listen for: The learner uses the target language independently for a real purpose.
What remained available?
If possible, check before rereading in the next session. Record what returned independently and what still required a cue.
Keep, revise, or investigate?
Note any explanation the tutor still had to supply, the smallest useful revision, and whether another pilot should test the same issue.