

In the BrainPOP ELL movie We Don’t Need One (L1U4L2), Moby wants to join Ben’s band but they don’t need any of the instruments he plays. In this lesson plan, adaptable for grades K-8, students use the affirmative and negative form of the present simple to take notes, describe images, and discuss posters they create.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Students will:

  1. Listen for and take notes about specific information in the movie.
  2. Describe images using affirmative and negative present simple sentences.
  3. Create a poster about themselves with pictures to prompt discussion using the present simple tense.


do, don’t, does, doesn’t, always, never, often

Lesson Procedure:

  1. Who Does What? Have each student make a chart to fill in while watching the movie We Don't Need One (L1U4L2). As they watch, they should listen for information about things the characters do and don't do, and write notes in their chart.  You can provide the prompts, or write them on the board. Remind students that the verbs might have to be changed to third person singular (add the s).

    play the guitar / the drums / the piano / the bass / an instrument
    need a piano player / a bass player / a drummer
    sing, practice

    After the movie, have partners retell what they learned, using the information from their charts.
  2. Talk About Them. Show the class the two images The Rockers and Musicians and Their Instruments as prompts to generate descriptions using the present simple in affirmative and negative sentences.
  3. Make a Poster About You. Have students create a poster about things they like and don't like, or things they do and don't do. For homework, tell them to look for pictures, and glue or draw them onto a poster board in two columns. The next day in class, have partners or small groups describe each other, using the information from the posters.
  4. Chain Drill. Write the model sentence on the board: “I like pizza, but I don’t like ice cream.” Do a Round-robin, with each student saying a sentence like the model. Stop periodically to elicit: He likes __________, but he doesn’t like _____________; or: They like _________, but they don’t like _________. Change to a new model sentence with each row or table of students. Possible sentences: I play basketball, but I don’t play tennis; I swim but I don’t run; I eat cookies, but I don't eat cake.

BrainPOP ELL Movies
We Like Mike!
Does He Bite?
An Apple a Day...
BrainPOP Movies
Subject-Verb Agreement

BrainPOP JR Movies
Subject and Verb Agreement
BrainPOP Jr. Games
Catch It!