Welcome to Planet Pop!
We love creating modern, catchy songs that get young learners singing and dancing in English. If you’re like us, you love using music to teach English so we’ve collected 3 free songs to help kids practise (and master) the present simple in English.
Not only this, but you’ll find some fun ideas on how to turn them into fun listening exercises for your students.
Free Song #1: Practise using the present simple in affirmative & negative in English!
Our first tune is all about helping kids learn how to describe people using has/hasn’t got. Join one of our Planet Pop superstars, Alex, as he dances along to this song inside a comic book.
This song covers not only the present simple in both affirmative and negative, but also vocabulary associated with describing people and adjectives (blue eyes, grey hair etc) to help children learn where adjectives are placed in a sentence.
Photo Fun Music Video: ELT Songs Unit 23
Lyrics: Photo Fun
Photo fun. Photo fun.
Let’s take photos of everyone.
Photo fun. Photo fun.
Let’s take photos of everyone.
Look, it’s Lily. She’s got long hair!
She hasn’t got glasses. She hasn’t got glasses!
Look, it’s Tom. He’s got blue eyes.
He hasn’t got long hair. He hasn’t got long hair!
Photo fun. Photo fun.
Let’s take photos of everyone.
Photo fun. Photo fun.
Let’s take photos of everyone.
Look, it’s my Grandpa. He’s got grey hair.
He isn’t young. He’s old. He’s old.
Look, it’s my mum. She’s got blonde hair.
She isn’t old. She is young.
Photo fun. Photo fun.
Let’s take photos of everyone.
Photo fun. Photo fun.
Let’s take photos of everyone.
Classroom Activity: Practising the Present Simple in negative and affirmative forms
Play the music video ‘Photo Fun’ above
Let your class listen once to get the gist
Let them listen a second time but this time pause the video when a new character pops up on screen
Deliberately give the wrong description of the character and have your students correct you. For example; “Grandpa is young, isn’t he?” or “Mum has brown hair, doesn’t she?” This also introduces them to question tags.
As the song progresses get the children to describe the characters themselves without any prompting from you – make sure to get them to describe what the characters haven’t got also.
*Are your students following the Cambridge English Starters, Movers or Flyers curriculum? Then you’ll want to create a FREE ELT Songs account to our music video library. All our units are structured around the Cambridge English learning path to help them ace their Cambridge exams.
Free Song #2: Practise asking questions using the present simple
In this music video, your students will be strutting their stuff at a fashion show. Naturally then, the lyrics cover vocabulary related to clothes (hat, shoes, skirt, shirt, jacket etc) and they also help children practice asking questions using what (what are you wearing?).
Fashion Show Music Video: ELT Songs Unit 15
Lyrics: Fashion Show
Oooohhh It’s a fashion show.
Look at the cool clothes
At the fashion show.
Look at the cool clothes
At the fashion show.
Let’s go.
Kim: What are you wearing?
Jack: I’m wearing a hat.
A hat, a hat,
A cool, orange hat.
Kim: What are you wearing?
Zoe: I’m wearing a shirt.
A shirt, a shirt.
A cool, white shirt.
Kim: I’m wearing brown trousers
And a T-shirt too.
I’m wearing a Jacket.
What about you?
It’s a fashion show, It’s a fashion show,
Sit down and watch, all the cool clothes.
It’s a fashion show, It’s a fashion show,
Are you ready? Are you ready?
For the fashion show?
Kim: What are you wearing?
Jack: I’m wearing shoes.
Shoes, shoes,
New, white shoes
Kim: What are you wearing?
Zoe: I’m wearing a skirt.
A skirt, a skirt,
A cool, pink skirt.
Kim: I’m wearing brown trousers
And a T-shirt too.
I’m wearing a Jacket.
What about you?
It’s a fashion show, It’s a fashion show,
Sit down and watch, all the cool clothes.
It’s a fashion show, It’s a fashion show,
Are you ready? Are you ready?
For the fashion show?
Classroom Activity: Practise asking and answering questions in the Present Simple
This speaking activity will help your students form questions using the present simple and will also help them understand basic adjective word order.
Play the music video ‘Fashion Show’ once for gist
Play it a second time and encourage the children to sing along
Highlight how the adjectives come before the noun “cool, pink skirt” then highlight how “cool” comes before the colour
Get the kids to brainstorm some other adjectives that have a similar meaning to cool “great, awesome, lovely” etc
Now have the children close their eyes and put their heads on down on the table (no peeking!)
Tell them you’re going to describe someone’s clothing and they have to guess who it is
They start the game by asking you, “What are you wearing?” then you start describing one of your students’ clothes
Whoever guesses correctly gets to open their eyes and be “it” next.
Free Song #3: Practise the Present Simple with “like/don’t like”
Don’t tell our boss, but we managed to sneak in a video from our members-only resource library.
Talking about likes and dislikes is an important skill, especially if your students are taking any Cambridge exams. This video blends vocabulary about fruit with like/don’t like and also asking questions so your students can practice the present simple in all its forms.
I like Fruit Music Video: ELT Songs Unit 17
Lyrics: I Like Fruit
Tom: I like fruit! Yes, I do! Yes, I do!
I like oranges and apples too.
I don’t like grapes. What about you?
What’s your favourite fruit?
What’s your favourite fruit?
Zoe: I like bananas, yes, I do!
Bananas, bananas. What about you?
Jack: I don’t like bananas! No, no, no!
I don’t like bananas! No, no, no!
Jack: I like pears, yes, I do!
Pears, pears! What about you?
Zoe: I don’t like pears. No, no, no!
I don’t like pears. No, no, no!
Tom: I like fruit! yes, I do! yes, I do!
I like oranges and apples too.
I don’t like grapes, what about you?
What’s your favourite fruit?
What’s your favourite fruit?
Zoe: I like oranges. Yes, I do!
Oranges, oranges! What about you?
Jack: I don’t like oranges. No, no, no!
I don’t like oranges. No, no, no!
Jack: I like grapes. Yes, I do!
Grapes, grapes. What about you?
Zoe: I don’t like grapes. No, no, no!
I don’t like grapes. No, no, no!
Tom: I like fruit! yes, I do! yes, I do!
I like oranges and apples too.
I don’t like grapes, what about you?
What’s your favourite fruit?
What’s your favourite fruit?
Classroom Activity: Practising the Present Simple by talking about likes and dislikes
Listen to ‘I Like Fruit’ once for gist
Listen a second time and encourage the class to sing along
Split your class into pairs and hand out this free worksheet
Go over the new vocabulary like “I don’t mind, I hate” etc
Ask your students to fill in answers that are true for them under the “me” section
Next, they have to interview their partner about what types of food they like/dislike and fill in the “my friend” section with the right answer
Go around the class and ask questions like “what does Diego like for breakfast?”
This is a good opportunity to introduce the third person conjugation
For more esl food activities, you can read this post.
Are you Singing yet?
We hope you’ve enjoyed these free songs and that they’ll help your young learners become more confident when using the present simple in all its forms.
You can create a FREE ELT Songs account if you’d like access to our entire video resource library.
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