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Teaching Modals: Lesson Plans
Schedule for Teaching Modals
Day One - part 2: The Simple Present [Allow students time to take notes as you go along]
[Leave a space on the top left corner of the board. We will use this space later to label the category of modals that will go under it.]
- Begin by writing the modal should beneath the empty space and ask students to give you an example sentence with should in it. (help them along as needed.) [You can write the sentence to the right of the modal.]
should ex: Tom should eat healthier food.
Ask students what the word should means in this sentence. [Try to get them to suggest the word advice or suggestion.]
Write the word Advice at the top of the category.
- Next, substitute the modal ought to in place of should, and ask them if the meaning has changed. [It hasn't.] Write ought to under should in your list.
Advice:
should ex: Tom should eat healthier food.
ought to ex: Tom ought to eat healthier food.
- Add the modal had better to the list beneath ought to, and try to elicit an example. If none are forthcoming,...
had better ex: Tom had better eat healthier food.
Again, ask students if they think the meaning has changed. [This time it has slightly changed with had better being strong advice/warning.]
Negative Forms:
At this point, it's often a good time to introduce the negative forms for these modals. This can be done by writing three more examples on the board and asking students how they think we can make them negative.
should ex: Tom should play with his food.
ought to ex: Tom ought to play with an alligator.
had better ex: Tom had better swim with the sharks.
With a little guidance and guessing, they're usually able to come up with the correct forms...[The not usually comes after the modal.]
should ex: Tom should not play with his food.
ought to ex: Tom ought not to play with an alligator. or Tom ought to not play with an alligator.
had better ex: Tom had better not swim with the sharks.
- Next, leave another space below had better [to label the category], and write the modal must beneath it. As with the previous modals, elicit a sample sentence from students.
:
must ex: Tom must study for his grammar test.
Ask students what the word must means in this sentence. [Try to get them to suggest the word command or order.]
Write the word Command at the top of the category, but leave space next to it to add another label. In addition to a command meaning, must can also be used to make an assumption...
Command/ :
must ex: Tom smells like french fries and is wearing a McBurger uniform. He must work at McBurgers.
Ask students if must is still a command in this example. [It's an assumption. You can explain this as being 90% sure about something.]
- Elicit an example of must in the negative or make one of your own...
Command/Assumption:
must ex: Tom smells like french fries and is wearing a McBurger uniform. He must not work at Taco King.
- To begin the next category, leave another space below must [to label the category], and write the modal can beneath it. Like the previous modals, elicit a sample sentence from students.
:
can ex: Tom can ride a bike.
Ask students what the word can means in this sentence. [Try to get them to suggest the word ability.]
We do in fact use can to express ability, but can also use it to talk about a possibility...
Ability/ :
can ex: Tom can ride his bike to the beach next weekend.
Ask students if can is still an ability in this example. [The phrase next week implies it's a possibility.]
Could is similar in meaning to can...
Ability/Possibility:
can ex: Tom can ride a bike.[ability]
can ex: Tom can ride his bike to the beach next weekend.[ability]
could ex: Tom could ride a bike when he was a kid. - [past ability]
could ex: Tom could ride his bike to the beach next weekend. - [possibility]
We can round off the "Ability/Possibility" category with the modals may and might. [Follow the same pattern of eliciting sample sentences from the students...]
may ex: Tom may...
might ex: Tom might...
Once again, ask them what the modals mean in the sentences. [possibility]
We can finish the "Possibility" category with the modal would. This modal is usually used within a conditional or with the word "but", and expresses the idea of a possibility that just won't happen...
would ex: I would do my homework, but.... - [Will I do my HW? No]
would ex: I would clean my room if I had time - [Will I clean my room? No]
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