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Teaching Modals: Lesson Plans
Schedule for Teaching Modals
Day Three - part 1: Simple Past Modals [Allow students time to take notes as you go along]
The basic formula for making a simple past modal = Modal + Subject + have + p.p
[Note: It's always "have" since a modal is always followed by the base form of a verb.]
[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.]
- Changing the modals from the present to the past tends to change their meanings in some rather significant ways. A good way to explain the meanings of past modals is with the use of situations.
For example: Tom was texting while driving his car last night, so he crashed into a police car. You visit Tom in jail and tell him...
should ex: You should have driven more carefully. or You should not have texted while driving.
Are you giving Tom advice in this case? Remember, you give someone advice so they don't make a mistake in the future....If we wanted to advise Tom, we would say You should drive more carefully next time.. It's too late for Tom to change what happened, so what we're really doing is criticizing or blaming Tom. We're basically telling him how stupid he was. It doesn't really help Tom, and probably will just make him angry.
- 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.
Note: If Tom blames himself, we call that regret.
Criticism/Blame/Regret:
should ex: Tom should not have texted.
ought to ex: Tom ought to have driven more carefully.
Tom says... ex: I should have watched the road and not my phone. [regret]
- Next, leave another space below ought to [to label the category], and write the modal had better beneath it. As with the previous modals, provide an example based on our situation.
had better ex: Tom had better have not been drinking too. or Tom had better have worn his seatbelt.
Had better in the past is quite similar to its use in the present continuous in that two criteria have to be met:
- We hope the thing in our sentence has (or hasn't with negative) happened.
- We don't know whether it happened or not. [It's like we're hoping, but don't know.]
We hope Tom wasn't drinking too, but we don't know if he was or not. This idea that the speaker doesn't know if the action happened or not is important to the meaning of had better in the past, and can sometimes cause problems for students. This concept can be seen in the following example.
had better ex: Tom had a big driving test, but he failed it. We would not say "Tom had better not have failed the test"...because it's obvious that Tom already did fail the test, and we know it.
We can still consider had better as a "hope and guess" modal. At this point, it's a good idea to check whether students are getting it or not. Give students another situation like the ones above, and ask them to write an example of their own in their notebooks. Then walk around and spot check whether they're using it correctly or not. Had better can be tricky to use, and tends to give students some trouble. As you check their examples, ask whether it meets the two criteria for had better [1. Is this something the speaker wants/hopes for? 2. Do they know whether it happened or not?]
- Next, leave another space below had better [to label the category], and write the modal must beneath it. As with the previous modals, provide a sample sentence based on our driving situation.
:
must ex: Tom must not have seen the police car before he hit it.
Ask students what the word must means in this sentence. [Try to get them to suggest the word guess or assumption.]
Write the word Assumption at the top of the category. Just as with the present continuous, must means we are 90% sure about something.
Past Assumption:
must ex: The police officer must have gotten angry.
- To begin the next category, leave another space below must [to label the category], and write the modal may beneath it. Like the previous modals, provide a sample sentence based on our situation.
:
may ex: Tom may have broken his phone in the accident.
Ask students what the word may means in this sentence. [Try to get them to suggest the word possibility.]
Past Possibility:
may ex: Tom may have broken his phone in the accident.
Substitute the modal might into the example and ask students if the meaning has changed. [It hasn't]
might ex: Tom might have broken his phone in the accident.
Now substitute the modal could into the example and ask students if that changed the meaning. [It didn't]
could ex: Tom could have broken his phone in the accident.
Note on the Negative Forms: [The negative word "not" basically goes in the same places in the past as in the present modals- usually comes after the modal. However, a special case occurs with the modal could as can be seen in the following examples...]
could not have ex: Tom could not have come to class this morning because he was in jail. [Tom was not able to come to class. It was impossible due to this situation.]
could have not ex: Tom could have not texted while driving. [This means that Tom had a choice, but made the wrong decision. He had the choice to not text and drive, but he chose to text and drive anyway.]
We can round off the "Past Possibility" category with the modal would. Like in the present this modal is usually used within a conditional or with the word "but", and expresses the idea of a possibility that just didn't happen. [Follow the same pattern of providing a sample sentence for the students...]
would ex: Tom would have watched the road, but he was texting his girlfriend. - [Did Tom watch the road? No. Why not? because he was texting his girlfriend.]
would ex: Tom would have avoided the accident if he had paid attention/had been paying attention - [Did Tom avoid the accident? No. Was Tom paying attention? No.]
Note: Would with if in the past is basically a
past unreal conditional
sentence and requires a past perfect tense in the dependent clause. This is a good reason to teach past modals after students have learned the perfect verb tenses and before they learn the unreal conditionals.
Practice: Using situations is a good way for students to practice using past modals and also a good form of assessment because they provide a context that can show you whether or not they really understand the meanings of these modal forms. These situations can be used in written formats or in oral formats such as role plays in which they are Tom's parents, teachers, friends, etc.... Just make sure the situations are clear, and don't be afraid to infuse a little humor.
ex: Tom lent money to Bob who told him that he needed the money to take a very special girl out on a date. Later Tom found out that the "special girl" was actually Tom's girlfriend who had been cheating on him with Bob.
NOTE: I often wait to do this practice until after I have shown them how to do the past continuous modals as well. Then they can do both in one practice.
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