Eileen Eileen

W5-D3-Modal Verbs

Description

This lesson introduces basic modal verbs used to express ability, permission, and possibility. Students learn to recognize the meaning and level of certainty or formality of each modal and practice using them accurately in simple present and past contexts. The lesson progresses from controlled form awareness to guided communicative use.

Materials

Abc Board
Abc Projector
Abc Papers

Main Aims

  • To enable students to identify and correctly use can, could, may, and might to express ability, permission, and possibility.

Subsidiary Aims

  • To distinguish between different modal meanings (ability, permission, possibility).
  • To recognize differences in formality and certainty.
  • To use modals accurately in affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms.
  • To apply modal verbs in simple real-life spoken communication.

Procedure

Activation (25-30 minutes) • Activate prior knowledge and introduce modal ideas through movement and guessing.

Prepare a set of simple action or situation prompts (e.g. driving, cooking, studying, fixing something). Divide the class into two teams. One student from a team comes to the front and mimes the action. Their team guesses what the student is doing and must say a sentence using can or could (e.g. She can cook very well). Award points for correct guesses and correct sentences. Rotate students so multiple learners participate. The teacher focuses on fluency and encouragement, not correction.

Vocabulary (12-15 minutes) • Provide lexical support for discussing safety, care, and routines.

Vocabulary: care instructions, household hazard, safe area, dangerous item, risk level, medication schedule, home care routine, discharge notes, recovery time, soft tissue injury The teacher presents each word with: A clear definition One contextualized example sentence After each word, one student produces a sentence orally. The teacher reformulates if necessary, without long explanations. Students write the vocabulary and one example sentence in their notebooks.

Presentation (33-35 minutes) • Clarify the meaning, function, and form of basic modal verbs.

Project the modals. Present model sentences for each modal and its structures. Elicit from students: What idea each sentence expresses Which ones sound more formal or less certain Highlight form: Modals do not change with the subject Base verb follows the modal Briefly show negative and question forms

Controlled Practice (18-20 minutes) • Develop accuracy in selecting the correct modal based on context.

Students work individually. Students complete sentences choosing can, could, may, or might. Emphasize that they must think about: certainty politeness time (present vs past) Students compare answers in pairs. Conduct whole-class feedback: Students explain why a modal was chosen. The teacher clarifies common confusions (especially may vs might).

Production (18-20 minutes) • Encourage meaningful spoken use of modals.

Students work in pairs. Each pair interviews each other using prompts such as: What can you do well? What could you do when you were younger? What might you do this weekend? May I ask you a question about your routine? Students take brief notes. Each student reports one thing about their partner to the class. The teacher monitors and notes errors for future feedback.

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