Things You'll Need:
- Lesson plan
- Materials (worksheets, flashcards, etc.)
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Step 1
Review the forms of modal auxiliaries and their usage for yourself (See Additional Resources below). Pay special attention to any exceptions or rules for the particular modal you're teaching, for example, "must" has no past or future tense, and the negative of "ought to" is "ought not to."
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Step 2
Focus on the function of the modal. "Should" and "ought to" are advice or warning, while "will" is a future intention. Find a lesson that reflects why the modal auxiliary is used, so that students can integrate it functionally (see Resources below). To practice advice, you could use problem cards in small groups to ask "for/give" advice, with the "best" advice winning the card. The student with the most cards at the end wins.
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Step 3
Prepare any additional materials--grammar worksheets that you need to print, role-plays you need to write or mixed-media lessons you need to test. Leave yourself enough time for each part or activity; if you're going to include a writing activity (e.g., writing predictions for the next year using "will/won't"), it takes much longer than multiple-choice questionnaires.
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Step 4
Introduce the topic. An example could be "Rules and Regulations" to present "can/can't" or "Regrets" to present past forms of modals. Highlight the forms--positive, negative and questions--and also focus on possible problems like pronunciation (the pronunciation of "can't" is usually problematic, as is "won't" vs. "want"). Drills can be used here, for example, a sentence stress rhyme with students repeating after you. Practice the soft forms--"can YOU...?/i CAN'T DO.../i can DO"--and follow it up with students working in pairs to write "can" questions for others. Have the students use their questions in a mingling activity with the whole group and report to the class at the end: "John can sing, but Jenny can't."
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Step 5
Give the students grammar practice in the area, such as a gap-fill (fill-in-the-blank) or a matching exercise that targets the modal auxiliary you want them to focus on (see Resources below).
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Step 6
Go into a free-form activity. Some examples are questionnaires, mingling or conversation topics (such as "What advice would you give in X situation?" for "should/ought to" practice). Conversation practice for modals of probability (could, may, might) could be abstract pieces of art or photos. In pairs, the students have to discuss what they think the object could/might (or might not) be. A mingling activity could involve a role-play with fortune tellers and clients to practice "will/won't."
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Step 7
Finish the lesson with a quick review of the modals, or give students follow-up homework. Students can write their own questions to ask the other students during the next lesson or research an interesting country on the Internet ("Strange Laws" to revise/review "can/can't").
