Greystone Castle is the setting for this two-page Year 5 cloze story about a class trip and a rumoured ghost. Pupils fill 12 gaps with modal verbs or adverbs of possibility from a 15-word bank that includes three distractors. It follows the England National Curriculum objective on degrees of possibility. The answer key lists a best answer for each gap, and a teacher note allows swaps between certainly, definitely and surely.
Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
“Using modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility”
Each gap asks pupils to judge how certain an event is, such as whether it might rain or the coach will arrive at 9:00 AM.
Fifteen options, from must and might to rarely and possibly.
Three paragraphs with 12 gaps, covering when Mr. Higgins's coach arrives, why to pack a waterproof jacket and whether the Greystone ghost is real.
Read-aloud check
Read the story aloud with the gaps. Pupils hold up a thumb to show how sure the missing word should sound.
Discussion
Several gaps take more than one answer. Ask pupils to defend their choice to a partner.
Before a writing task
Use it before pupils write their own trip diary, then ask for three modal verbs in it.
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