A one-page modal verbs check for Year 5 with the answer key on page 2. Pupils underline the modal verb in four sentences, from We must finish our maths homework to Our class will visit the science museum. They order will, might and should from least to most certain, fill the gaps in You ___ brush your teeth twice a day and ___ I open the window, please? and rewrite It might snow tonight so it sounds more certain. It follows England National Curriculum grammar for Year 5.
Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
“Indicating degrees of possibility using adverbs [for example, perhaps, surely] or modal verbs [for example, might, should, will, must]”
Part 1 finds the modal verb in four sentences, Part 2 ranks might, should and will, and Part 4 asks pupils to make might more certain.
Four sentences to underline, with must, might, should and will as the answers.
Will, might and should sit in three boxes. Pupils write them in a table headed least certain, more certain and most certain.
Two sentences to complete with a suitable modal verb, You ___ brush your teeth twice a day and ___ I open the window, please?
Pupils rewrite It might snow tonight with a different modal verb so that it sounds more certain.
Each answer, with alternatives where they fit, such as should or must for the toothbrushing sentence.
Exit ticket
Hand it out in the last ten minutes of a modal verbs lesson. Part 2 shows quickly whether pupils place should between might and will.
Order of certainty talk
Before pupils write in the table, ask which of the three they would trust to say it will rain tomorrow. Expect a debate over should.
Revisit later
Run it again two weeks on with the answers hidden, to see which of the four parts pupils have kept hold of.
Get started today
