Modals of Obligation and Prohibition ESL Activities, Games and Worksheets

In this light-hearted modals of obligation and prohibition activity, students write an imaginary classroom contract for their teacher. In groups, students read the student contract on the worksheet. Next, go through the use of modal verbs of obligation and prohibition in the contract with the students. The students then write a teacher contract about all the rules and regulations they think you should follow. The contract shouldn't be too serious. Instead, encourage the students to create an amusing or imaginative set of rules. When everyone has finished, each group reads out their teacher contract to the class. After each group has presented, you and the group members sign the contract.

In this modals of obligation activity, students complete sentences expressing obligation for 'How to...' topics and then use the sentences in a guessing game. In pairs, students think of six 'How to...' topics and complete six sentences, expressing obligation for each topic, e.g. 'You must...', 'You should...', etc. The pairs then take it in turns to read out their sentences to another pair. The other pair has to guess the 'How to...' topic from the expressions of obligation. For each correct guess, pairs score one point. The pair with the most points wins the game. Afterwards, each pair reads one set of sentences to the class and they try to guess the 'How to...' topic.

Here is a can and can't activity to help students practice 'can' for permission and 'can't' for prohibition. In the activity, students discuss British laws and guess the ages people can and can't do certain things. In pairs, students discuss the British laws on the worksheet, choose one age for each law, and circle it. Each pair then joins with another pair to make a group of four. Each group discusses the British laws and reaches a consensus about the ages people can and can't do the things shown on the worksheet. Afterwards, groups give their answers and the correct age for each law is revealed to the class. The students then discuss which laws surprised them the most. Finally, the groups compare the list of British laws on the worksheet with the laws in their home country.

In this modals of obligation game, students make sentences about what people must do or be if they want to be successful in a particular job. Write the name of a job on the board, e.g. athlete. In teams, students have five minutes to write down as many 'You must...' sentences, expressing things people must do or be if they want to be successful in that particular kind of work, e.g. 'You must train every day'. When the time limit has been reached, the teams swap papers for marking. For each grammatically correct and appropriate sentence, teams score a point. Play several rounds with different jobs and other modal verbs and expressions of obligation, e.g. have to, should and ought to. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

In this fun modals of obligation running dictation activity, students practice completing and writing rules for various places. One student is the reader and the other is the writer. The reader runs to Text A, reads the first sentence, remembers it, runs back and dictates it to the writer who writes the sentence on the back of their worksheet. This continues until all the sentences in Text A have been dictated. The students then swap roles for Text B and the process is repeated. Next, students refer to the sentences they just wrote down and complete rules on the worksheet with the modals of obligation: must, mustn't, have to, don't have to, should or shouldn't. The students then read the sentences and decide which rules are for a museum and which are rules for a swimming pool, writing the sentence numbers accordingly. The first pair to do this correctly wins. Afterwards, the pairs think of a place and write five rules for that place using modals of obligation. Students must not say what the place is in their sentences. The students then go around the class reading their sentences to other pairs who try to guess the place being described.

In this modal of obligation and prohibition speaking activity, students play a guessing game where they describe places and situations using modal verbs and expressions of obligation and prohibition. In pairs, students describe the place or situation on their card by writing five sentences with modal verbs and expressions of obligation and prohibition, e.g. must, should, have to, etc. Next, pairs take it in turns to read their sentences to the class who tries to guess the place or situation described by each pair.

In this free have to and must game, students guess jobs from clues that contain expressions of obligation and prohibition with must, mustn't, have to, and don't have to. There are six clues for each job. The first clue is quite difficult and the last clue is very easy. In pairs, one student goes first and picks up a card. The student then reads out the first clue on the card to their partner. Their partner listens to the clue and guesses what the job could be. If the guess is incorrect, the student reads the next clue and so on. If their partner correctly guesses the job, they get the number of points indicated next to the clue. The two students then swap roles. This continues until all the cards have been used. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins. Afterwards, each pair thinks of a job and creates their own clues using expressions of obligation and prohibition. The pairs then read their clues for the class to guess.

In this should and shouldn't activity, students practice asking and answering yes/no questions with 'should'. This activity can be used to practice the modal verbs 'should' and 'shouldn't' for mild obligation and giving opinions. Students go through the items on the worksheet and form the yes/no questions they need to ask in order to do the activity, e.g. 'Should people eat meat?' The students then move around the classroom asking yes/no questions and completing their worksheets with yes or no answers, depending on whether the item on the worksheet is affirmative or negative. When a classmate responds appropriately, the student writes their name in the 'Name' column on the worksheet and asks a follow-up question to gain more information, e.g. 'Why do you think people shouldn't eat meat?' When everyone has finished, the students give feedback to the class on what they found out.

In this modals of obligation and prohibition board game, students review how to express past and present obligation, lack of obligation, and prohibition. Students take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board. When a student lands on a square, they make a sentence with the underlined language from the prompt, expressing past or present obligation, lack of obligation or prohibition. For example, if the square read 'Three things you mustn't do in class', the student might say 'You mustn't eat snacks, talk loudly or use your mobile phone in class'. The other group members listen to the student's sentence and judge whether it's correct or not. If the sentence is correct, the student stays on the square. If the sentence is grammatically incorrect or doesn't make sense, the student must go back to their previous square. If students land on the same square, they are not allowed to repeat a previous sentence made by another student. Instead, they should use different answers or reform the sentence. The first student to reach the finish wins the game.

In this free past modals of obligation and prohibition activity, students ask and answer questions about what they were and weren’t allowed to do and had to do when they were a child. This activity can be used to practice permission, obligation and prohibition in the past. The students' task is to find out the answer to the question on their card by speaking to everybody in the group. Each student then prepares the question they need to ask, e.g. 'Were you allowed to watch TV at night when you were a child?' The students then go around their group finding out about what their classmates were and weren’t allowed to do and had to do when they were a child by asking questions with 'Were you allowed to...?' and 'Did you have to...?' Students put a tick or cross on the back of the card each time a classmate answers yes or no. When everyone has finished, the students sit down in their groups and take it in turns to talk about the information they found out. Each student writes about the group's findings. When everyone has finished, the groups take it in turns to report back to the class on what they found out during the activity.

This past obligation activity helps to teach students how to express obligation in the past with 'had to' and 'didn't have to'. In the activity, students ask and answer questions about what they were obligated to do when they were children. Students start by turning each statement on the worksheet into a question, e.g. 'When you were young, did you have to go to school by bus?' Students also create two more questions of their own at the bottom of the worksheet. When the students have finished, they go around the class asking one another their questions. When a student finds someone who answers 'Yes, I did' to a question made from a positive statement, they write that person’s name in the second column. If the question is about a negative statement, the student needs to find someone who answers 'No, I didn't'. When a student writes down someone's name, they ask a follow-up question to gain more information and write the answer in the last column of the worksheet. Afterwards, the students give feedback to the class on what they found out using 'had to' and 'didn't have to'.