Rules are rules (modal verbs)

Joe | May 12, 2025May 12, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• discuss rules at work and remote work;
• learn and practise modal verbs to talk about rules;
• watch a video on tips for working from home.

With this ESL lesson on modal verbs, students talk about work policies, practise modal verbs to discuss rules in the workplace (e.g. can’t, should, don’t have to) and share their views. They watch a video about working from home and talk about its advantages and disadvantages. Students also work in pairs to write work rules and guess different professions (e.g. doctor, athlete, chef).

WARM-UP AND MODAL VERBS

This ESL lesson on modal verbs starts with a warm-up. Students read opinions on workplace rules (e.g. Rules at work help everyone do their job well.) and say which one they agree with most. They add details. Afterwards, students match sentence halves to create work rules with modal verbs (e.g. Employees can’t take too many breaks, but it’s OK to take an hour to have lunch.). They then read questions about modal verbs and answer them using the correct ones from the previous task. Following that, students choose two rules that they have, or had, at work and share their thoughts about them. Next, students read more workplace rules and choose the correct modals (e.g. You can/should turn off your camera during online meetings if you prefer.). They then choose one rule they like and one they don’t like and say why.

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

In this part of this ESL lesson on modal verbs, students consider the pros and cons of working from home. They then watch the first part of a video about remote work and write down one advantage and one disadvantage mentioned. After that, students watch the rest of the video and tick the tips that they hear (e.g. You should work away from the TV and kitchen.). Next, they discuss questions about working from home and job preferences. Afterwards, students get a card with a job and some activities (e.g. chef – wear a uniform, use a phone at work, be creative, work in hotels, work well in a team). They write rules for the job using modal verbs and read them to their partner without saying what the job is. Their partner asks follow-up questions and tries to guess the job. Then, students swap roles.

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This lesson plan also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students read some rules at work and rewrite them using modal verbs. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

WORKSHEETS

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