Homework and home learning tasks for Year 5 English on modal verbs, practising degrees of possibility in writing.
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Modal verbs, such as ‘might’, ‘will’, and ‘must’, are used to show how certain or possible something is.
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What’s Included
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• The Correction Station: A focused activity where pupils rewrite sentences using a word bank of modal verbs like ‘must’, ‘will’, and ‘might’.
• The Certainty Switch: A transformation task where pupils change sentences from uncertain to certain by swapping the modal verb.
• Creative Composition Challenge: An optional extension task where pupils write about a Mars mission using specific modal verbs for risk and rules.
• Success Criteria Checklist: A self-assessment tool for pupils to check their use of modal verbs and correct punctuation.
• Teacher’s Post-Task Briefing: A guide with model answers and notes on moving pupils towards more precise word choices.

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How to Use It
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1. Assign the Certainty Switch for homework so pupils practise swapping modal verbs to change how certain a sentence sounds.
2. Run the Correction Station as a plenary, using the model answers to sort out any common mix-ups.
3. Display a model sentence during the lesson to give Year 5 pupils a clear anchor for degrees of possibility in writing.

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Curriculum Coverage
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• KS2 National Curriculum — English (Year 5): Pupils are taught to indicate degrees of possibility using modal verbs within their writing.
• Upper Key Stage 2 Attainment Targets: Pupils learn to tell the difference between varying levels of probability in their writing.

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Last updated: 1 July 2026
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File Includes
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PDF file included.