Emperor: Mixed Modal Verbs - Permission and Obligation

I. Read the social etiquette that is followed by someone who addresses a Japanese Emperor. In this case, Hirohito, the Post-World War II Japanese Emperor. Complete the sentences with the modal verbs provided. You may try to guess which  obligations are firmer in order to choose the best modal verb. 

CAN - MAY - MUST - HAVE TO

1. His Majesty's image _______________ only be recorded by a court-approved photographer from a distance.

2. You __________________not shake His Majesty' hand or touch him.

3. You ____________________ never look His Majesty directly in the eyes.

4. You _____________________  not step on his shadow.

5. When you sit down with His Majesty, you _______________________  sit on his left.

6. You _________________ never call His Majesty by his name.

II. Watch the segment and check your answers.

 

III. The Emperor talked with two different American generals. Which of the rules didn't they conform to? What were the consequences of such procedures?

GENERAL FELLERS - GENERAL MacARTHUR

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MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - EMPEROR

ANSWER KEY

I. 

1. His Majesty's image can only be recorded by a court-approved photographer from a distance.

2. You may not shake His Majesty' hand or touch him.

3. You must never look His Majesty directly in the eyes.

4. You may not step on his shadow.

5. When you sit down with His Majesty, you have to sit on his left.

6. You must never call His Majesty by his name.

II.

General Bonner Fellers - 

He conformed to all the rules.

General MacArthur - 

He took a picture from a short distance

He looked His Majesty directly in his eyes.

He shook hands with the Emperor.

III. The consequences were not negative. In fact, General MacArthur's informality won His Majesty's over and the conversation was profitable for both of them.

Hotel Transylvania & Mr. Popper's Penguins: Modal for Ability/Permission CAN

Hotel Transylvania is an awesome movie. Funny, somewhat scary, and with lots of interesting lessons to teach. Mr. Popper's penguins is an effective family movie, but the penguins are fantastic!

I. Watch the movie segment from the movie Hotel Transylvania about Dracula and his daughter, Mavis, and complete the blanks with can/can't and the verbs in parentheses. 

1. Mavis __________ (crawl) up the walls.

2. Mavis ______________ (go) outside .

3. Dracula ______________ (play)  the guitar.

4. Mavis and Dracula __________ (fly).

5. Dracula and Mavis ________________ (be) humans and bats.

5. Mavis _____________ (read).

7. Dracula ___________ (sing)

II. Which item in I CAN is not used for permission, not ability?

III. Guess what the penguins can do. Check the items you think they can.

1. __ Speak English

2. __ Walk

3. __ Run

4. __ Fly

5 __ Walk in line

6 __ Dance

7 __ Cross streets

8 __ Jump

IV. Watch the segment from the movie Mr. Popper's Penguins and check your answers.

V. Write 3 sentences saying what penguins can do and can't do.

1______________________________

2______________________________

3______________________________

Answer key


I.

Mavis can crawl up the walls.

Mavis can't go outside .

Dracula can play the guitar.

Mavis and Dracula  can fly.

Dracula and Mavis can be humans and bats.

Mavis can't read.

Dracula can sing

II. # 2

III.
Penguins can't speak English, fly and jump.

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MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - MR POPPER'S PENGUINS

Despicable Me: Modal Verbs - Rules with Will and May

Despicable Me is a lovely animated movie about a kind-hearted villain you end up falling in love with. This scene is marvelous and perfect to talk about rules, using will and may.



I. You will watch a scene in which a father is setting the rules with his recently adopted children. First, read the rules below and decide which ones you think are forbidden and which ones are permitted.

1.___ touch something.
2.___ touch the floor.
3. ___ touch the air.
4. ___ bother him while he is working.
5. ___ cry.
6. ___ whine.
7. ___ laugh.
8. ___ giggle.
9. ___ sneeze
10. ___burp.
11. ___ fart.
12. ___ make annoying noises.
13. ___ eat.

II. Watch the segment and check your guesses. Now write the rules, using YOU WILL (NOT) if the activity is forbidden and YOU MAY if the activity is allowed.



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MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - DESPICABLE ME

Answer key:

you may: 1, 2, 3, 13

you will not : the other items

The Island: Can (be allowed to), Can’t (not allowed to), have to (obligation), don’t/doesn’t have to (not necessary).

This is a great movie with an interesting idea about cloning. Because this scene shows what the clones are allowed (or not) to do, I sused it to practice modals.



Watch the movie segment and decide what the characters are (not)
allowed to do and what they have/don’t have to do. Fill in the blanks
with can /can’t /have (has) to or don’t (doesn’t) have to.

















1) Those people _____________ walk around the building.

2) They _________________ leave the building.

3) They __________________ wear identification bracelets.

4) They _______________ wear bright colored suits.

5) They _______________ work out together.

6) They __________________ swim in the pool.

7) They ___________________ wear swimsuits.

8) Monitors _________________ wear black clothes.

9) They _______________ sunbathe in tanning booths.

10) They __________________ wait in lines to have breakfast in the cafeteria.

11) They ___________________ to write their names before entering the cafeteria.

12) Lincoln Six Echo _______________ eat bacon.

13) Lincoln Six Echo ________________ pay for his food.

14) Jordan Two Delta __________________ stay too close to Lincoln Six Echo.

15) They _________________ have classes at the same time.

16) The students _________________ read books out loud together.

Now write sentences saying what you can (not)/ have to / don’t have to in your English class.

Ex:
I don’t have to speak all the time.

I can help my friends

I can’t speak Portuguese in class.

How to prepare your own video activity:
Grammar Goal: Can/ Can’t (permission/prohibition), have to (obligation/ don’t/doesn’t have to (not necessary).
• Select a segment in which the characters are supposed to perform several tasks.
• Ask students to observe what the characters have to do.
• Prepare a worksheet for students to fill in the blanks with the correct modal verb.
• Check whether the sentences make sense.

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MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - THE ISLAND