should and shouldn't (advice)

The kind modal: you should sleep more, you shouldn't worry. Advice is a life skill — this is its grammar, gentle by design.

From age 9Cambridge level: A2 Flyers

Age: Ages 9–11
Level: A2
Skill: Grammar
Format: Teacher guide

The pattern

Saying it: You should drink water.
Saying no: You shouldn't eat so many sweets.
Asking: Should I ask the teacher?
Short answer: Yes, you should.

Printable worksheet Presentation (PPT)

Sentences a child can say

Tap any sentence to hear it. Every one uses words from a topic pack you already have.

Mini exercise: choose the right word

Five sentences from this page, each with a word missing. A child taps the word that fits and, once it is right, hears the whole sentence.

You should blank to bed early.
You blank eat so many sweets.
He should blank a coat.
Should I blank the teacher?
We should blank him.

What you will actually hear

The mistakes that come up in every class, and what is behind each one, with a tag on those a first language makes typical.

You should to sleep.You should sleep.

The modal family rule, third time: straight to the bare verb. By should, the class can recite it before you do.

You don't should eat it.You shouldn't eat it.

Modals make their own negatives — no don't needed. Should folds not inside itself: shouldn't.

How to teach it

1
The advice office: one puppet has a problem ('I'm tired!'), the class prescribes — 'You should sleep! You shouldn't play so late!' Problems in, advice out, all lesson.
2
Sort should/shouldn't cards for a visitor: a new student, an astronaut, a puppy. Advice for someone else is easier than advice for yourself — and funnier.
3
Link it to health week: food, sleep, screens. Should-sentences about real habits stick because the child recognises themselves inside them.

Topic packs that pair with this

Same structure, words your class already knows — no new vocabulary needed.

At the doctor Food Daily routines Feelings School

Questions teachers ask

Should vs must — how do I draw the line for kids?

Temperature: must is the law (a rule someone will enforce), should is warm advice (you choose). Act both versions of one sentence and the class feels the difference immediately.

Is Should I…? worth teaching actively?

Yes — it is the asking-for-help pattern, and a child who can ask 'Should I write it?' navigates any classroom on earth. Drill it as a chunk with three school situations.