Lesson Plan
LEVEL: Intermediate
TOPIC: Passive Voice (Past Simple)
DURATION: 60 mins.
MATERIALS: Whiteboard, coloured board markers, worksheets.
ANTICPATED PROBLEMS: Students may forget to add the verb to ‘be’ in the correct form when they
write sentences in the Passive.
SOLUTIONS: T writes the formula (BE (was/ were) + Past Participle on the whiteboard so Ss can see it
at all times.
OBJECTIVES:
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Students will be able to change Active Voice into Passive Voice and vice versa.
Students will be able to produce their own sentences in Passive Voice.
WARM UP STAGE: 5 mins.
INTERACTION: T-Ss
T introduces the Passive by telling Ss where items T is wearing were made.
For example:
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My watch was made in Switzerland.
My dress was made in Italy.
My shoes were made in France.
T asks Ss if they know who made those items.
T asks Ss if that fact is important or not.
STUDY STAGE: 15 mins.
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INTERACTION: T-Ss, ss-T
T will distribute the worksheet (Appendix 1).
T will ask Ss to underline the verbs.
T will elicit the verbs from Ss.
T will ask if the verbs have a subject.
T will ask if we know who performed those actions.
T will explain that in English we have Active Voice and Passive Voice.
T explains that in Active Voice, we know who does the action.
T explains that in Passive Voice, the action is the important thing not who performed that
action.
T writes on the whiteboard a sentence from the worksheet.
‘Last summer I painted our house.’
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T asks Ss what is the verb. Underlines the verb ‘painted’ with a red marker.
T asks ‘Who painted the house?’
T explains that ‘I’ is the subject of the sentence; T underlines it in red.
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T asks ‘What did I paint?’
T elicits answers from Ss and writes the object of the sentence, ‘the house’, on the board
and underlines it in red.
T explains that to turn Active Voice into Passive, we take the object of the Active
sentence and we make it the subject of the Passive sentence.
The verb tense stays the same, but we add the verb to be in the same tense as the main
verb of our sentence. We add the past participle of our main verb next to the verb to be.
The subject of our Active sentence becomes the agent in the Passive and is introduced
with the word ‘by’.
However, if the subject is: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, somebody, people then it is
omitted from our sentence.
T writes on the board: The house was painted.
T explains that the verb to be changes here into ‘was/were’ because the main verb
(painted) was in the Past simple. The past participle is also ‘painted’ because the verb is
a regular verb.
PRACTICE STAGE
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Activity 1: 15mins.
INTERACTION: T-Ss, S-S, Ss-T
T asks Ss to write 5 sentences from their worksheet and turn them into passive Voice.
Ss work in closed pairs.
Peer check.
T elicits sentences from Ss and writes the on the board.
Peers contribute the correct answers.
Activity 2: 10 mins.
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T writes 5 sentences on the board (Appendix 2).
T asks Ss to change the sentences from Passive into Active Voice.
Ss work individually.
When Ss finish, they exchange their papers with their neighbour’s and correct it.
T elicits answers from Ss and writes the correct sentences on the board.
Activity 3: 10 mins.
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INTERACTION: T-Ss, S-S, T-Ss, S-T
INTERACTION: T-Ss, S-S, T-Ss, S-T
T writes 5 sentences on the board (Appendix 3).
T asks Ss to change the sentences from Active into Passive Voice.
Ss work individually.
When Ss finish, they exchange their papers with their neighbour’s and correct it.
T elicits answers from Ss and writes the correct sentences on the board.
T recaps the lesson and assigns Appendix 4 worksheet for homework. (5 mins.)
References:
Introduction. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2014, from
https://dph8writing.wikispaces.com/file/view/8W_Introduction_1.11_Revise.pdf
Appendices:
Appendix 1
Last summer I painted our house. The job took about two weeks. First, I washed the exterior
with warm water and soap. Then I sealed all the small cracks with putty. After the putty dried, I
painted the exterior. I used latex paint, because it is easy to apply and cleans up with water. I
needed a whole week to finish this part of the job. I applied the paint evenly, to keep from applying
two coats. I used a colour that was close to the original colour. Our house is a two-story house, so I
used a tall ladder to do the second story. The paint can balanced on top part of the ladder while I
worked. I felt a great deal of satisfaction when I finished the job. Even my dad said that I did a good
job!
Adapted from: https://dph8writing.wikispaces.com/file/view/8W_Introduction_1.11_Revise.pdf
Appendix 2
Change the sentences from Passive into Active Voice.
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Crops were damaged by the storm.
Rubbish was thrown in the sea.
The water in our village was polluted by the factory.
Breakfast was made at 7am by Ann.
The doors were closed by our maid to prevent the rain coming into our house.
Appendix 3
Change the sentences from active into passive Voice.
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They wrote their names on the tests.
All women wore fancy hats in the 18th century.
The teacher marked the research papers on time.
The police arrested the criminal without questioning him.
The flight engineer checked the plane’s engine before it took off.
Appendix 4
WORKSHEET
Please change the sentences below into the Passive Voice.
1. The storm didn’t damage our property.
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These workers repaired our neighbour’s fence and barn wall.
Residents of Mexico City cleaned the city roads after the religious procession.
The high school expelled the students who smoked in the bathrooms.
My father repaired the roof on our cottage without any help from the workers.
PMU advises its students not to cheat during the exit exams.
Ancient Egyptians used papyrus to keep records of purchases.
The Chinese invented gunpowder.
The Amazon valley produces almost fifty percent of our planet’s oxygen supply.
Natives of Latin America roasted cocoa beans to make chocolate.