Planning
Date: March 3, 2011
Class and Grade Level: Tenth Grade
Title/Subject of Lesson: Transitive vs. Intransitive Verbs
Objective(s): Students will be able to:
 Recognize transitive and intransitive verbs.
 Identify active and passive voice.
 Recognize that transitive verbs can be made passive whereas intransitive and linking
verbs cannot
 Use transitive and intransitive verbs effectively in their own writing
State (or District) Core Curriculum Standard(s):
2.3.a. Edit and Revise for: Correct use of active and passive voice.
2.3.b. Edit for: Correct subject/verb agreement.
2.3.b. Edit for: Correct sentence construction
Concept(s) to be Taught:
 Correct use of transitive and intransitive verbs
 The relationship between transitive and intransitive verbs and passive voice
 Different rhetorical purposes for transitive vs. intransitive verbs
Materials Needed:
Typically transitive verbs without direct objects:
 “I’d really rather you didn’t” (L’Engle 166).
 “You ask first” (Tolkien 73).
 “From what I saw, you do” (Hinton 25).
Two of the above sentences in context (showing the direct object):
 “‘You ask first,’ he said, because he had no time to think of a riddle” (Tolkien 73)
 ‘“Tell me,” the beast said. “What do you suppose you’d do if three of us suddenly
arrived on your home planet?”
“Shoot you, I guess,” Calvin admitted.
“Then isn’t that what we should do with you?”
Calvin’s freckles seemed to deepen, but he answered quietly. “I’d really rather
you didn’t”’ (L’Engle 165-6)
Examples of the Passive Voice Test:
 Ex: You ask a riddle first.
Test: The riddle was asked by you first.

Ex: The dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck.
Test: You can’t say: “Strong in Buck is become the dominant primordial beast.
Intransitive Passages:
 “The beast in him roared” (London 28).
 “ Arm in arm they went strolling along Fountain Street—smiling, laughing,
peering into store windows, going in shops and coming out with their arms filled
with packages, calling out to one another” (Shaffer and Barrows140).
Passage with examples of both transitive and intransitive verbs:
“A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strode through his backyard,
baseball cap in place and toting ball and bat. “I’m the greatest baseball player in
the world,” he said proudly. Then he tossed the ball into the air, swung and
missed. Undaunted, he picked up the ball, threw it into the air and said to himself,
“I’m the greatest player ever!” He swung at the ball again, and again he missed.
He paused for a moment to examine bat and ball carefully. Then once again he
threw the ball into the air and said, “I’m the greatest baseball player who ever
lived!” He swung the bat hard and again missed the ball. ‘Wow !’ He exclaimed.
‘What a pitcher!’”
Overheads of all these quotes, as well as the imitation, expansion, and independent
exercises
Strategies to be Used:
 Modeling, guided practice, independent practice
 Sentence imitation, sentence expansion, sentence combining
PERFORMING
Announcements: (none)
Continuation from Previous Lesson: This semester we have been discussing strategies that will
make our writing stronger. Currently you are working on persuasive writing. Today we will
discuss how understanding transitive and intransitive verbs can improve your rhetorical approach
to writing these essays, especially as they relate to active and passive voice.
Lesson Presentation:
A) Getting Started: [anticipatory set]
 [modeling] Begin by showing students the three simple quotes from the books. Ask
students if they are satisfied with them, or if the sentences leave them wanting more.
o With #1 you wonder what the speaker doesn’t want someone to do.
o With # 2 again you want more information about what is being asked
o With # 3 it is similar to #1. What does the verb “do” refer to.
 Explain that students can think about verbs in terms of transitive or intransitive usage.
Explain that the above verbs seem ambiguous because they are transitive verbs out of
context. Transition into defining transitive verbs.
B) Directing the Learning: [learning activities]





[modeling]: Even though transitive verbs usually need a direct object, at times such
as in the former examples, authors will drop the direct object for rhetorical effect.
(Talk about the Tolkien quote on the overhead in its full context and identify its
missing direct object. Then rewrite the sentence with the direct object. Ask why
Tolkien may have wanted to drop the object in his sentence.)
[guided practice/sentence expansion]: Now you try imitating the structure that
Madeleine L’Engle used. I’ve got a fill-in-the-blank for you on the overhead; write
two sentences on your own paper: one completing L’Engle’s quote and the other
making Calvin’s statement into a transitive sentence. (Share students’ examples,
praise their efforts, and talk about how transitive verbs work in dialogue. Also, teach
students the passive voice test so that they can identify transitive verbs from linking
verbs. Show examples on the overhead.)
[modeling/sentence imitation]: Ok, so if intransitive is the opposite of transitive
what does it look like? (leave time for response. Explain that there are two types of
intransitive verbs and show the models on the overhead.) Here’s my attempt at
imitating Jack London’s sentence (show your imitation).
[guided practice/sentence imitation]: Now, with a partner, you try imitating either
London or Shaffer and Barrows or both. (Help students with questions, praise their
efforts, and share their examples. Talk about the rhetorical effect of both uses of
intransitive verbs.)
[modeling]: Here’s an example of how verbs may be either transitive or intransitive.
(Share the overhead with the paragraph about the baseball boy. Ask students to focus
on the verbs “swung” and “missed” and when they are used transitively or
intransitively.) What effect does changing between the transitive and intransitive
usage create in this passage?
C) Bringing the Lesson to a Conclusion:
 [independent practice/accountability]: Here are some common verbs that can be
either transitive or intransitive. (share verbs on the overhead). See if you can create a
passage using some of these verbs both transitively and intransitively. (Circulate and
monitor students, giving feedback and praising their efforts.)
Assignment: You must include at least two uses of transitive verbs and two uses of intransitive
verbs in one paragraph of your persuasive essay. Also, use at least one verb both transitively and
intransitively. You will highlight and annotate these verbs.
Evaluation: