Teaching notes and ideas – short version
Name of resource:
EAL Nexus
Frankenstein passive voice
Age group(s)
Subject(s)
12 to 14
English
Topic
Language Level
Frankenstein
Beginner
Description of resource
 Passive voice PowerPoint
Preparation needed
You will need:
 one copy of the Passive voice PowerPoint
 a computer/laptop with a projector or Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) for whole class
teaching and/or laptops for learners to practise in small groups/individually
 Bilingual dictionaries
 exercise books/workbooks for learners to write in.
You will need to:
 print enough copies of the PowerPoint before lesson for individual, pairs or small
groups work.
Curriculum objectives
 To change a simple active sentence to a passive one
 Subject–verb agreement
Language/Literacy objectives
Functions
Recounting
Structures
 … adopted/were adopted by …
… murdered/were murdered by …
… rescued/was rescued by …
… convicted … of … / … was convicted of … by …
Vocabulary
active, convicted, fascinated, magistrate, murdered, object, passive, rescued,
secret, subject
This project and its actions were made possible due to co-financing by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals
© British Council 2015
EAL Nexus
This resource could be used:
 whole class
 one to one or small group
Ideas for using the resource
What to do
Note: Teachers may not wish to give out Slide 5 (the answers) at the start of lesson.
The following suggestions can be used as collaborative activities or for whole class
teaching, as deemed appropriate by the teacher.
 Ask learners to translate the words listed in the vocabulary section above if
they are literate in their first language (see Using learners’ first language
abiltiy).
 Slide 2 – the graphic organiser on this slide is animated to show how a simple
active sentence can be tranformed into a passive one.
o Ask learners where the subject, verb and object words in ‘active voice’ may
end up in the ‘passive voice’ model before activating the animation
o Click on the slide to give feedback.
 Slide 3 – Example
o Remind learners of the model shown on the previous slide. Ask them to
transform this sample sentence before showing the answer.
o Highlight the punctuation/grammar points: capital letter where changed as
required, full stop and subject–verb agreement.
 Slides 4 and 5 – Sentences to practise
o Ask learners to transform the sentences on Slide 4 from active voice to
passive and write them. Some learners may refer to Slide 5 (the sentence
template) when they do this task.
o Ask learners to think about the difference between the fourth sentence and
the first three.
 Slide 6 – Answers for learners to check their work.
o If learners have already been given this slide at the start of the lesson, they
can either check their own work or their peers’.
Other ideas for making the best use of this resource
 Ask learners to read the synopsis from the other part of the Frankenstein
resource (item 2a) and pick out any other sentences that they may be able to
change from active voice to passive.
This project and its actions were made possible due to co-financing by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals
© British Council 2015
EAL Nexus
Possible extension activities
 Ask learners to look at the sentence template (Slide 5) and think about reversing
the sentence-making process. Get feedback from learners and show Slide 2,
tracing back the arrows. If appropriate, depending on the learners’ ability, ask
them to change a passive voice sentence to an active one.
This project and its actions were made possible due to co-financing by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals
© British Council 2015