Luis Cordova

Lesson Plan: Passive Voice

Level: Intermediate
Materials: Strips of paper with active-voice sentences; handout on reasons of how and when to
use the passive voice; pictures from http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/passive.php
that illustrate passive constructions; magazine or newspaper articles.
Goal: Students learn how and when to use the passive voice.
Objectives:

Students will be able to form the passive voice.

Students will be able to differentiate between the passive and active voice.
Students will know when the passive voice is used.

Motivation: Show students a picture. Then ask them a question about the picture, which elicits an
active-voice response. Write down that answer on the board, and tell them that there is another
way to answer the question with the passive voice.
Explanation
Presentation/review of Subject, Object, Verb, and Past Participle.
Difference between the active and passive voice construction.
Reasons of why the passive voice is used instead of the active voice at times.
Use of passive and adjective
Activities
1.

Race Game. Divide the class into two teams. Each team forms a single file in front
of the chalkboard with an active voice sentence written on a paper. Once the
instructor says, GO, each student must write their sentence on the board in the
passive voice. The first team to go through each member wins. Once the game is
over, look at a few sentences on the board to ensure that the class understands the
passive voice.

2.

Partner work. Give students a picture and tell them to describe the picture to a
classmate in the passive voice. Then, students stand up and describe his or her
picture in the passive voice.

3.

Partner work. Give each pair of student a newspaper or magazine article and ask
them to find passive voice sentence and explain to the class why the writer used the
passive voice instead of the active voice.

4.

Group work. Put students in groups of three. Ask students to provide collectively
examples of passive voice sentences when the subject is unknown, general, and
obvious, and when the write wants to emphasize the object. Then, students exchange
answers with classmates.

Follow-up: Students go through a piece of writing that theyve done recently, and find five cases
where they used the passive voice. For each case, they must explain how they know its in the
passive voice, state whether it should stay a passive voice, and convert it into an active voice.

Assessment: Evaluate the success or failure based on the in class exercises.