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English lesson plan · 6th grade (Year 7 in England) · 60 minutes

Active and passive voice

Grammar

CCSS L.8.1.BCCSS L.8.3.AEngland: Y6 GPS (passive voice)England: KS2 SATs GPS

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Active and passive voice.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Perfect tenses (past, present, future)

Leads to: Verb moods and shifts in voice or mood; Academic style: hedging, nominalisation and objectivity; Rewriting passive sentences in the active voice

Materials: Sentence strips, Highlighters, Mini whiteboards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Perfect tenses (past, present, future)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Choose the correct perfect tense. By tonight, I ___ (read) the whole book. (am reading / had read / will have read / have read) → will have readPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?
  2. Choose the correct perfect tense. Scientists ___ (discover) a new kind of frog. (had discovered / discovering / will have discovered / have discovered) → have discoveredPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?
  3. Choose the correct perfect tense. When I got to the station, the train ___ (leave). (has left / will have left / leaves / had left) → had leftPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?

Hook · 6 min

  • Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
  • Share the objective: Active and passive voice. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Which sentence is the passive version of this sentence? The children have planted the trees. • The trees has been planted by the children. • The trees have planted the children. • The trees have been planted by the children. • The children have been planted by the trees.
  • Step 1: Move the object to the front, use be + past participle in the same tense, and put the doer after 'by' (or leave it out).
  • Step 2: So the answer is: The trees have been planted by the children.
  • Answer: The trees have been planted by the children.
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Which sentence is the passive version of this sentence? A bee stung my brother. • My brother was stinged by a bee. • My brother stung a bee. • My brother was stung by a bee. • A bee was stung by my brother. (My brother was stinged by a bee. / My brother stung a bee. / My brother was stung by a bee. / A bee was stung by my brother.) → My brother was stung by a bee.Prompt: In a passive sentence, the thing the action is done TO becomes the subject.
  2. Is this sentence active or passive? The prize was won by a girl from Leeds. (active / passive) → passivePrompt: Who or what is the subject? Is the subject DOING the action or RECEIVING it?

You do: independent practice · 17 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Choose the best answer. Which sentence hides who made the mistake? (A mistake was made in the accounts. / Leo made a mistake in the accounts. / The accounts were wrong because of Leo. / Leo's accounts had his mistake.) → A mistake was made in the accounts.Prompt: The passive voice lets a writer leave out the doer or put the focus on what was affected.
  2. Is this sentence active or passive? The orchestra played three pieces. (active / passive) → activePrompt: Who or what is the subject? Is the subject DOING the action or RECEIVING it?

Watch out for

  • Naming the feature but not using it in their own sentences.
  • Thinking a sentence is right because it sounds right when spoken casually.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Perfect tenses (past, present, future).
  • Use concrete materials: sentence strips.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Verb moods and shifts in voice or mood; Academic style: hedging, nominalisation and objectivity; Rewriting passive sentences in the active voice.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-6.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Active and passive voice

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Choose the best answer. In a science report about an experiment, which sentence is most appropriately formal?

    • A. The mixture was heated for five minutes.
    • B. We heated the stuff for like five minutes.
    • C. Heat it for five minutes!
    • D. I reckon we heated it for five minutes.

  2. Question 2

    Which sentence is the passive version of this sentence? The chef cooks the meals. • The chef is cooked by the meals. • The meals were cooking by the chef. • The meals are cooked by the chef. • The meals cook the chef.

    • A. The chef is cooked by the meals.
    • B. The meals were cooking by the chef.
    • C. The meals are cooked by the chef.
    • D. The meals cook the chef.

  3. Question 3

    Is this sentence active or passive? Scientists discovered a new species of beetle.

    • A. active
    • B. passive

  4. Question 4

    Choose the best answer. A newspaper does not know who damaged a statue. Which sentence fits?

    • A. The statue damaged overnight.
    • B. The statue was damaged overnight.
    • C. Somebody damaged it, who knows.
    • D. They damaged the statue overnight, probably.

  5. Question 5

    Which sentence is the passive version of this sentence? Thousands of fans watched the final. • The final was watched by thousands of fans. • Thousands of fans were watched by the final. • The final is watching by thousands of fans. • The final watched thousands of fans.

    • A. The final was watched by thousands of fans.
    • B. Thousands of fans were watched by the final.
    • C. The final is watching by thousands of fans.
    • D. The final watched thousands of fans.

  6. Question 6

    Is this sentence active or passive? The window was broken by a football.

    • A. active
    • B. passive

  7. Question 7

    Which sentence is the passive version of this sentence? The chef cooks the meals. • The meals cook the chef. • The meals were cooking by the chef. • The meals are cooked by the chef. • The chef is cooked by the meals.

    • A. The meals cook the chef.
    • B. The meals were cooking by the chef.
    • C. The meals are cooked by the chef.
    • D. The chef is cooked by the meals.

  8. Question 8

    Is this sentence active or passive? Heavy rain flooded the main road.

    • A. active
    • B. passive

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Answer key: Active and passive voice

  1. 1. A. The mixture was heated for five minutes.

  2. 2. C. The meals are cooked by the chef.

  3. 3. A. active

  4. 4. B. The statue was damaged overnight.

  5. 5. A. The final was watched by thousands of fans.

  6. 6. B. passive

  7. 7. C. The meals are cooked by the chef.

  8. 8. A. active