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    Active and Passive Voice

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    At a Glance:

    Grades:6, 7, 8
    Subject:ESL/ELL (English Language Learning)
    Topic:Active and Passive Voice
    Lesson Length:30 - 45 mins

    Standards / Framework:

    What will students learn in this activity?

    In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to practice using both active and passive voices.

    What should students know before this activity?

    Students should be able to identify the subject in a sentence.

    How can teachers introduce this lesson?

    • Read and discuss panels one and two of the sample comic.

    • Remind students that in English, verbs can be active or passive.

    • Pretend to perform an action such as reading a book. Write the sentence: "Ms. Watson reads the book." Underline "Ms. Watson" in the sentence. Explain that in sentences with active verbs, the subject does the action. “In my sentence, Ms. Watson is actively reading the book.”

    • Write a second sentence on the board: "The book is read by Ms. Watson." Underline "the book" in the sentence. Explain that passive voice is when the subject (the book) is receiving an action (being read by Ms. Watson).

    • As a class or in pairs, read comic panel three. Is the sentence in active or passive voice? How about panel four?

    What will students do?

    • Have students work together to think of a sentence with a subject and a verb. 

    • Tell students to practice writing the sentence in an active and passive voice. 

    • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a comic that illustrates both active and passive voice.

    How can teachers wrap up the lesson?

    • Have students share their comics with the whole class or in small groups.
    • Display the comics in the classroom as a reference.

    How can teachers differentiate this activity?

    • Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
    • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
    • Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.

    • Have sample “active” and “passive” voice sentences on the board for students to get ideas from.

    • Adapt this lesson as needed to meet your students' language levels.

    Related Resources:

    • Comic to print or display

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