How to Teach the Passive

Voice While Being Active!

by Claudia Pesce 212,786 views |

13 comments

It may seem like a contradiction, but

theres nothing passive about learning
the passive voice.
Students need to be as active as ever and fully engaged in their
learning. But it is the teacher who must engage them.How do you
get students actively engaged in learning something as tedious
as the passive voice? With action, of course! By showing them
that there is plenty of action involved, but that the focus is not on the
actor, the one who is carrying out the action, but rather whoever or
whatever is acted upon.
Here is one of the best ways to teach the passive voice:

Passive Voice: Active Approach

1.

1
Carry out an action!
Stand in front of your class. Drop a pen on the floor. Ask your
students to tell you what has just happened and ask them to
begin the sentence with your name. Someone should be able
to say: Ms. Rodriguez dropped a pen on the floor. Write this

sentence on the board. Ask students to identify the

subject and the verb in this sentence; they should say the
subject is Ms. Rodriguez and that the verb is dropped.

2. 2
Repeat the action - Introduce the passive voice
Drop your pen on the floor one more time. Tell your students
that youll tell them what has just happened, but this time
your sentence will begin with, The pen Go to the board
and write, The pen was dropped on the floor. Ask your
students to identify the subject; they should say it is the
pen. Ask them to identify the verb; they should say it is was
dropped.

3. 3
Compare the two sentences
Point to the first sentence and ask if the subject is doing
the action. They should say it is. Make sure they understand
that subject is active, the one responsible for carrying out the
action.
Point to the second sentence and ask if the subject is
doing the action. They should it isnt. Make sure they
understand that the subject is passive, the one who is being
acted upon.
Compare what happens to the verbs. Ask students what
tense they see in the first example. They should recognize
the past simple. Show students what happens in the second

sentence: the auxiliary verb to be is used in the past tense

(was) with the past participle, in this case dropped.

4. 4
Give an example with were"
This time drop several pens at the same time. Ask students
to tell you what has just happened. Tell them to start the
sentence with The pens See if students figure out they
should use were instead of was this time.

5. 5
Practice with more passive voice examples
Carry out more actions and encourage students to describe
what has happened in the passive voice:
Teacher

puts

some

books

under

chair.

S: Books were put under a chair.

Teacher

closes

S:

Teacher

writes

book
some

words

book.

was

closed.

on

the

board.

S: Some words were written on the board.

Give enough examples to make students comfortable with
the use of the past simple in the passive voice.

6. 6
Practice passive voice with negative statements

Continue carrying out actions around the classroom, but this

time challenge students to make negative statements
followed by affirmative statements:
Teacher

drops

some

papers

on

the

floor.

S: Pens werent dropped on the floor. Papers were dropped.

Teacher

closes

door.

S: A window wasn't closed. A door was closed.

7. 7
Practice questions in passive voice
Carry out actions and have students ask questions:
Teacher

opens

window.

S: Was the dictionary opened? What was (just) opened?

8. 8
Place the passive voice in a real life context - Discussion
Ask students to brainstorm the types of things that the
government does for the population. The government repairs
streets, cleans monuments, builds schools and hospitals,
etc...Make sure students see that sometimes when we talk
about actions, were not interested in the actor, either
because we know who it is (in this discussion we are clearly
talking about the government), or because we'd like to
emphasize

the

results,

in

other

words

what

was

accomplished. Discuss what things were done in the last year

by the local government. Encourage students to use the

passive voice.
S: Streets were repaired. A new hospital was opened. The
park benches were painted. Trees were planted. Etc

For all practical purposes, this article

focuses on the past simple in passive
voice.
Introduce the passive voice in other tenses; actions work very well
withthe present perfect, too (Some books have just been put
away) and dont forget modals! For extended practice, be sure to
go to our Passive Voice Section, where youll find a variety of
worksheets to suit your teaching needs.

So, here are 10 great ways to teach English

vocabulary, outlined for each of the stages of
vocabulary acquisition:
Stage 1: Noticing and understanding new words

Introducing nouns, things, objects, animals, etc

Visual elements work best with concrete nouns, but try to go
beyondflashcards
and
illustrations.
Try
to
use real
objects whenever possible, or even sounds, smells, and tastes.
Appeal to all of your students senses!

Introducing
adjectives
Opposites, like big and small, long and short, are usually
illustrated with pictures, but heres another case where realia will
help youteach new adjectives; the use of real life objects is
wonderful for words like soft and rough, adjectives that may take
precious minutes of class time to explain. For more advanced
adjectives, like stunning, gorgeous, spectacular, huge, or
immense, bring in photos of famous sights from around the world
like the Louvre, Egyptian pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, etcthen use
these new adjectives to describe these places in ways that clearly
illustrate their meaning.
Introducing abstracts
There are things you simply cannot teach with a flashcard. What
works best in these cases are synonyms, definitions, substitutions,
or simply placing students within a given context. Consider this
simple example: To teach the difference between early and late,
remind students what time class begins, then state that those who
arrive before this time are early while those that arrive after this
time are late.

Stage 2: Recognizing new words

Bingo
Bingo is one of the most versatile games employed by ESL
teachers. For younger learners, make bingo cards with illustrations,
and call out each word. For those who can read, do the opposite,
make the cards with words, then draw the flashcards from a bag.
For teens or adult learners, you can make cards with the definition
and call out the words, or vice versa.
Matching
Another type of exercise with countless possibilities. Students may
be required to match opposites, synonyms, or a word with its
definition, as well as a picture to a word.

Fill
in
the
blanks
(with
options)
Hand out a piece of written text (anything from a description, song,
letter, to even a short story) with blank spaces that must be filled in
from a list of words. You can adapt this to longer texts, and also
have longer word lists.

Stage 3: Producing vocabulary

Descriptions
From a newspaper photo of a recent event to a personal account of
a recent trip, there are countless things students can describe while
putting new vocabulary to good use. This goes for both oral and
written descriptions. You may give them some guidance, like
indicating that they have to use at least five adjectives in their
description, or five words related to sports, weather, etcto no
guidance at all.
Fill in the blanks (no options)
Supply students with a piece of written text with blank spaces that
have to be filled in with any word that fits. You may give them
indications for each space, like noun, adjective or adverb, if
theyre advanced students. You can then read several out loud to
compare the different words used to fill in each blank.
Mind maps or brainstorming
Tell students they need to think of words they can use to describe
the weather. Write weather at the center of a blackboard
or whiteboard and circle it. Write every word supplied by students
as rays that shoot out this circle. They should reply with previously
taught words, like chilly, scorching, or mild. You may even have
sub-circles shooting off to the side for winter, summer, etcwords.
This works great for vocabulary review lessons.

Guess
what
I'm
thinking
Students take turns describing something, like a place: Im thinking
of a place that is so huge it takes visitors hours to see all of it. It has
stunning works of art. It is a breathtaking building, very old, but with
a modern glass pyramid in the front. Students choose to be as
obvious or as cryptic as they like. Even little ones can do this with
simple descriptions: It's ananimal. It has a very long neck and big
brown spots. Or simply state a series of words: Africa, black and
white, stripes.
Its better to teach vocabulary in context, in other words, teach
highly descriptive adjectives when the lesson is about travel.
Or clothes and accessories when youre talking about shopping.
Never teach a list of words just because, or students wont have a
chance to practice this new vocabulary.

On a final note, remember to cater to

different learning styles or multiple
intelligences.
Use songs and music, real life objects, or puzzles, but the more you
mix the better. Remember the difference between recognizing and
producing words: to practice recognition the words have to be
supplied by YOU; then students use them to fill in blanks or match
them. For students to effectively and accurately produce vocabulary,
they have to spontaneously recall the words.
POPULAR ARTICLES:

How to Teach Present Perfect: Activities and Examples

Past, Present, Future: Teaching the Verb Tense System

Top 10 Tongue Twisters: True Teacher's Treasure?

How To Motivate Students: Top 10 Ways

10 Fresh Roleplay Ideas for General English

7 Best Games for Your Next Vocabulary Class

10 Simple Teacher Involved Activities for Becoming an Active

Participant in Your Lessons

Beyond Read-and-Answer-the-Questions: 12 In-Class Reading

Strategies for Higher Level Thinking

When They Dont Want to Play Ball: 4 Strategies for Increasing

Student Engagement

When an A Isnt Good Enough: How to Motivate Your ESL Students

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RELATED CATEGORIES

Vocabulary

Past, Present, Future

Teaching the Verb Tense System

by Stacia Levy 434,244 views |

0 comments

Verb tenses receive a lot of attention in

English instructionin fact, they receive
perhaps more attention than any other
aspect of grammar.
And with good cause: there are thirteen verb tenses in English, if
you look at tense as ways to discuss time. The English-speaking
world is obsessed with time and its passage: clocks of various types
are ubiquitous in most English-speaking countries; a watch is still
considered a fine gift marking the passage into adulthood; tardiness
is frowned on, and so forth. This value of time may be why so much
attention is given to verb tense instruction: given our obsession with
time, we need a way to talk about it. So the attention to verb tenses
is not the problem. The concern is student papers coming in, even
after weeks of drill in the simple present and past, missing all of the
-ed -s endings. Teachers often shrug and say Its
developmental.

That may be so, but it begs the question of whether drills in verb
tense make sense if students arent developmentally ready for the
material anyway. I suspect, however, something else is going on
there is a problem with the sequence of instruction. Rather
than plowing throughsimple present, then simple past,
and simple future, because supposedly these are easier to learn, I
suggest all of the present tenses be taught together, then all of
the past, and then future. Why should the tenses be taught in this
manner?

There are multiple reasons tenses should be

taught within a time frame.

1.

1
Put the verb tense in context
Language learning, like learning in general, occurs in
relation to other learning. The simple present tense is best
learned in relation to the present continuous: I drive a car
every day, but I am not driving right now, demonstrates the
contrast between the simple present and present continuous:
a habitual activity rather than one engaged in at the moment.

2. 2
Give students more language to use
Students have a difficult time with a typical assignment
like My Likes and Dislikes and My Daily Routine if
they only know one present verb tense well. Even if the
assignment calls on the use of mostly the simple present,
students can write more, and write more correctly, with other
present tense verbs, like the continuous and the perfect.

How to Teach Verbs According to their Time

Frames

1.

1
About Verb Tense in English
Verbs in English actually have two parts: the time and
the aspect, or way of looking at that time. So, for example,
within the present time frame, there are three aspects
commonly used: simple, continuous, and perfect. In the
present time frame, simple is used to show habitual activity:
I drive every day. Continuous shows ongoing activity or
activity in the moment: I am driving right now. Perfect in the
present time frame shows activity that began in the past but
continues into the present time frame: I have driven this car
for ten years. The past and future time frames also have
simple, continuous, and perfect aspects (and in some cases,
perfect continuous tenses).

2. 2
Introduce students to the system
Give students an overview of the entire verb system in
the different time frames. The purpose of this is not to get
students to learn or memorize the material right away but to
get an overview of this variety of tenses and see how they

relate to each other. I find it helpful to put the time frame

across the top of the board or handout and the aspect down
the side:

simple

Past

Present

Future

I walked.

I walk.

I will walk.

continuous I was walking. I am walking. I will be walking.

perfect

I had walked. I have walked. I will have walked.

Students will get an overview of the various tenses with a

chart like this. I keep it simple on a chart like this, whose
purpose is just to introduce students to this complex system,
not addressing for now variations of these basic tenses like
the perfect progressive: I have been walking. I also use a
regular verb to model the tenses, such as to walk, whose
variations and inflections are easier to teach and remember:
ed for past, for example. I also try to use intransitive
verbs, or verbs that dont require a direct object, like walk,
when introducing the verb tense system, so focus can stay
on the verb. If I used a verb like to throw to introduce verb
tenses, students would have to focus on the irregular forms
of the verb threw, thrown, and also consider a direct object
that makes sense.

3. 3

Focus on one time frame at a time

Its very helpful to students to learn all the present verb
tenses together rather than switching from present to
past to future because this is how we tend to use
language: when relating an incident that happened to me on
the way to work yesterday, for example, Im going to tend to
stay in the past time for the duration of that story, perhaps
switching between past progressive and simple past: I
was driving to work yesterday, and this other carappeared out
of nowhere I am not going to suddenly switch to present or
future tense until perhaps the end: Now I need to call my
insurance company.

4. 4
Focus on only one tense at a time but
show it in relation to other tenses in that
frame
When introducing these tenses, stay in one tense at a
time, practicing its form and meaning, as you would have
before, but keep showing the tenses in relation to each other,
keep referring back to the chart. Meaning is learned best in
context and how an item relates to the overall picture.

5. 5
Practice
Give plenty of authentic opportunities to practice: have
students tell a story, plan out a schedule, give a series of
directions in writing, and so forth, all authentic writing tasks
that highlight different verb tenses.

6. 6
Review
Understanding verb tense is indeed developmental, in
the sense that it takes time and practice to really
understand the tenses in English, more than passing a test
will show, so continually revisiting the tenses will help
students in this process.

Top 10 Tongue Twisters

True Teacher's Treasure?

by Claudia Pesce 426,427 views |

0 comments

Tongue twisters in the ESL classroom

yes or no?
Although most don't make any sense at all, they can certainly help
your students improve theirpronunciation skills.
Besides, theyre a lot of fun! So, to spice things up a bit and inject a
dose of silliness in the classroom, try using some of these classic
tongue twisters combined with our useful suggestions for
teaching them below:

Classic Tongue Twisters

1.

1
Peter

Piper

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper

pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Peter Piper picked a peck
of pickled peppers, where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter
Piper picked?

2. 2
Woodchuck
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck
could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as
he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if
a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Easy Tongue Twisters

3. 3
Ice

Cream

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

4. 4
I

Saw

Susie

I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop.

Medium Tongue Twisters

5. 5
Fuzzy

Wuzzy

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy

Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he?

6. 6
Can

you

can

can

Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?

7. 7
I

have

got

date

I have got a date at a quarter to eight; Ill see you at the gate,
so dont be late.

8. 8
Two

witches,

two

watches

If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would

watch which watch?

Difficult Tongue Twisters

9. 9
Betty

Botter

Betty Botter had some butter, But, she said, this butter's
bitter. If I bake this bitter butter, it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter that would make my batter better.
So she bought a bit of butter, better than her bitter butter, and
she baked it in her batter, and the batter was not bitter. So
'twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

10. q
Doctor

doctoring

When a doctor doctors a doctor, does the doctor doing the

doctoring doctor as the doctor being doctored wants to be
doctored or does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as he
wants to doctor?

Tongue Twisters Teaching Tips

The first thing youll need to consider is your students' ages

and level. Tongue twisters are typically not very easy, but
even very young ESL learners can learn to say, I scream for ice
cream! Some of the tongue twisters that are longer can be cut

down to a smaller bite size; most often only the first question in
Woodchuck is used. You know your students better than anyone
else, so choose the right tongue twisters for your class.

Choose a tongue twister with teaching potential. For

example, Peter Piper is a great tongue twister if you want your
students to practice the pronunciation of -ed endings (past
form of regular verbs). Betty Botter has lots of great consonant
sounds like the b sound. I have got a date" is filled with words
with the same vowel sound.

How To Proceed

1.

1
Hand out copies of the tongue twister to your students and
have them read it to themselves.

2. 2
Discuss any words they may not be familiar with, like batter
in Betty Botter. Make sure they understand what the
tongue twister is trying to say; theres usually a logic to
what initially seems to be a random jumble of words.

3. 3
Ask a student to read it out loud, but dont make any
corrections. Make a note of the problem areas. Do the same
with the rest of the students in the class. Have them take
turns reading the tongue twister, and youll see which have
greater difficulties.

4. 4
Read each line or section, one at a time, and ask students to
repeat after you. You may wish to do this with one student
only, small groups, or the entire class, but this is a great
opportunity to work especially with students who have
pronunciation difficulties.

5. 5
Focus on specific consonant or vowel sounds. This is a great
time to practice sounds like the t sound in better, batter,
and bitter.

6. 6
For extended practice, ask students to come up with more
examples of homophones, like which and witch; or more
words that sound like date, other than the ones included in
the tongue twister; you may also choose to focus on the
different pronunciations of the past form of regular verbs.

And dont forget to have fun with them!

Try to read the tongue twister as fast as you can. Your students
will be pleased to know that even YOU may get tongue tied! Or they
may be very impressed as you roll one off your tongue perfectly. But
remember that tongue twisters are not only fun. There are plenty of
pronunciation lessons held within each and every one.

What do you think about our top ten tongue twisters? If youre
looking for even more good ones to use in class be sure to check
out our Tongue Twisters Worksheets, where youll find plenty to
choose from. What's your personal favorite?

Try These 7 Best Games for Your Next

Vocabulary Class

1.

1
Charades
Write vocabulary words on individual index cards. Break
your class into two teams, and have one individual from each
team act out the same word. The team to correctly guess the
word first scores a point.

2. 2
Pictionary
Write vocabulary words on individual index cards or use
your set from charades. Break your class into two teams,
and one individual from each team draws a picture on the
board. Drawers cannot use letters numbers or symbols in

their drawings. The first team to guess the word correctly

scores a point.

3. 3
Memory
Create your own memory game using vocabulary
words. Write each word on individual index cards. For each
existing card, make a matching card with the definition, a
synonym or an antonym. Students shuffle the cards and
arrange them all face down on a table. Students take turns
flipping over two cards. If the cards make a set, the student
keeps the cards and takes an additional turn. The person
with the most cards at the end of the game wins.

4. 4
Modified Catch Phrase
Write each vocabulary word on an individual index
card. Students sit in a circle with a timer set for a random
amount of time (3-8 minutes works well). Shuffle the cards
and give the deck to the first person in the circle. That person
draws a card and tries to get his classmates to guess the

word by giving verbal clues. He cannot say the word or any

part of the word. When someone guesses the word, he
passes the stack to the next person who takes a turn with
another word. The person holding the stack of cards when
the timer goes off loses.

5. 5
Scattergories
Choose ten categories with your students or before
class starts (e.g. types of pets, city names, sports, items
in a kitchen, etc.). Use an alphabet die to determine the
letter for each round of play. Set a timer for three minutes,
and students must think of one word for each category that
begins with that rounds letter. Students score one point per
word, and the person with the most points at the end of three
rounds is the winner.

6. 6
The Dictionary Game
Choose an unusual word from the dictionary and spell it
for your students. Each person creates a fictional definition

for the word and writes it on an index card. You write the
actual definition on another index card. Collect and shuffle
the cards, and then read all the definitions. Students must try
to guess which definition is the real one.

7. 7
A-Z Pictures
Using a picture with many elements (I-Spy books work
great), students attempt to find an object in the picture
that begins with each of the letters A through Z. After
about five minutes, students compare answers. The person
with the most correct answers wins the round.

0 Simple Teacher Involved

Activities for Becoming an
Active Participant in Your
Lessons

by Hall Houston 8,133 views |

0 comments

One common rule given to new English teachers is to keep things

student-centered. Limit teacher talking time. Be the guide on the
side, not the sage on the stage.
While there are many good reasons for this, such asencouraging
student participationand learner autonomy, I propose that from
time to time its wise to inject yourself into an activity. Students are
naturally curious about their teacher, and occasionally would like to
interact with the teacher as another person.

Students are naturally curious about their teacher, and

occasionally would like to interact with the teacher as
another person.
By teacher involvement, I dont mean teacher-fronted activities,
where the teacher tells a story, explains grammar, or does a
dictation. I mean that the teacher takes part in an activity, either
cooperating or competing with the teacher.
Here are some examples of how this can work.

Students can challenge or quiz the teacher

1.

How about the teachers L2?

In a monolingual class, ask one student to speak to the
class on a subject they choose for one minute. After the
talk, students have to ask you 5 questions, and see how
much you understood. Afterwards, they can give you a grade.

2. 2
Three Part Quiz
This is a fun way to adapt a picture from your
coursebook, preferably one with a lot of detail. Tell your
students to study the picture in their books for 2 minutes.
Encourage them to look carefully at every detail in the
picture. Next, ask them to pile their books in the corner of the
room. Make a simple statement about the picture (The man is
wearing a gold watch) that is either true or false. Ask them to
tell you if the statement is true or false. Repeat a few times.
Next, ask them to pick up their books and get into pairs. Tell
them to make their own statements about the picture. One
student should close his/her book, while the other gives 4 or
5 statements, which the first student decides are true or false.
Then they switch roles and repeat. Now for the teacher
involved part. Tell the class its their turn to quiz you. (They
should have some extremely tricky sentences ready by now.)
Close your book and put it on a desk far away from you.

Answer their questions as best you can without looking at the

book.

3. 3
Whats The Secret Word?
Ask students to get together for a few minutes and
decide on a secret word, but not to tell you what it is. It
can be a word that you recently covered in class, or
something they learned out of class. When everyone is
ready, tell them that you want them to use this secret word at
least five times. You will have to guess what the word is.
Continue with your lesson plan. At the end of class, guess the
word. Were you right?

Students can compete with the teacher

1. In this type of activity, the teacher is one team battling against
the entire class. Here are two examples:

2. 4

Tell Me About Your Holiday

Ask students to think of a popular holiday in their
country. Put student in pairs, and tell them to create some
questions about the holiday. While they are doing this, think
of some good questions about a popular holiday in your
country. In a few minutes, they will quiz you about the
holiday, and also you will quiz them about a holiday from your
country. Each team gets a point for answering a question
correctly.

3. 5
Top This Game
Assign for your class to go online and find an interesting
language learning game they would like to play in
class. You do the same. In the next class period, play their
game and your game. Have a discussion afterwards. Which
game was better? Why?

Students teach the teacher how to do

something

1.

How do I say it in your language?

Ask your students for common expressions in their
language that are the equivalents of expressions found
in your coursebook. Get a student to come up and teach
you several phrases. Say the words in the students
language, but ask questions in English, such as Am I saying
it right?, Hows my pronunciation? Is that correct? You
can ask them to quiz you again at the end of the lesson.

2. 7
Learning from the students
For homework, assign students to learn how to do
something, such as how to draw an elephant, or a unique
way to tie shoes, or the best way to cut an onion. In the next
class period, ask one student to come to the front and give a
brief presentation. When the presentation is finished, do the
action and see if you can do it correctly.

Students learn something about the teacher

1.

Interviewing the teacher

Put students into pairs and ask them to work together to
produce 3 questions they would like to ask you, their
teacher. Emphasize that the questions must be polite and
respectful. After they have all composed 3 questions, tell
them that you are going to give them 2 minutes to ask their
questions. You will listen carefully, and then after the two
minutes have elapsed you will answer some or all of the
questions. (Extension: you can repeat the activity with a
student taking your place)

2. 9
You answer then ask
Next time you are checking the answers to comprehension
questions to a reading in your coursebook, tell the class that
you will allow every other student to ask you a question
in addition to answering a comprehension question. Go
through the questions, and every other time you check an
answer, tell the student Ok, now you get to ask me a
question. If the question is impolite or too personal, you can
just say no comment and move on.

3. q

Personal questions around the room

Put a sample question pattern on the board such as, If
, what would you do? or Would you rather .. or
.? Give students one or two examples of this type of
question. Then ask them to write down five questions they
would like to ask someone in the class. Give them at least 10
minutes to write some clever questions, and encourage them
to be creative. When everyone is finished writing, ask a
student a question based on the pattern you put on the
board. After the student answers, tell him or her to choose
another student and ask him/her a different question. Then
tell that student to ask you another question. Continue this 3
stage process, until at least 3/4 of the class has spoken.

Try one of these activities this week, and

reflect on how it changed the dynamics in the
classroom.
How did the students react? Did you feel differently being part of an
activity?