Active Voice &

Photo © 123RF.com
Passive Voice
SUMMARY
Grade Level:
The Deaf students will identify subject and objective cases of noun by using
Deaf Grade 7 and up active and passive voice and will eventually answer wh-questions from a
sentence or paragraph read.

Subject Areas:
Language, Reading Objectives
Students will:
• Identify subject and object
Duration: nouns
• Identify active and passive
4 weeks, 1 hour per day voices
Warm-up: 15 minutes • Convert sentences from
Activity: 30 minutes active to passive voice and
Assessment: 15 minutes vice versa
• Answer wh-questions in writ-
ten form and in FSL
Skills:
Writing Skills, Materials
Warm Up
Reading Comprehension,
• Video presentation
Filipino Sign Language
expressive and receptive Activity
skills • Slideshow Presentation
• Copies of Active and Passive
voice (page 3)
Vocabulary:
instant, via, Making Connections
subject, active We use our cellphones everyday to
talk to our classmates, friends and
object, passive
family. We talk to them by sending
text messages or instant messaging
app like Facebook Messenger.
We understand messages by reading
the texts and the Deaf communicates
with the hearing people with the
help of writing or sending messages
via instant messaging app, but is it
easy for you (Deaf) to understand
written English language when using
messaging app? Can you also ex-
press your feeling correctly by writ-
ing or sending messages? Written
English sentences can be in a pas-
sive or active voice. Understanding
how the two work will be a great
help for you to understand and ex-
press your feelings to the people
around you.
Background
In English, sentences can be written
in two different forms: (1) active
voice and (2) passive voice. A sen-
tence is written in active voice when
the subject of the sentence performs
the action in the sentence. e.g. The
girl was washing the dog. A sen-
tence is written in passive voice
when the subject of the sentence
has an action done to it by someone
or something else. eg. The dog was
being washed by the girl. Active
voice is more commonly used than
the passive voice because it tells you
straightly who does the action, but
for the Deaf to communicate better,
you all need to learn how to use
both sentence forms. The skills that
will you learn here will be surely
used in your everyday life.

1
Procedure
Warm Up
Watch a video presentation showing
how active and passive voices are
used in sentences.
Have the students read the sentenc-
es shown in the video and have
them sign in FSL afterwards.
Select two students to act out each
sentence presented and have them
write each sentence on the board.
Ask the students to identify the
nouns they see and have them
count all. Ask who or what ques-
tions from the sentences provided
in the video. Have them answer in
FSL.
The Activity
1. Provide the vocabulary words.
Have them spell each word.
Present to them the FSL sign
of the word (if applicable).
2. Present the vocabulary words
in sentences by acting out
how the words was used and
by using FSL. Have them re-
peat the FSL sign for the
words.
3. Present a slideshow presenta-
tion about the Active and Pas-
sive Voice.
4. Have them read or sign the
sentence. Ask them to identify
who does the action and who
receives the action.
5. Introduce the “subject” and
“object” nouns. Point to the
students where the subject
and object nouns are mostly
located.
6. Discuss with them that the
subject noun is the doer of the
action and that the object
noun is the receiver of the ac-
tion.
7. Introduce the terms active and
passive voice. Discuss with the
students the difference of the
two forms of sentences. Show
them the basic pattern.
8. Present more sample sentence
and this time with acting out.
Act out the sentence and have
them identify the subject and
object nouns and identify
whether the sentence is in ac-
tive or passive voice.
9. Show now the students how
to sign each sentence in FSL.
10. Provide a chance to the stu-
dents to sign the sentences in
FSL.
11. Present Copies of Active or
Passive Voice (page 3)
12. Present the “Active or Passive
Game”. The teacher will show
a sentence on the screen and
have the students identify
whether it is active or passive
by lining up to the right chair.
Chairs are labeled “active” and
“Passive”
13. After each sentence, ask wh-
questions (who, what, where).
Once the answer is correct,
have the student sign it in
FSL.
14. Provide the written task.
(Worksheet 1, page 4) Have
them convert the active voice
to passive voice given the pat-
tern on the board. Have the
students check their works
afterwards and review with the
class the correct answers.
Wrap Up
Have the students review the main
concepts learned. Ask them when in
real life situation can they use the
concepts learned. Let them provide
more examples of real life situation.
Ask them how can they improve
more in communicating using writ-
ten English language. Discuss how
can their life be easier and more
comfortable when they can com-
municate in written English well.
Assessment
Have the students answer a work-
sheet. (Worksheet 2, page 5) Encour-
age them to answer in complete sen-
tence. After answering the worksheet,
each student will sign in FSL the sen-
tences they read.
Presenter Tips
If there is extra time, you may discuss
the answers in front of the class and
after every sentence read, require the
students to sign in FSL.
Enrichment
Have them do the “Draw the Sen-
tence”. The students will draw a picto-
rial representation of a sentence they
create. They must illustrate the sen-
tence in both passive and active voice
and then present the drawings to the
class. Then have them write each il-
lustration to a sentence. For example,
"Mary hit the ball over the fence" and
"The ball was hit over the fence by
Mary." The class decides which sen-
tence is better to include in a writing
activity and why.
RESOURCES
Websites
Active and Passive English Grammar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=s8fqGQXhrrU
Grammar Games with Active and Pas-
sive Voice. https://
www.theclassroom.com/grammar-
games-active-passive-voice-
12101498.html
Active and Passive Sentences. http://
www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/
active.htm
Active Vs. Passive. https://
www.yourdictionary.com/index.php/
pdf/
articles/192.activevspassivevoice.pdf
2
 Active Vs. Passive—Student Copy Page

Active Active

Harry ate shrimp. Maria called her sister

(subject) (object) (subject) (object)

Passive Passive
The shrimp(object) was ACTIVE VOICE
The sister(object) is called
Tells what a person or
eaten by Harry. by Maria
thing does
(subject) (subject)
The subject is found before the
verb.

PASSIVE VOICE
Tells what is done to
someone or something
Active The subject is found after the
Active
verb.
Mom (subject)watches my Fred made a card.
baby sister. (subject) (object)
object)

Passive Passive
My baby sister(object) was The card(object) was made
watched by mom. by Fred.
(subject) (subject)

3
 Worksheet # 1:
Convert the sentences.

A. Active to Passive
1. The actors had performed the play ___________________________________

2. A stone smashed the window. ___________________________________

3. The boys pushed the tree over. ___________________________________

4. James climbed the ladder. ___________________________________

5. Sam baked a big cake. ___________________________________

B. From Passive to Active.

1. The football was kicked by Luke. ___________________________________

2. The knife was left on the table by Julie. ___________________________________

3. The milk had been knocked over by a cat. ___________________________________

4. The car had been driven into a wall by a naughty child.

___________________________________

5. The windows had been washed. ___________________________________

4
 Worksheet # 2:
Answer the questions.

1. The man presented the report.

Who presented the report? ______________________
What did the man present? ______________________

2. Karl watched the scary movie alone.

What did Karl watch? ______________________
Who watched the scary movie? ______________________

3. My mom talked to my aunt about their family reunion?

Who talked to the aunt? ______________________
Who did mom talk to? ______________________

4. The boy picked up the coin.

What did the boy pick? ______________________
Who picked the coin? ______________________

5. Susan found her car keys.

What did Susan find? ______________________
Who found the car keys? ______________________