1. Passive and Active Voice
Before PowerPoint, have students write a journal entry on a time when they were proud of an accomplishment or tried to avoid blame and how they expressed themselves in that moment. While students are writing, choose from those who finish early to go into the hall and review very short skits to present to the class. These will be the motivators for our lesson on passive and active voice.
8th grade, Chamblee Middle School

2. Form Active voice – the subject is “doing” the action.
The girl threw the ball.
The president gave a long speech.
Passive voice – the subject does not “do” the action, but the subject is acted upon by another named or unnamed agent.
The ball was thrown by the girl.
A long speech was given by the president.
A form of “to be” + a past participle of the main verb
May need to clarify the difference between participles as used in main verb and participles as used in our narratives

3. Function
Does the writer or speaker want us to focus more on the agent or the action?
In general, passive voice takes attention away from the agent ( the “doer” of the sentence) in order to focus on a different subject. We use it when we’re feeling ashamed or guilty, or when we’re trying to avoid blame or responsibility.
The Frisbee was thrown into the river.
The kitchen didn’t get cleaned.
The new IPad was broken.

4. Function
Active voice puts the emphasis on the agent ( the “doer”). We use it when we want to report on people, events, and actions. It’s also a good fit for describing things that we’re proud of:
I saved that boy from drowning!
I mowed the lawn and cleared out the garage.
I scored the highest in my class on the quiz!
I solved the mystery!

5. If a sentence is written in passive voice, there is sometimes a prepositional phrase at the end indicating who actually performed the action.
Mrs. Lewis opened the letter. (active)
The letter was opened. (passive)
The letter was opened by Mrs. Lewis. (passive)
If you don’t see a “by phrase” at the end of the sentence, try adding one. I like to use “by zombies”
The spell was cast. (by zombies) Witches cast the spell.
The statement was made. (by zombies) The principal made the statement.
The store is overrun. (by zombies) Shoppers overrun the store.

6. Notes
When the subject of the sentence performs the action, the verb is active.
When the subject of the sentence receives the action or expresses the result of the action, the verb is passive.
The passive form of the verb consists of a form of “to be” plus the past participle.
Only transitive verbs, those that take an object, can be changed from active to passive.
ACTIVE is the preferred method in academic writing.

7. Group Practice
Tip: If you can add “by zombies” to the end of a sentence, chances are it’s in passive voice.
Active or Passive: Identify the type of voice used in the following sentences.
Finn kicked the ball.
The gate was closed by Elle.
Jake found a creature in his trashcan.
Mistakes have been made.

8. Independent Practice The soccer ball was slammed into the goal.
The player slammed the soccer ball into the goal.
The lacrosse stick was swung across his body.
He swung the lacrosse stick across his body.
The poet was eagerly applauded at the CMS 8th grade poetry slam.
The audience applauded the poet at the CMS 8th grade poetry slam.

9. Apology or Non-Apology?
Alexander might be one of the wittiest people in your school, and as live host for the televised morning announcements every day, he has quite a platform for his humor. He’s well- liked by just about everyone, and his personality keeps even the sleepiest kids awake in homeroom.
Yesterday, however, his morning shtick went south in a big way. He made a passing wisecrack on the air about the body weight of a friend, Tabitha. Now Tabitha’s mortified, the student body is buzzing with the drama, and the school administration is not happy at all with Alexander.
He clearly needs to apologize to Tabitha, and the principal has asked him to do so publicly, on air, tomorrow morning. Alexander has drafted his apology and has asked you for your thoughts. Here it is.
Focusing on Use

10. Words cannot express how shocked and saddened I am by the events that transpired yesterday (1). If anyone was offended or hurt by what was said, I can only say that this was not the intention (2). I want to thank everyone who has supported me through the last 24 hours (3). A lot of lies and untruths have been spread about me, but I won’t spend time on the haters (4). I work very hard to make sure that I can be the best student, person, and citizen I can be (5). I would like to put this incident behind me, and I promise to refocus on delivering the best morning show to you, the awesome students of Monroe Middle School (6). Go Bulldogs (7)!
Think-Pair-Shares: First, do you think that Alexander has apologized for making fun of his friend? Why? What voice do you think he is writing in? How does that affect the effectiveness and the meaning of his apology? Second, do you think that Alexander could improve his apology? How? What changes should we make?
Group: Let’s rewrite the apology sentence by sentence as a class.