Present & Past Passives
Pre-intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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By the end of the lesson, students will be able to understand and correctly use the Present Simple Passive and Past Simple Passive to talk about famous works of art, music, buildings and books in contextualized sentences.
Subsidiary Aims
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To enable students to revise and practise vocabulary related to art, music and literature to support comprehension of the reading text.
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To develop students' reading skills (scanning and reading for specific information) in the context of iconic works of art and culture.
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To help students notice passive structures (be + past participle) in an authentic text and distinguish Present Passive from Past Passive forms.
Procedure (33-43 minutes)
Students are first shown the lesson title: "The photo was taken 90 years ago." Students answer two quick prediction questions (e.g, "Is this about the past or present?" / "What kind of photo might it be?") Then, students are asked to join a Mentimeter pin on image activity titled "Which one is the most interesting?" using four pictures from the coursebook (Mona Lisa, Burj Khalifa, To Kill a Mockingbird, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony). Students are invited to choose one option and briefly share a reason with a partner. A short whole-class recap is conducted to introduce the theme of iconic cultural works.
T shows the pre-vocabulary part in the presentation with the pronunciation of the words. Then, students are asked to complete Activity 1A on their own. After that, the answers will be taken from the class. ICQ: How many minutes do you have? Are you working alone or with your partner? Students are then divided into six expert groups, each responsible for one section of the article: Mona Lisa, Burj Khalifa, Skyscraper, ABBA Greatest Hits, To Kill a Mockingbird, or Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. After reading only their assigned section and identifying key information, students move into mixed groups to share what they learned. These mixed groups then collaborate to complete coursebook tasks 2b, 2c, and 2d, which require knowledge from all four sections. Finally, students change partners for Task 2e, where they personalise the topic and discuss which item they find the most interesting.
Students are asked to look back at the reading text and, in pairs, talk for one minute about what they remember, using only key words (names, dates, places, etc.). ICQ: Are you talking alone or with your partner? Do you use full sentences or only key words? The teacher then refers to some of the pictures from the text (e.g. the book, the painting, the building) and asks questions and students only give one-word answer. As students give answers, the teacher writes full sentences on the board in two separate columns, without labels at this stage, e.g.: It was published in 1960. It is shown in the Louvre. Students are asked which column they think refers to the past and which to the present, and they are invited to label the columns Present and Past themselves. The teacher briefly checks understanding with simple questions, (e.g. "Is this about now or the past?" / "Do we know who did the action?").
Students are asked to complete Activity 3A from the coursebook in pairs. While monitoring, the teacher uses guiding questions to deepen understanding, for example: "In the active sentence, which information comes first?" "In the passive sentence, which information comes first?" "Which sentence is better if you want to talk about the artist?" "Which is better if you want to focus on the work (the book/painting/building)?" After feedback on 3A, the teacher writes two new active sentences on the board (related to the same context) and asks students, in pairs, to transform them into passive. Whole-class feedback is taken and correct forms are confirmed on the board.
Students are asked to complete Activity 3C, which requires them to look back at the reading text and find examples of present passive and past passive. Students underline or highlight the passive forms in the text and decide which are present and which are past. In pairs, students compare their answers. The teacher briefly confirms the answers and, if needed, asks one or two quick questions about why each example is present or past. ICQ: Are you reading every word or looking only for passive forms? Do you underline or write the sentences in your notebook? Are you working alone or with your partner? Before starting 3D, the teacher shows briefly the past participle forms of the shown verbs. Students then complete Activity 3D in pairs and check their answers. ICQ: Are you completing the gaps alone or in pairs? Do you check your answers with your partner after you finish Whole-class feedback confirms correct past participles.
Students are asked to complete Exercise 3E from the coursebook using a Padlet wall created by the teacher. Each student posts their answers (passive sentences using be + past participle) on Padlet individually. Students are encouraged to read a few classmates' posts and guess what each sentence is about (e.g. which artwork / building / book / song it might describe). Students discuss their guesses in pairs (e.g. "I think sentence 3 is about the Mona Lisa because it was painted...) ICQ: Do you write one sentence or two sentences? Do you need to use passive or active? Are you working individually or with your partner?
Students complete the prompts in 4A so they are true for them. They are then asked to add one extra passive sentence about each item (e.g., It was written by.../ It was painted in...). In a circle-speaking activity, students are given 2 minutes. They rotate and share their sentences with multiple partners. Delayed Feedback & Error Correction (2-3 minutes) During the freer speaking activity, the teacher monitors and collects examples of accurate and inaccurate passive structures. At the end of the lesson, students are asked to look at several sentences on the board and work in pairs to correct them. Whole-class feedback is conducted to confirm the correct forms. Exit ticket (1 minute) Students are asked to complete a short exit ticket by writing one passive sentence based on the lesson content.
