CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.1b

ELA8th GradeConventions of Standard English

The Standard

Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify who performs an action and who receives it. They rewrite sentences to place either the actor or the receiver in focus.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can switch a sentence between active and passive voice while keeping its meaning and tense. The student forms complete verb phrases and explains which version better fits the writer's purpose.
Common Misconceptions: Students may label any sentence with "was" as passive, or confuse passive voice with past tense. They may write incomplete forms such as "The ball thrown by Maya." They may also change the tense when rewriting a sentence.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Rewrite "The storm damaged three houses" in passive voice, then rewrite "The trophy was carried by Lena" in active voice. Underline each complete verb phrase.

Lesson moves

Give pairs word cards for actor, action, and receiver; students arrange each set in both voices and read the sentences aloud.
Compare "The principal canceled the dance" with "The dance was canceled"; discuss what each version highlights and what the second leaves unknown.
Play a relay where teams convert sentence cards between voices while preserving tense, earning a point for correct verb forms.
Display news headlines, recipes, and lab directions; students mark the voice and explain why each writer foregrounded or omitted the actor.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.1b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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