Past Simple Passive ESL Activities, Worksheets and Games
In this free past simple passive activity, students ask and answer questions about famous inventions and discoveries. In pairs, students take turns asking and answering past simple passive questions in order to complete missing information in a table on their worksheet, e.g. 'What was discovered by Alexander Fleming?' When the students have finished, they check their answers by comparing tables with their partner.
In this creative past simple passive activity, students create a general knowledge quiz. In pairs, students complete past simple passive sentences with factual information, e.g. 'The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.' Students also use their own ideas to create two more factual past simple passive sentences at the end. When the students have finished, they change their sentences into past simple passive questions, e.g. 'Who was the Mona Lisa painted by?' Each pair of students then joins with another pair. Finally, students ask their questions to the other pair to test their general knowledge. Pairs score one point for each correct answer. The pair with the highest score at the end wins the quiz.
In this useful past simple passive worksheet, students use the context of news reports to practice past simple active and passive forms. First, students change past simple sentences about news stories from their active form into their passive form. Next, students read a news story and identify past simple passive sentences from the story, which they then change to their active form. Students then complete news reports with the past simple passive form of the verbs in brackets. Afterwards, students practice reading the news reports with a partner. Finally, pairs create their own news story using the past simple passive and read them to the class.
In this comprehensive past simple passive worksheet, students create news headlines and a news story. Students begin by creating news headlines on four topics using the past simple passive. Next, students choose a topic for a news story and write the story using at least four examples of the past simple passive, referring to an example story as a guide. When the students have finished, they present their news stories to the class.
Here is a fun past simple passive game to use with intermediate students in class. Students start by completing interesting historical facts with the past simple passive form of the verbs in brackets. In pairs, students then take turns reading the facts to their partner, who guesses whether they are true or false. Students score one point for each correct guess. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
In this free past simple passive game, students ask and answer general knowledge quiz questions in the past simple passive. In two groups, students read each quiz question prompt and write the question in the past simple passive next to the prompt. Next, students pair up with someone from the other group and take turns asking the quiz questions to their partner, e.g. 'When was Facebook created?' Students also give the three possible answers after each question. Their partner then guesses the answer by making a past simple passive sentence from one of the possible answers, e.g. 'Facebook was created in 2004.' If the answer is correct, the student scores a point. If the sentence is also grammatically correct, the student scores an extra point. The student with the highest score at the end wins the game.s.
Here is a productive past simple passive worksheet for intermediate students to use in class. Students start by completing sentences with the past simple passive form of the verbs in brackets. Next, students change past simple active sentences to past simple passive sentences. Students then write out newspaper headlines as complete active or passive past simple sentences. Lastly, students write newspaper headlines in the past simple passive that correspond to pictures.
In this engaging past simple passive game, students write statements about past beliefs using it was + past participle forms of verbs and then guess whether each one is true or false. First, students use prompts and the structure it was + past participle to write statements describing past beliefs, putting the other verbs in the prompts in their correct past forms. Next, in pairs, students discuss which statements they think are true and which are false and write their guesses in the 'True or false' column. Pairs score one point for each correct guess. If a pair thinks a statement is false, they can guess the correct answer for an extra point. The pair with the most points at the end of the game wins.
This insightful past simple passive speaking activity helps to teach students how to use the past simple passive followed by an infinitive with to to talk about their experiences of growing up. First, students write numbered sentences about their experiences of growing up using verbs in the past simple passive followed by an infinitive with to, e.g. 'When I was a child, I was told to look both ways while crossing the road'. In groups (Student A, B, C and D), one student then turns over a card. The letter on the card refers to the student and the number refers to the sentence to be read out. The student corresponding to that letter then reads the numbered sentence to the group. For example, if the card reads C11, Student C reads sentence number 11 to the group. The other students then contribute with their own experiences for the same sentence. After the topic has been discussed, the next student turns over a card, and so on.
