Spy Gadgets and Passive Voice

 I like using movies in class, especially when I teach the same students daily for a month. Since we are such a small class (I only have three students) it is hard to do group work or pair work, and many of our activities finish much faster than if I had a bigger class. As such every day we watch a bit of a film.

This session I have a spy theme, so we are watching Operation Stormbreaker. I like it because it stars a teenager and is easier for my students to understand than James Bond. Plus, it was under $7.00 online :) If you don't have the movie, you can use the clip below. If you don't have technological capabilities in your classroom, you can omit the movie part completely.

Today we worked on the Passive Voice and this is the clip we used to help practice.

Essentially, students were given a Gap Fill with a word bank. They were asked basic comprehension questions like:
1. The backpack has a ______________.
2. The zit cream ____________ anything metallic.
3. The fountain pen’s nib fires from ______ meters.

We watched the film twice, they shared their answers with one another, and then we shared them as a class.

Then we answered questions about the devices: 
Most of these questions were followed by a sentence starter and a sentence ending to be sure the students stayed in passive voice.
3. What ought you pack if you are going to jump out of a plane? The ... if you are going to jump out of a plane.
Answer: The backpack ought to be packed if you are going to jump out of a plane.

To make sure they understand that gadgets are awesome we read about the technology the police are using in Brazil during The World Cup (not the reading they use). The students find the passive voice used in the text and then comes my FAVORITE PART. They create their own gadget.

Students have a lot of fun with this. They (usually) like showing off what they created, and their classmates ask pretty silly questions. After we vote on the most interesting etc.

You can download the two pages of worksheets I use with my class at Teachers Pay Teachers. I am giving the worksheet away for free for the next seven days! If you do download it (and enjoy it) please leave a review!

Now that I've told you one of my favorite passive activities, I am wondering what is your favorite way to teach passive?