As teachers, we know that helping children master active and passive voice is key to developing their writing skills. Let's look at some practical ways we can teach these concepts in our Year 5 and 6 classrooms.
Contents
- What is active voice?
- What is passive voice?
- Key differences between active and passive voice
- Why teaching voice matters in KS2
- How to teach active and passive voice
- Common challenges and solutions
- Active and passive voice teaching resources
What is active voice?
With active voice, the subject does the action. It follows a straightforward pattern of who's doing what to whom.
For instance: "The cat chased the mouse." Here, the cat (subject) is doing the chasing (verb) to the mouse (object)
What is passive voice?
With passive voice, something is being done to the subject. The thing being acted upon becomes the focus of the sentence.
So our example from before becomes: "The mouse was chased by the cat." Now the mouse (subject) is on the receiving end of the action.
Key differences between active and passive voice
| Active voice | Passive voice | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject does the action | Subject receives the action | |
| More direct and clear | Can be more formal or objective | |
| Usually shorter | Usually longer | |
| Common in everyday writing | Common in formal or scientific writing |
Why teaching voice matters in KS2
- It builds children's understanding of sentence structure
- It helps them develop more sophisticated writing skills
- It prepares them for secondary school writing
- It improves their reading comprehension across text types
How to teach active and passive voice
1. Start with familiar examples
It's helpful to use examples from the children's everyday lives to provide context:
- "The boy kicked the ball" (active)
- "The ball was kicked by the boy" (passive)
2. Use visual aids
Try drawing arrows or using different coloured cards to show how the subject and object swap places. Children will love this!
3. Make it fun
- Get the class acting out sentences
- Play sorting games in groups
- Have children work in pairs to change sentences
- Let them create their own stories using both voices
Common challenges and solutions
Challenge: Spotting who's doing what
Try asking: "Who's doing the action?" and "Who's receiving the action?" This usually helps clear things up.
Challenge: Knowing when to use each voice
Look at real examples together - like science experiments or newspaper articles. The children soon start spotting the patterns.
Challenge: Getting the passive voice right
Break it down into simple steps. It often helps to use the same method each time.
Active and passive voice teaching resources
We’ve put together some tried-and-tested resources below, including both primary-specific materials and ELT resources that can be adapted to work brilliantly with Year 5 and 6.
Primary resources
- Active or passive voice worksheet - A useful set of KS2 activities perfect for introducing and practising voice.
- Active and passive sentences lesson for KS2 (URL to be added later)
ELT resources (with adaptation tips for primary)
While designed for language learners, these ELT resources can be valuable for KS2 teaching when simplified:
- The passive will be understood by you! - PowerPoint slides that can be adapted by removing complex tenses and focusing on present simple examples.
- Newspaper reports: practising the passive - The robbery witness interview exercise works brilliantly with Year 6 children, especially when studying journalistic writing.
- Passive pairs - These card matching activities are perfect for KS2 when you select simpler sentences. They make excellent morning starters or quick revision exercises.
Top tip: When adapting ELT resources, focus on familiar vocabulary and present tense examples first. Build up to the past tense only when children are confident with the basic concept.
