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What is done/Why did you go?
What is done is a no-preparation game that provides controlled practice of passive voice or phrases of purpose while also reinforcing collocations related to different places in town. With some variation it can be altered to have students producing sentences in a different tense.
- Focus: Grammar, Speaking
- Level: Intermediate+
- Age: Teens/Adult
- Target Language: Passive voice, phrases of purpose (in order to, so as to), collocations
- Time: 10 minutes - 40 minutes
- Preparation: None
Procedure:
1: Assign students into small groups or pairs.
2: Write on the board the name of a place in town e.g. hospital, bakery, post office. It is even better if you can show students a picture.
3: Give students a couple of minutes to either:
- think of as many things as possible that are done in this place (if practising the passive),
- think of as many reasons as possible that someone went to this place.
4: Ask each team to give a sentence about the place using the target language.
5: The last team who can continue to give new sentences wins a point.
6: Change the place in town to play a few more rounds. The team with the most points wins the game.
Example:
S1: At the bank accounts are opened.
S2: Money is taken out.
S3: Loans are offered.
Variations:
You can apply this activity to other forms of the passive voice. For example showing a crime scene photo could be used for past or future passive voice as students suggest what was done (by the perpetrator and investigators) or what will be done (by investigators).
Follow on:
You could set students the task of designing an all-purpose centre, where visitors will be able to do everything they can currently do in a town in one place. Students then write about their centre, design a poster and present to the class.
Example Language:
| Place | Things done | Reasons |
| Bank | Accounts opened Cheques cashed Money deposited/withdrawn Currency changed | In order to open an account So as to withdraw money |
| Hospital | Illnesses treated Relatives visited Babies delivered Injections given Surgery performed | In order to get better So as to visit my uncle |
| Police station | Suspects held Suspects questioned Witnesses interviewed Crimes reported | In order to report a crime So as to help the police |
| Library | Books borrowed/lent Internet surfed Documents printed Homework completed | In order to work quietly So as to find a book |
| Clothes shop | Clothes tried on Clothes bought/sold Discounts offered Clothes returned | In order to buy a new hat So as to return the trousers that didn’t fit |
Don’t Miss A Thing!
photo credit: Toolstotal Woman Reading Book – Credit to https://toolstotal.com/ via photopin (license)
