Nov 28, 2008

Ratatouille: Passive Voice

This is a very funny scene that adults, teens and children will love. It is perfect for the passive voice practice. The movie is a must!







Meet the characters that are on the scene you will just see:









Colette











Remy









Linguini


Watch the video segment and fill in the blanks of the exercise with the correct verb form of the verbs in parentheses.

1) Remy_____________ (distract) the cyclist.
2) The cyclist ______________ (crash) his bike into a car that was parked on the street.
3) Remy______________ (pull) Linguini's hair in order to move his body.
4) Remy _______________ (command) Linguini's body movements.
5) Remy ______________ (open) Linguini's eyes.
6) Colette _____________ (park) her scooter in front of the restaurant.
7) Linguini _______________ (cook) the food when Colette arrived.
8) Colette _______________ (sharpen) the knives.
9) Because Linguini was sleeping, he _____________ (hear) Colette's story.
10) Colette ____________________ (slap) Linguini's face.

Now rewrite the sentences above using the passive voice.Ex:


1) The cyclist was distracted (by Remy).

How to develop your own video activity:
- Select a scene in which a lot of action takes place.

- Write a few sentences with action verbs using active voice to describe the scene.

- The students rewrite the sentences using passive voice.

WORKSHEET
MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - RATATOUILLE



A peer of mine said that he had used a slides presentation with links to my passive voice activities. I was sent the link and came across this really cool and thorough class on passive voice. I'm glad Simon Friend used my blog for his video activities. His slides are effective, fun and constructive. Thanks Simon Friend for these really cool slides. Thanks for linking my site to it.


35 comments:

nicolaecris said...

HELLO,
cAN YOU SEND ME THIS SHORT MOVIE?i FIND IT VERY AMUSING AND I WOULD LIKE TO USE IT DURING CLASS.
THANK YOU.
nicolaecris@yahoo.com

Claudio Azevedo said...

Hello,
You can download the segment straight from the blog. You must have realplayer, though. You can download its free version at realplayer.com. After you have it installed, you pass the mouse over the movie screen and you can save it in your own computer. It is an easy process that works well. If it doesn't work, let me know. Thanks.

Saro Rosales said...

maybe some people are doing the same as you, but i find your work really interesting. congratulations

Claudio Azevedo said...

Hello, Saro!
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy it. See you around.

hanum said...

great animation movie, more advice contained. Good.. good..

Ana Silva said...

A friend of mine told me about your blog.I really enjoy it. I usually select segments from films to teach my business classes or to get my teenagers interested in the classes, but sometimes I run out of ideas. Thanks for posting your interesting activities. I have an activity to teach present Perfect using BEAUTY AND THE BEAST...really nice.! Thanks once again!

Claudio Azevedo said...

Thanks, Anna. I'd like to see you activity. I'd love to post it in my blog, with a link or acknowledgement of your authorship. Let me know if you would like that. See you.

Adriana Sintoni said...

Thank you, thank you!!! You saved my class tomorrow... really. I was looking for something fun for passive voice and I came across your page!! Well done!! And thank you!! ;-)

Claudio Azevedo said...

You're welcome, Adriana. I'm glad it was useful. See you.

Anonymous said...

Dear Claudio,
Thank you so much!! I have been searching examples of films to interest my students for so long and found at last your site. It is so helpful. A great relief, as it is sometimes so difficult to motivate 8th -10th graders in class.
Marie-Francoise from France
Secondary School teacher.

Claudio Azevedo said...

Dear Marie-Françoise,

It is gratifying to hear that. Motivation is key in language learning. I hope you will achieve you teaching goals with my site's help. See you.

Anonymous said...

I have just come across this blog. it is quite interesting.but i was wondering if you can just write the script for this segment. Thank you very much in advance.

Claudio Azevedo said...

What do you mean by the script of the segment? The dialog lines? The movie segments have subtitles in English. Let me know what you mean, please.

Patricia said...

Wow, what a wonderful website!!! Thanks for all these fantastic ideas!!!

Claudio Azevedo said...

You're welcome, Patricia. Come back often.

Anonymous said...

Many thanks for sharing your material.
I have started using it for my classes, really amusing, interesting and it catches students`attention.
Great job!

English Department said...

Thank you! Greetings from Chile :)

Tabatha B said...

I love the activities you have created. You have really inspired me to do more activities like this in class and create more of my own as well! My students love doing different activities using authentic materials like movies. Thanks for the inspiration!

Anonymous said...

this movie its awesome ¡ i love remmy he is the perfect pet for me.

Soare Angela said...

thank you so much! I can really do a wonder passive voice lesson with my 7th graders. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SHARING YOUR WORK WITH US!

Soare Angela said...

thank you so much! I can really do a wonder passive voice lesson with my 7th graders. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SHARING YOUR WORK WITH US!

Anonymous said...

Greeetings from Colombia!!
I've already used some of the activities you've made.They're a fun way to start the class.

Claudio Azevedo said...

Great, thanks. Hello to Colombia!

Anonymous said...

Claudio, I love your page and more the video that you show us. I want to use in my class, but I can´t download. I follow the steps that you give us... but I can't. Can you send me by mail?

Thank you and Congratulation!

gloriamanfb@hotmail.com

Claudio Azevedo said...

Dear Gloria,
The vidoes are too heavy to be sent by email. They won't go. What brwoser are you using? I suggest you use Firefox/Mozilla and download VIDEOS DOWNLOAD HELPER. It works only with firefox. You will be able to download any segment you want. The download is free and it is an extension to firefox. Here is the link https://addons.mozilla.org/pt-br/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper

I hope you manage it.

Claudio Azevedo said...

Try the link that I have added at the end of the post, please. You may download it directly from my wiki.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Claudio. I'll try it!

Anonymous said...

Cluadio,
I am writing this message because it seems that the beginning part of the "Ratatouille" clip for passive voice is missing. I have used it before, but I don't see the cyclist crash into the car anymore. I thought that was a funny part of the movie clip and it spawns the answer to the first question. (Just an inadvertent change... or too much voilence??) In any case, I really enjoy your website. I saw your presentation at the New Orleans TESOL and just really enjoyed it.

Claudio Azevedo said...

You're right. I have replaced the segment. Thanks for warning me. See you!

Anonymous said...

Really great clip and worksheet. Thanks a lot. (Teacher in Manchester, UK)

María Teresa said...

Excellent work!
Thanks so much!!!

Tere from Argentina

Claudio Azevedo said...

Thanks, Tera. Come back often.

Unknown said...

I have used your activites in my classes for a while. My students and I love them! Thank you to take your time to prepare such nice video activities. They are so engaging! :o)

Claudio Azevedo said...

Thanks for the feedback. Great to hear that.

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