Worksheet

A Mural Takes Shape: Editing the Project News

Edit an article about a community mural while practicing active and passive verbs, tense, agreement, and choices about emphasis.

Grade 8ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toL.8.1.b

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Single worksheet
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1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
14 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 8
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students form active and passive verbs while preserving tense, agreement, and participants' roles.
Students explain how active and passive voice affect emphasis in a community project article.
Students revise sentences using active and passive voice for specific reporting purposes.

How to use

Read the project article, then complete the editing tasks. Have students identify the subject and verb phrase before making each revision.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

L.8.1.b

Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.

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Name Date

A Mural Takes Shape: Editing the Project News

Form active and passive verbs while editing a community project article.

Read like an editor

Read the original community news article. Notice when subjects perform actions and when they receive actions.

More Than a Finished Wall

1At the community recreation center, a long hallway connects the entrance to the meeting rooms. Until recently, visitors passed a plain wall without slowing down. Now a mural stretches along that route, showing hands passing tools, sharing meals, and making music. The neighborhood arts group commissioned the work, but residents helped decide what it would show.

2Before painting began, project coordinator Zuleika invited suggestions through paper forms and small discussion groups. Teen volunteer Ivo collected the forms each afternoon. Several residents suggested scenes of everyday cooperation rather than a row of famous landmarks. The planning team combined these suggestions into a design that could be understood as one continuous scene.

3The work also required decisions that would not appear in the finished painting. While volunteers were covering the floor, Tamsin was labeling the paint containers. A narrow passage was being kept clear by the center staff so visitors could reach the meeting rooms. At the end of each session, the volunteers recorded which areas needed another coat.

4The draft captions were reviewed by residents before the painters added any lettering. Some comments concerned the size of the words. Others concerned which neighborhood activities the captions named. The revised captions were approved by the planning team after a second review. In the article's account of these steps, the captions remain the focus as different groups take part.

5One photograph in the project record shows an unfinished doorway in the painted scene. A second photograph shows that doorway surrounded by neighbors carrying different tools. These images help explain changes that a visitor might otherwise miss. Alongside them, the record names the people who proposed the changes, separating their suggestions from decisions made by the whole planning team.

6The mural is complete, but the project record remains open. Residents can submit notes about details that need explanation, and the center will add selected notes to a folder near the entrance. Zuleika describes that folder as part of the work rather than an extra. A finished image gives visitors something to see; a clear account of its making gives them a way to understand how many decisions shaped it.

In paragraph 4, what does passive voice accomplish in the account of the caption reviews?

A. It presents the reviews as plans rather than completed actions.
B. It places the reviewing groups first to contrast their responsibilities.
C. It leaves the people responsible for both reviews unidentified.
D. It keeps the captions in subject position while identifying the reviewers.

In paragraph 4, underline the sentence that places the revised captions in subject position and names the group responsible for their final approval.

The draft captions were reviewed by residents before the painters added any lettering.Some comments concerned the size of the words.Others concerned which neighborhood activities the captions named.The revised captions were approved by the planning team after a second review.In the article's account of these steps, the captions remain the focus as different groups take part.

Consider this sentence from paragraph 3: “A narrow passage was being kept clear by the center staff so visitors could reach the meeting rooms.” Which active revision preserves the ongoing past action?

A. The center staff were keeping a narrow passage clear so visitors could reach the meeting rooms.
B. The center staff will keep a narrow passage clear so visitors can reach the meeting rooms.
C. The center staff keep a narrow passage clear so visitors can reach the meeting rooms.
D. The center staff had kept a narrow passage clear so visitors could reach the meeting rooms.

Which statement correctly analyzes the two clauses in “While volunteers were covering the floor, Tamsin was labeling the paint containers”?

A. The first clause is passive; the second clause is active.
B. Both clauses are active because each subject performs its action.
C. Both clauses are passive because each contains a form of be.
D. The first clause is active; the second clause is passive.

Prepare the project update

Edit these additional sentences for the project record. Preserve the original meaning and tense unless directed otherwise.

Rewrite “The volunteers were stretching the protective sheets” in passive voice. Write the three-word past progressive passive form of stretch.

The protective sheets by the volunteers.

The update says, “Zuleika gave each volunteer a schedule.” Which revision uses passive voice, begins with the recipient, and preserves the meaning?

A. Each volunteer was giving Zuleika a schedule.
B. A schedule was given to each volunteer by Zuleika.
C. Each volunteer was given a schedule by Zuleika.
D. Each volunteer gave Zuleika a schedule.

Complete the passive question corresponding to “Did the residents choose these colors?” Write the one-word form of be that preserves the simple past tense and agrees with the subject.

these colors chosen by the residents?

An editor changes “Ivo and I photographed the finished lettering” to passive voice. Which revision uses the correct pronoun form and preserves the meaning?

A. The finished lettering was photographed by Ivo and me.
B. Ivo and me were photographed by the finished lettering.
C. The finished lettering photographed Ivo and me.
D. The finished lettering was photographed by Ivo and I.

A draft reads, “Two spare brushes have being stored in the supply room.” Which revision correctly forms the present perfect passive?

A. Two spare brushes has been stored in the supply room.
B. Two spare brushes have been stored in the supply room.
C. Two spare brushes have been storing in the supply room.
D. Two spare brushes had being stored in the supply room.

10.

The note says, “The crew should have removed the tape before the paint dried.” Complete the passive revision. Write the four-word verb phrase using should and the passive form of remove.

The tape by the crew before the paint dried.

11.

Compare “The storage cabinet was empty” with “The storage cabinet was emptied by Tamsin.” Which explanation correctly distinguishes them?

A. The first reports a passive action; the second describes a condition.
B. Both are active because each sentence begins with the same subject.
C. Both are passive because the cabinet appears before a form of be.
D. The first describes a condition; the second reports a passive action.

12.

The record says, “After the planning team approved the sketch, the painters transferred the outlines.” Which revision makes only the opening clause passive and preserves the original sequence?

A. After the sketch was approved by the planning team, the outlines were transferred by the painters.
B. After the sketch approved the planning team, the painters transferred the outlines.
C. After the sketch was approved by the planning team, the painters transferred the outlines.
D. After the planning team approved the sketch, the outlines were transferred by the painters.

Make the voice serve the report

Write complete sentences. Explain how the subjects and verb forms serve the stated reporting purpose.

13.

A project note reads, “The replacement lettering will install by the sign painter tomorrow.” Repair the sentence in passive voice, beginning with “The replacement lettering.” Then write an active version beginning with “The sign painter.” Explain the verb-form change needed to repair the original.

14.

Use these facts: Tamsin is checking the caption cards now. Ivo will attach those cards tomorrow. Write a two-sentence update that begins both sentences with “The caption cards” and preserves each fact's tense. Then explain why passive voice fits this update's focus without hiding responsibility.