This has been one of the animated movies that I have laughed most. Its humor is clever and extremely attractive to both adults and children. I strongly recommend it. I used this scene to practice the passive voice use with present perfect statements, because the astronaut day's hasn't ended yet, so we can contextualize the grammar point easily.






A. Watch the movie segment and check what has happened to the astronaut since he landed on Planet 51. Fill in the blanks with the present perfect tense of the given verbs. Decide if you will use affirmative or negative forms according to the segment.

1. The astronaut ______ (place) a flag on Planet 51.

2. A boy ______ (ask) him an autograph.

3. A strange pet _________ (attack) him.

4. The pet ______ (chase) him.

5. The astronaut ________ (scare) a boy and his mother at lunch time.

6. A boy on a bike _________ (run over) him.

7. He _________ (find) other humans.

8. He ________ (take off) his suit.


B. Now rewrite the sentences above using passive voice.

Ex: 1. A flag has been placed on Planet 51 (by the astronaut).


MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - PLANET 51

WORKSHEET

Answer key:
A. 1. has placed / 2. has asked / 3. has attacked / 4. has chased / 5. has run over / 6. hasn't found / 7. hasn't taken off
B.
2. He has been asked for an autograph (by a boy).
3. He has been attacked by a strange pet.
4. He has been chased (by the pet).
5. He has been run over by a boy on a bike.
6. Other humans haven't been found.
7. His suit hasn't been taken off. 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.

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Title: Bitter Blood
Author: Rachel Caine
Series: Morganville Vampires
Book #: 13
Pages: 404
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating:
Goodreads Rating: 4.52
T.B.Published: Nov. 6th, 2012

For years, the human and vampire residents of Morganville, Texas, have managed to co-exist in peace. But now that the threat to the vampires has been defeated, the human residents are learning that the gravest danger they face is the enemy within…
Thanks to the eradication of the parasitic creatures known as the draug, the vampires of Morganville have been freed of their usual constraints. With the vampires indulging their every whim, the town’s human population is determined to hold on to their lives by taking up arms. But college student Claire Danvers isn’t about to take sides, considering she has ties to both the humans and the vampires.

To make matters worse, a television show comes to Morganville looking for ghosts, just as vampire and human politics collide. Now, Claire and her friends have to figure out how to keep the peace without ending up on the nightly news… or worse.

Taschima's POV:

 How can I possibly explain how utterly awesome this book was? I devoured it. It had everything I was hoping for, which means it had Myrnin, Claire/Myrnin, Claire, Amelie, Amelie/Oliver, Eve, Eve/Michael, adventure, shocking events, constant danger... It was so nice getting to once again re visit these great characters... with the exception of Shane of course (I am an avid supporter of the "let's kill Shane" fan club; there's more of us than you think). Bitter Blood was pretty much Morganville on a whole new level.

"Morganville's bricks and mortar were back together, but its people were coming apart"

What could Rachel Caine possibly come up with next? She basically created the father of all bad assness (Bishop) (well, two fathers of bad assness if you count Frank Collins) and had him take over the entire town in about 2-3 books. She also created a whole new set of mythological creatures that made us all re think the idea of taking a nice shower as much as the next vampire (the Draug) for the last couple of books, so what can she possibly come up with next to keep our gang on their toes? And on book thirteen nonetheless? Well, nothing fancy really, she just sparked the flame of the town from the inside and watched it burn... add in a blind queen, a lost Myrnin, and fractured relationships inside the glass house and you got yourself a tea party you really don't want to miss.

I am amazed at how alive this series still is. Being on book thirteen and still being able to keep your readers interested and at the edge of their seats isn't a small feat, but Morganville is different and if it manages to capture your attention in the first few books, well, then you are going to be ensnared in it's pages till the very end. I know I still am! With every book new things are brought into the mix, like different POVs for example, that just make the story grow and evolve, develop into something bigger than itself and way better than most series floating around.

But I'm rambling here so I am just going to tell you some of my favorite parts (without spoiling). One was of course Myrnin, whole lot of Myrnin! Yes, we finally get what we have ALL been waiting for, we get to be inside Myrnin's mind, and it doesn't disappoint. Claire, she has grown up so much. I mean the scared innocent girl first introduced in Glass House is now a strong, smart, determined woman who can take care of herself plus bring good into the town. And she specially does something in this book that just earned her buckets of respect from my part. Also Eve and Michael's marriage plays a huge roll in this book, specially since nobody seems to be on their team.  The story evolves and keeps you entertained, Bitter Blood is definitely not a filler, and by the end some things happen that make the prospect of the NEXT book all that much more interesting.

Bad Parts? Other than Shane still kicking it up nothing really. He just manages to piss me off in every single book. Though he manages to redeem himself a tiny bit I still dislike him for being untrustworthy and fickle. Alas though, he is the main character's love interest so c'est la vie.
Final Verdict: Read it! So worth it because of everything. It's a good book for Morganville fans out there. The series still has plenty of juice left. I can't believe there is only 2 more books left though, sad.

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More Hunger Games news people!!! I have just seen the new posters that have almost all of the major characters. Lookie Lookie:

Katniss

Peeta

Gale

Haymitch

Rue

Cinna

Effie

Cato

I love Katniss, Peeta and Gale. I think they choose them perfectly. Also Rue, she is perfect. Haymitch, well, he looks fine, but I expect more of a mess in the actual movie. Cinna I did not expect at all. I was imagining a completely different person. Effie is fine (though in my mind I will always prefer Kristin Chenoweth for that role). Cato, no idea why he has a poster all to his own but whatever! Now, I would have liked to see Prim in one of these posters. It's weird that they gave CATO a stand alone poster, but no Prim. Also, a poster of Buttercup would be appreciated.

Oh and isn't weird how Katniss is the only one looking to the right? It's like she is looking at all of them, and everybody is looking at her.

BTW I want that poster of Katniss ON MY WALL!!!!

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