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1.8 million Polio Pioneers: the past perfect passive and past continuous passive

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches the past perfect passive and past continuous passive through the 1954 field trial of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine.

Grammar
Had been + past participle for an earlier action, was or were being + past participle for one in progress (The results were being sent to Ann Arbor.), and by + agent only when it adds information.
Topic
How the 1954 trial worked, from double-blind shots to a secret news release, with words such as placebo, consent, evaluate and leak.
Activities
An explainer to read, an interview with a former Pioneer and a reader's voice memo to hear, self-checking drills, a chat and open boxes.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: roll up your sleeves

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: testing a vaccineVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: nobody in the room knew

    • Look at the picture: a school cafeteria in 1954PictureUnlock
    • Read Isaiah's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the paragraphs and the headingsMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: a Pioneer at The Why Desk

    • Listen to Isaiah and OdessaListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Ahmed's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: the stencil had been destroyed

    • Study the scheme: had been tested, were being givenGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the past perfect passive (had been + past participle)Fill in the gapsUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: interview day at The Why DeskDrag and dropTry it
    • Fill in the table: name the agent or leave it out?Fill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is better?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: could it happen today?

    • Choose the right replies: questions for OdessaChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: could it happen today?Open the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the passive in the tense in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: keep the agent or leave it out?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: a museum labelChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Isaiah answers AhmedDrag and dropUnlock

33 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Medical vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • trial
  • placebo
  • dose
  • consent
  • syringe
  • file cabinet
  • dime
  • auditorium
  • leak

Grammar: the past perfect passive and the past continuous passive

In both passives, the subject is what the action happens to, not the doer. Had been + past participle looks back from a past moment: By April 1955, the results had been checked. Was or were being + past participle shows a job in progress: The results were being sent to Ann Arbor. In a trial run by thousands of helpers, who did each job rarely matters, so the passive fits.

The stencil had been destroyed

Two past passives: had been + past participle (done before another past moment) and was / were being + past participle (in progress at a past moment). Add by + agent only when it adds information.

Had been + past participle

The past perfect passive is had been + past participle for every person: I had been tested, they had been tested. Negatives use hadn't been, and questions start with Had: Had it been tested? It shows a job finished before another past moment.

SubjectPositiveNegativeQuestion
II had been tested.I hadn't been tested.Had I been tested?
youYou had been tested.You hadn't been tested.Had you been tested?
heHe had been tested.He hadn't been tested.Had he been tested?
sheShe had been tested.She hadn't been tested.Had she been tested?
itIt had been tested.It hadn't been tested.Had it been tested?
weWe had been tested.We hadn't been tested.Had we been tested?
theyThey had been tested.They hadn't been tested.Had they been tested?

Was or were being + past participle

The past continuous passive uses was being for I, he, she and it, and were being for you, we and they: We were being watched. The job was going on at that moment, and questions start with was or were: Were they being watched?

SubjectPositiveNegativeQuestion
II was being watched.I wasn't being watched.Was I being watched?
youYou were being watched.You weren't being watched.Were you being watched?
heHe was being watched.He wasn't being watched.Was he being watched?
sheShe was being watched.She wasn't being watched.Was she being watched?
itIt was being watched.It wasn't being watched.Was it being watched?
weWe were being watched.We weren't being watched.Were we being watched?
theyThey were being watched.They weren't being watched.Were they being watched?

Done before, or going on?

Choose by time: When the reporters arrived, the release had already been written (done before), but In 1954, blood samples were being tested across the country (going on). By, before and already often point to had been; while and all summer point to being.

Which one?

had been + past participle

  • done BEFORE another moment in the past
  • By April 1955, the results had been checked.
  • When the reporters arrived, the release had already been written.
  • Often with: by, before, when, already

was / were being + past participle

  • IN PROGRESS at a moment in the past
  • While the shots were being given, nobody knew who got the vaccine.
  • In 1954, blood samples were being tested across the country.
  • Often with: while, when, at that moment, all summer

From the story

  • By January 1953, the vaccine had been tested on 161 children.
  • It hadn't been proven safe for a large population.
  • While the shots were being given, nobody in the room knew who got the vaccine.
  • The results were being sent to Ann Arbor.
  • The results were announced by Thomas Francis Jr.the agent adds information
  • Had your class been told about the trial?

By + agent only when it adds information

Name the doer when it is news: The results were announced by Thomas Francis Jr. When the doer is obvious, unknown or unimportant, stop after the participle: The shots were being given. Never add by someone or by people: they add nothing.

by + agent: only when it adds information

Name the agent when it tells us something new or important: The results were announced by Thomas Francis Jr. The vaccine had been developed by Jonas Salk. Leave it out when it is obvious, unknown or not important: The shots were being given. The stencil had been destroyed. Don't add by people, by someone or by somebody: they add nothing.

Been or being? Common mistakes

Had takes been, and was or were take being, so had being sent and was been written are wrong. A past participle always follows: had been tested, not had been test; were being vaccinated, not were being vaccinate.

been or being?

had + been (never had being): had been tested. was / were + being (never was been): were being tested. Then always the past participle: tested, sent, written, kept (never had been test, were being vaccinate). Was for I, he, she, it; were for you, we, they.

Common mistakes

  • The vaccine had been test on 161 children.

    The vaccine had been tested on 161 children.

    always the past participle

  • The children were being vaccinate in the hallway.

    The children were being vaccinated in the hallway.

    being + past participle

  • The release was been written in secret.

    The release had been written in secret.

    had been or was being, never was been

  • The results had being sent to Ann Arbor.

    The results had been sent to Ann Arbor.

    had + been, never had being

More lessons on this grammar: Passive voice lessons and exercises · Past perfect lessons and exercises

Try the past perfect passive exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

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What's in the lesson

  • 19 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say what had been done before a past moment: By January 1953, the vaccine had been tested on 161 children.
  • describe a job in progress with was or were being + past participle: While the shots were being given, nobody in the room knew who got the vaccine.
  • make negatives and questions: It hadn't been proven safe for a large population. Had your class been told about the trial?
  • name the agent only when it adds information: The results were announced by Thomas Francis Jr., but The stencil had been destroyed.
  • write interview questions about a past event: Had your parents been asked for their consent?

Lesson 6 is the second lesson of Health breakthroughs, unit 2 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. It carries the passives of B1.2 lessons 5 to 8 and 10 into two more tenses, using the past perfect and past continuous that lesson 1 put together in stories. Lesson 7 moves on to have something done. A trial where children were tested, watched and counted calls for the passive at every step.

Students spin a wheel of questions about science tests, secrets and keepsakes from school, then learn twelve words, from vaccinate and placebo to file cabinet and leak, with pictures and audio. They read Isaiah's explainer on how the trial worked, then hear him interview Odessa, a retired teacher who was a Pioneer in second grade, and Ahmed from Ann Arbor claim the story for his town, both AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking exercises, among them a table that asks whether to name the agent. In the speaking chapter, students help Isaiah with questions for Odessa in a chat and open boxes on whether such a trial could happen today.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a match, an anagram, gaps with the lesson's words and a memory game; then form choices and tense gaps in new sentences, word order and a sort of sentences that keep or drop the agent; then a museum label for a Pioneer card and Isaiah's answer to Ahmed with words to drag in.

Grammar:
past perfect passive · past continuous passive · the passive · agent with by
Topic:
polio vaccine · Jonas Salk · Thomas Francis Jr. · the 1954 field trial · Polio Pioneers · Ann Arbor · Pittsburgh · health breakthroughs · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Draw the trial as a timeline: January 1953, April 1954, summer 1954, April 1955. Students say what had been done by each date and what was being done over the summer.
  • Start with the number in the title: ask how many of the 1.8 million children got a shot. After the reading, students explain why only about 624,000 did and the rest were only observed.
  • Play the interview twice: first for whether Odessa thinks such a trial could happen today, then for every had been and were being. Students write each one with its time word.
  • Cross out agents that add nothing: write five passives ending in by someone, by people or a name. Students keep only the agents that tell something new, such as by Thomas Francis Jr.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 6 · you're here1.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

What is the past perfect passive?
The past perfect passive is had been + past participle. It says that something was done before another moment in the past: By January 1953, the vaccine had been tested on 161 children. The focus is on what was done, not on who did it. The B2 lesson 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai teaches it with the 1954 trial of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine.
How do you form the past perfect passive?
Use had been + the past participle for every person: I had been tested, she had been tested, they had been tested. The negative is hadn't been (It hadn't been proven safe.), and questions start with Had: Had your class been told about the trial? Irregular verbs use their participles: had been given, had been written, had been kept. The scheme in 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai has the full table.
What is the past continuous passive?
It's was or were being + past participle, for something that was being done at a past moment: While the shots were being given, nobody in the room knew who got the vaccine. Use was with I, he, she and it, and were with you, we and they. 1.8 million Polio Pioneers, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, practices it with the summer when blood samples were being tested across the country.
What's the difference between the past perfect passive and the past continuous passive?
The past perfect passive shows a job already done by a past moment; the past continuous passive shows one in progress at it. When the reporters arrived, the release had already been written: it was ready. When Odessa arrived, the microphones were being set up: the work was still going on. By and already often go with the first, while and at that moment with the second. 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai compares them side by side.
Is it “had been tested” or “had being tested”?
It's had been tested: had + been, but was / were + being. So had being tested and was been tested are both wrong. After been or being, use the past participle: were being vaccinated, not were being vaccinate. Slips like these are the common mistakes in 1.8 million Polio Pioneers, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, and most wrong replies in its chat repeat them.
Who were the Polio Pioneers?
They were the children in the 1954 field trial of Jonas Salk's polio vaccine. About 1.8 million took part, but only about 624,000 got a shot of vaccine or a look-alike placebo; more than a million were only observed. Shot or no shot, every child got a Polio Pioneer card from the March of Dimes, and many kept it for life. 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai tells how the trial worked.
When was the polio vaccine announced safe and effective?
On Tuesday, April 12, 1955, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. Thomas Francis Jr., who had run the independent evaluation, spoke to more than 500 scientists and doctors in Rackham Auditorium. The news release had been kept secret, and the stencil used to print it had been destroyed so nobody could leak it. The vaccine was Salk's, from the University of Pittsburgh. 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai explains the day.
How do I teach the past perfect passive to B2 students?
Start from a timeline with dates, then ask what had been done by each one: By April 1955, the results had been checked. Add the past continuous passive for what was going on in between, and the agent rule last. 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai moves from Isaiah's explainer and his interview with Odessa to the scheme, a drag-and-drop of interview day at the office and four more exercises.
What's a good game for practicing the past perfect passive?
Try a crime-scene game: show a messy room and ask what had been done before the detective arrived (The window had been opened. The papers had been moved.) and what was being done when he walked in (The safe was being emptied.). For speaking, the boxes in 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai ask questions like Why do you think the stencil had been destroyed?
What's good homework for the past perfect passive?
Good homework asks for the tense as well as the form: gaps that name the tense in brackets, choices like had been decorated or had being decorated, and a sort of sentences that keep or drop the agent. All ten homework tasks in 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai check themselves, including a museum label for a Polio Pioneer card.
How do you practice the past perfect passive one-to-one?
Interview each other about a big day, such as a wedding or a move: What had been done before the guests arrived? What was being prepared when you got there? Then switch roles. The chat in 1.8 million Polio Pioneers on edio.ai works without a partner: Isaiah collects readers' questions for Odessa, and one right reply is Had your parents been asked for their consent?
Are there interactive exercises for the past perfect passive?
Yes. With no account, this page plays three parts of 1.8 million Polio Pioneers, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Isaiah's interview with Odessa; a drag-and-drop of interview day at the office, in the past continuous passive; and a chat with questions for Odessa. Everything else needs an account.
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