Character Words- Opposites Card Games

By: Alex Case

Level: All Levels

Theme: Character & appearance

Study Area: Adjectives and Adverbs

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Lesson Plan Content:

Character word opposites card games

Instructions for teachers

Character word opposites jigsaw game instructions for teachers

Cut the cards into a jigsaw that students can complete without already knowing every word, by having more than one box in each card, e.g. “active/ dynamic/ pushy” and “adaptable/ flexible” still connected as one two-box card, and “passive”, “rigid” and “conservative/ traditional” together as one three-box card. As with these examples, it’s best if the cards are cut at different places on each side of the table.

Give out the cards and tell students to make them into two nice rectangles by putting opposites next to each other.

If students get stuck, you can tell them that the words on the left-hand side are in alphabetical order and/ or let them use their dictionaries.

When students have finished and checked their answers with a copy of the worksheet, they can test each other on the vocabulary, by:

Reading out words from the left-hand side and words from the right-hand side of the table and seeing if their partner can tell if they match (i.e. are opposites) or not, e.g. that “affectionate/ warm” and “babyish/ juvenile” are not opposites
Reading out all the words from both sides of a set of opposites, e.g. “arrogant, big headed, proud, humble, modest”, for their partner to split into two opposite groups
Reading out all but one word from both sides of a set of opposites, e.g. “brainy, clever, intelligent, BLANK, dumb, stupid, thick”, for their partner to fill in the missing part of

Character words opposites reversi memory game instructions for teachers

Cut the cards up row by row so that the opposites are still attached to each other. Ask students to fold the cards so that words with opposite meanings are on opposites sides to each other and place them down on the table. It doesn’t matter which side is up at the beginning of the game. Students take turns guessing what is on the other side of the cards, turning over to check. They must say one of the words there, even if other answers might be correct. If they are right, the card stays the other way up and the same person moves onto the next card. If they are wrong, play passes to the next person, who can attempt different cards and/ or the same cards but the other way around.

There are several ways of deciding who the winner is, including the person who has most right guesses over the whole game and who manages the longest chain of correct guesses in a row without making a mistake.

Character word opposites jigsaw game Cards to cut up/ Suggested answers

active/ dynamic/ pushy

passive

adaptable/ flexible

rigid

adventurous/ radical

conservative/ traditional

affectionate/ warm

cold/ cold blooded

adult/ grown up/ mature

babyish/ juvenile

arrogant/ big-headed/ proud

humble/ modest

bold/ brave/ courageous

cowardly/ timid

boring/ dull

fascinating/ interesting

brainy/ clever/ intelligent/ smart

dumb/ stupid/ thick

broadminded/ open-minded

narrow-minded

careful

careless/ clumsy

caring/ kind

cruel/ heartless

chaotic

organised

cheerful

grumpy

comfortable in your skin

neurotic/ self-conscious

conventional/ normal

eccentric/ strange/ weird

cynical/ paranoid/ suspicious

gullible/ trusting

dependent

independent/ self-reliant

diplomatic/ tactless

straightforward/ tactful

downbeat/ negative

upbeat/ positive

easy-going/ lenient/ relaxed

strict

extraverted/ outgoing

introverted/ shy

foolish/ silly

sensible/ serious

generous

mean

hard working

lazy

ignorant

knowledgeable

instinctive

logical/ systematic

laidback/ relaxed

stressed/ uptight

loud/ noisy/ talkative

quiet/ silent/ softly spoken

messy

neat/ tidy

naughty

well behaved

optimistic

pessimistic

polite

rude

selfish

selfless

sensitive/ thin-skinned

thick-skinned

Character word opposites reversi memory game cards to cut up