Character Words- Opposites Card Games

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

active/ dynamic/ pushy	passive
adaptable/ flexible	rigid
adventurous/ radical	conservative/ traditional
affectionate/ warm	cold/ cold blooded
aloof	approachable
badly behaved/ naughty	well behaved
big-headed/ boastful/ proud	humble/ modest
bold/ brave/ courageous	cowardly/ timid
boring/ dull	fascinating/ interesting
brainy/ clever/ intelligent/ smart	dumb/ stupid
broad minded/ open minded	narrow minded
careful	careless/ clumsy
cautious	impetuous/ impulsive
chaotic	organised
cheerful	grumpy
conventional/ normal	eccentric/ strange/ weird
cruel	kind

cynical/ paranoid/ suspicious	gullible/ trusting
diplomatic/ tactless	direct/ straightforward/ tactful
discreet	frank/ open
downbeat/ negative	upbeat/ positive
easy-going/ lenient/ relaxed	strict
hard working	lazy
extraverted/ outgoing	introverted/ shy
foolish/ silly	sensible/ serious
generous	mean
ignorant	knowledgeable
instinctive	logical/ systematic
laidback/ relaxed	stressed/ uptight
loud/ noisy/ talkative	quiet/ silent/ softly spoken
messy	neat/ tidy
optimistic	pessimistic
selfish	selfless