Superlative Adjectives- Reversi Memory Games
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
A fun superlatives card game based on Othello for memorising adjectives with most and -est by guessing the superlative with the same or opposite meaning on the other side of the card.
Lesson Plan Content:
Superlative Adjectives- Reversi Memory Games
Instructions for teachers
Choose which set of cards you want to use with your class and cut up one set per group of
two to four students. Cut off the left-hand column with the explanations (to keep and use
later), but don’t cut between the two other columns – leave the opposites or synonyms
connected to each other. Give out the cards and ask students to fold them so that there
are synonyms or antonyms on each side, taking a quick look at both sides as they do so. It
doesn’t matter which side is up as they lay the folded cards on the table before they start
playing the game.
To play the game, students must choose a card and guess what is on the other side, then
turn over and check. They must get exactly what is on the other side, but if there is more
than one option (divided by a slash) just one of the options is enough (i.e. they don’t need
to say all the words that are written there). If they guess correctly, they can do the same
with other cards, continuing until they make a mistake. If they guess something which isn’t
on the other side of the card, play passes to the next person. The next person can do the
same cards as the previous person did, different cards, or (probably) a mix of the two.
Cards which were guessed correctly stay turned over, to be guessed in the opposite
direction the next time.
There are three different ways of scoring the game:
-
Students choose any cards they like each time, and the longest string of correct
guesses in a row during the game (e.g. one player doing seven cards in a row before
making a mistake) wins the game
-
Students choose any cards they like each time, and the total number of correct
guesses over the whole game wins the game (added up together, with each correct
guess of the same card also counting as a point, e.g. 23 correct guesses over the
length of the game)
-
Students lay the cards in a single column on the table to represent a ladder, and must
start at the bottom of the ladder each and every time, with the person who first reaches
the top or gets highest before the teacher stops the game winning
If students get stuck, you can give them a minute or two to look at both sides of all the
cards and/ or work together rather than competing (but with the same game rules).
After finishing the game, ask students to unfold the cards and group together cards by
which make the superlative the same way (just looking at the words in italics, because the
other ones follow different rules). Then give them the descriptions in the left-hand column
of the table to match to each of those groups to help. Students check with an un-cut-up
version of the worksheet, then test each other (orally) in pairs.
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2019
1
Cards to cut up/ Suggested answers
Opposites version
one
syllable
+ est
the broadest/ the widest
the narrowest
the longest
the shortest
the most powerful/ strongest
the weakest
the highest/ tallest
the lowest
the loosest
the tightest
the bluntest
the most pointed/ sharpest
the gentlest/ smoothest
the roughest
one
syllable
+ double
letter +
est
the biggest/ largest
the smallest
the coolest/ coldest
the hottest/ warmest
the thickest/ fattest
the thinnest
the driest
the wettest
the most
+ one
syllable
the most boring
the most fun/ most interesting
the most fake
the most real
the most bored
the most excited/ most interested
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2019
2
two
syllables
+ est
the noisiest
the quietest
the most complicated/ most difficult/
hardest/ trickiest
the easiest/ the simplest
the most
+ two
syllables
the most local
the most cosmopolitan/ most
international
the most relaxing
the most stressful
the most careful
the most careless
the most tiring
the most energising
the most worthwhile
the most pointless
the most
+ three
or more
syllables
the cheapest
the most expensive
the most dangerous/ riskiest
the safest
the most personal/ most private
the most public
the most modern
the most traditional/ old-fashioned
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2019
3
-y
changes
to –iest
the earliest/ soonest
the latest
the happiest
the unhappiest/ saddest
the cleanest
the dirtiest
the most serious
the silliest
the nastiest
the nicest
the most beautiful/ best looking/ most
handsome/ prettiest
the ugliest
Irregular
the best
the worst
the closest/ nearest
the farthest/ furthest
the eldest/ oldest
the youngest
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2019
4
Synonyms version
Cards to cut up/ Suggested answers
one syllable
+ est
the broadest
the widest
the fastest
the quickest/ speediest
the highest
the tallest
the neatest
the tidiest
the most powerful
the strongest
one syllable
+ double
letter + est
the hottest
the warmest
the biggest
the largest/ bulkiest
the most +
one syllable
the most entertaining
the most fun
the most confused
the most lost
two syllables
+ est
the simplest
the easiest
the most +
two syllables
the most tiring
the most exhausting
the most afraid
the most frightened/ most scared
the kindest
the most caring
the most concerned
the most nervous/ most worried
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2019
5
the most +
three or more
syllables
the priciest
the most expensive
the most important
the most significant
the most disgusting
the most revolting
the most delicious
the tastiest
the most fashionable
the trendiest
-y changes to
–iest
the noisiest
the loudest
the richest
the wealthiest/ most loaded
the angriest/ most irritated
the most annoyed
the most dangerous
the riskiest
the most amusing
the funniest
Irregular
the furthest
the farthest
the oldest
the eldest
the best looking/ prettiest
the most beautiful
the best known
the most famous
the best value
the most reasonable
Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2019
6
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