Prefixes with Opposite Meanings Discussion & Presentation
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Antonyms with different prefixes to discuss and then remember - good for academic writing and opinions practice in advanced classes.
Lesson Plan Content:
Prefixes with opposite meanings discussion and presentation
Word formation/ Comparing and contrasting/ Looking at both sides
Choose one of the pairs of ideas on page 2 or page 3, compare and contrast those ideas, and choose which one is best (in the majority of cases, in the short-term, in this country, etc). Although you should look at both sides of both ideas, you should come to a clear (if soft) conclusion each time on which is better, more important, more feasible, etc.
Prefixes with opposite meanings presentation
Without looking below for now, match up the affixes with opposite meanings in the two columns below. Words given more than once have more than one possible opposite.
anti bi
bene bi
homo cis
inter di(a)
macro down
mega hetero
mono intra
mono mal(e)
mono micro
over mini
pre mis
proto multi
semi multi
super neo
trans poly
uni post
uni pro
up sub
well- under
Check your answers below, firstly trying to memorise the answers with your pens down.
Test each other on the language above and below:
- Read one of the words in the list of topics below and see if your partner can come up with the opposite word
- Read out a whole sentence from below and see if your partner can make a sentence with a word with the opposite meaning
- Read out a prefix above and see if your partner can say the prefix(es) with the opposite meaning(s)
- Read out the root word from the ideas below and see if your partner can add both possible prefixes
- Read out a pair of opposite prefixes and see if your partner can say a pair of words using them with the same root (with other words not below often also okay)
- Read out a single prefix and see if your partner can say a word with it
- Read out a single prefix and see if your partner can say a word with it and a word with the opposite prefix
Ideas with opposite prefixes to discuss
a homogeneous public education system
a heterogeneous public education system
marriage equality for homosexual and heterosexual couples
a special kind of civil partnership for homosexual couples
treating transgender people the same as cisgender people of the gender that the they choose to identify with
creating a special category, special policies or special treatment for transgender people
funding macroanalysis of the causes of crime
funding microanalysis of the causes of crime
government funding to help microfinance start-ups/ micro-bank start-ups
government funding to help sort out bad debts in the megabanks
more legislation on megabanks
more legislation on microbanks
encouraging megamalls on the edge of and outside cities
encouraging mini-malls in city centres
promoting integration of immigrant communities into the majority culture (to retain a monocultural society)
promoting multiculturalism
unilateral disarmament
trying to negotiate multilateral disarmament agreements
a multiverse cosmology
a cosmology assuming a single universe
trying to return former industrial sites in the countryside (coal mines etc) to their pre-industrial state
finding post-industrial economic uses for former industrial sites in the countryside
teaching (more) about the pre-colonial history of Asia
teaching (more) about the post-colonial history of Asia
investing in the development of supersonic passenger aircraft
investing in the development of better subsonic aircraft
a scholarship for monoglots to learn their first foreign language
a scholarship for polyglots to learn more languages
an advertising campaign teaching the dangers of carbon monoxide (for humans)
an advertising campaign teaching the dangers of carbon dioxide (for the environment)
an English speaking test mainly consisting of a dialogue with another candidate
an English speaking test mainly consisting of a monologue on a topic chosen by the examiner
semi-annual job rotations
bi-annual job rotations
a bicameral parliament
a unicameral parliament
public service advertising against the misuse and overuse of antibiotics
public service advertising promoting the use of probiotics
undercover spies placed in anti-North Korean groups
undercover spies placed in pro-North Korean groups
writing to a television station to support a particularly well-informed regular guest
writing to a television station to complain about a particularly misinformed regular guest
a belief in the fundamental benevolence of other countries/ other countries’ governments
a belief in the fundamental malevolence of other countries/ other countries’ governments
upgrading the IT skills of all staff
downgrading staff who lack IT skills and/ or resist technology
looking at the upside of each idea first, then the downsides
looking at the downsides of each idea first, then the upsides
more info on the company’s internet server
more info on the company’s intranet server
more local policemen to stop intra-tribal violence (e.g. between violence between different clans) in tribal areas
more army posts to stop inter-tribal violence in tribal areas
cutting the pay of overpaid executives
boosting the pay of underpaid workers
teaching children how to avoid undercooking food
teaching children how to avoid overcooking food
teaching high school students about the most important proto-feminist figures
teaching high school students about the most important neo-feminist figures
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