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This is a lesson plan for B2+ students in which they teach each other some compound adjectives to describe personality and use them in a discussion. You will need the students’ hand-out, teacher’s notes and link to the quizlet set below:
Compound Personality Adjectives teacher notes
Compound Personality Adjectives sts handout
https://quizlet.com/120973139/compound-personality-adjectives-flash-cards/
Teacher’s Notes
Lead in
You can use the quizlet set to introduce the concept of compound adjectives. Pick out a few students and ask them the following questions, ask them the question with the compound adjective first and elicit the meaning.
Are you blonde-haired? Are you a person with blonde hair?
Are you blue-eyed? Are you a person with blue eyes?
Are you hard-working? Are you a person who works hard?
Are you a 16-year-old girl? Are you a girl who’s 16 years old?
Are you self-centred? Are you a person who only cares about themselves?
Peer Teaching
Now tell students they are going to teach each other some more compound adjectives. Give out the hand-out, put students in pairs and assign them A or B. A’s are not allowed to look at B’s questions. A should first ask B the first question on the list, they must start with the question with a compound adjective, then ask the question with the definition. For example:
A: Are you tight-fisted?
B: Am I what????
A: Are you a person who doesn’t like to spend or give money?
B: No. I’m very generous.
A: So you’re not tight-fisted then.
Students take it in turns to ask a question and teach the compound adjective. When they have finished they should test their partner to see what they remember.
Test a few students in open class to see how well they’ve been taught.
Student A
Read the questions and answer them yes, no or sometimes (Y/N/S)
- Are you tight-fisted? Are you a person who doesn’t like to spend or give money?
- Are you thin-skinned? Are you a person who is sensitive to criticism or insults?
- Are you easy-going? Are you a relaxed and tolerant person?
- Are you quick-witted? Are you a person who thinks and responds quickly?
- Are you big-headed? Are you a person who thinks they are better than other people?
- Are you self-assured? Are you confident in your own abilities and character? Are you a person who doesn’t worry about what other people think of you?
Now ask them to your partner and see what you have in common.
Student B
Read the questions and answer them yes, no or sometimes (Y/N/S)
- Are you thick-skinned? Are you a person who isn’t affected by criticism or insults?
- Are you laid-back? Are you a person who is relaxed and casual about everything?
- Are you absent-minded? Do you often lose or forget things?
- Are you bad-tempered? Do you tend to get angry often?
- Are you level-headed? Are you a responsible person who doesn’t get anxious in stressful situations?
- Are you self-conscious? Are you nervous or embarrassed about what other people think of you?
Now ask them to your partner and see what you have in common.
Matching Exercises
Students complete the matching exercises in pairs.
| Definition match | Positive/negative | Picture match | Sentence match |
| 1. C
2. G 3. I (i) 4. H 5. D 6. J 7. K 8. L 9. B 10. E 11. F 12. A |
Positive:
Level-headed Thick-skinned Quick-witted Easy-going Self-assured Negative: Self-conscious Bad-tempered Thin-skinned Absent-minded Big-headed Laid-back (could be both) Tight-fisted |
a. Tight-fisted
b. Thin-skinned c. Absent-minded d. Self-conscious e. Laid-back f. Bad-tempered g. Big-headed h. Self-assured |
1. Self-conscious
2. Bad-tempered 3. Level-headed 4. Thin-skinned 5. Absent-minded 6. Thick-skinned 7. Big-headed 8. Laid-back 9. Quick-witted 10. Tight-fisted 11. Easy-going 12. Self-assured |
Discussion
Students complete the discussion in pairs giving reasons for their answers: “A good teacher should be easy-going so that the students don’t have to do so much homework” encourage them to agree and disagree using the language in the boxes.
Which compound adjectives would you use to describe the people listed below? Discuss in pairs.
| A good friend
A bad friend |
A good teacher
A bad teacher |
A good boss
A bad boss |
Good parents
Bad parents |
A policeman
A footballer |
| Agree | Disagree | Ask for opinion | Express opinion |
| Absolutely.
I couldn’t agree more. You took the words right out of my mouth. Uh-huh. Yep, I’m with you on that. Totally. You’re absolutely right. You can say that again! |
Hhhmm, I’m not so sure.
I take your point but… I see what you mean but… I agree with you up to a point but… You must be joking. Are you kidding?
|
What do you think about ….?
Where do you stand on…? What do you reckon to…? |
For me personally,
As far as I’m concerned, In my opinion, I reckon that… I’d say that… |
Students’ Hand-out
Student A
Read the questions and answer them yes, no or sometimes (Y/N/S)
- Are you tight-fisted? Are you a person who doesn’t like to spend or give money?
- Are you thin-skinned? Are you a person who is sensitive to criticism or insults?
- Are you easy-going? Are you a relaxed and tolerant person?
- Are you quick-witted? Are you a person who thinks and responds quickly?
- Are you big-headed? Are you a person who thinks they are better than other people?
- Are you self-assured? Are you confident in your own abilities and character? Are you a person who doesn’t worry about what other people think of you?
Now ask them to your partner and see what you have in common.
Student B
Read the questions and answer them yes, no or sometimes (Y/N/S)
- Are you thick-skinned? Are you a person who isn’t affected by criticism or insults?
- Are you laid-back? Are you a person who is relaxed and casual about everything?
- Are you absent-minded? Do you often lose or forget things?
- Are you bad-tempered? Do you tend to get angry often?
- Are you level-headed? Are you a responsible person who doesn’t get anxious in stressful situations?
- Are you self-conscious? Are you nervous or embarrassed about what other people think of you?
Now ask them to your partner and see what you have in common.
Definition Match
Match the compound adjective (1-12) with the definition (a-l)
| 1. Tight-fisted
2. Thin-skinned 3. Easy-going 4. Quick-witted 5. Big-headed 6. Self-assured 7. Thick-skinned 8. Laid-back 9. Absent-minded 10. Bad-tempered 11. Level-headed 12. Self-conscious |
a. Someone who worries what other people think of them.
b. Someone who always forgets or loses things. c. Someone who hates spending/giving money. d. An arrogant person. e. Someone who frequently gets angry. f. A responsible person who stays calm in stressful situations. g. Someone who is sensitive to insults/criticism. h. Someone who thinks and responds quickly. i. A relaxed, tolerant person. j. Someone who is confident in their abilities. k. Someone who isn’t affected by criticism. l. Someone who is relaxed and casual about everything. |
Which ones are positive and which are negative?
| Positive | Negative |
|
|
Which compound adjective does each photo represent?
| a | b | c | d |
| e | f | g | h |
Put the 12 compound adjectives from the other page in the sentences.
- I felt really _______________ on the first day of school. I didn’t know if the other kids would like me.
- My Maths teacher is so __________________, he gets so angry about the smallest things.
- When negotiating it’s really important to be ____________________ if you get stressed you can ruin the deal.
- My best friend is so ____________________, sometimes I make fun of her just for a laugh and she runs off crying.
- You’re so __________________ Mani, you left your bag and all your books on the bus.
- In politics you have to be ____________________ you can’t let all the insults or criticism affect you.
- Lots of Hollywood stars are so ____________________ they make one good movie and they suddenly think they’re better than everyone.
- Sometimes Arnau can be too _____________________, he has 3 exams tomorrow and he hasn’t even started studying yet.
- To be a comedian you have to be really ____________________, it’s hard to think of good jokes quickly.
- My parents are so ___________________they never give me any pocket money!
- Our new teacher is really __________________ he lets us eat sweets in class.
- In a job interview it’s important to act __________________, otherwise they won’t give you the job.
Discussion
Which compound adjectives would you use to describe the people listed below? Discuss in pairs.
| A good friend
A bad friend |
A good teacher
A bad teacher |
A good boss
A bad boss |
Good parents
Bad parents |
A policeman
A footballer |
| Agree | Disagree | Ask for opinion | Express opinion |
| Absolutely.
I couldn’t agree more. You took the words right out of my mouth. Uh-huh. Yep, I’m with you on that. Totally. You’re absolutely right. You can say that again! |
Hhhmm, I’m not so sure.
I take your point but… I see what you mean but… I agree with you up to a point but… You must be joking. Are you kidding?
|
What do you think about ….?
Where do you stand on…? What do you reckon to…? |
For me personally,
As far as I’m concerned, In my opinion, I reckon that… I’d say that… |