Just how good are you?

Quiz about your teacher

Your teacher wrote the statements below. Do you think they are true or false?

True

False

Im very good at Scrabble.

Im absolutely terrible at Maths.
Im really brilliant at learning languages.
Im absolutely great at sailing.
Im very bad at managing money.
Im really dreadful at learning new sports.
Im really wonderful at singing.
Im absolutely excellent at reading.
Im absolutely useless at talking to people when Im tired.
Im absolutely awful at sitting down doing nothing.

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Just how good are you?

Adjective cards
Cut up one set per small group.

good

great

wonderful

excellent

hopeless

terrific

useless

brilliant

bad

awful

dreadful

terrible

Positive

Negative

Positive, extreme

Negative, extreme

Positive, non-extreme

Negative, non-extreme

good

great

wonderful

excellent

hopeless

terrific

useless

brilliant

bad

awful

dreadful

terrible

Positive

Negative

Positive, extreme

Negative, extreme

Positive, non-extreme

Negative, non-extreme

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Just how good are you?

Survey: Whats your talent?
Can you

How good are you at it?

(Mark X on the line.)

1. draw a perfect circle?

10 ___________________ 1

I think Im at drawing a perfect

circle.

2. touch your toes

without bending your
knees?

10 ___________________ 1

I think Im at touching my toes

without bending my knees.

3. roll your tongue?

10 ___________________ 1

I think Im at rolling my tongue.

4. remember a long set

of numbers?

10 ___________________ 1

I think Im at remembering a long

set of numbers.

5. read upside down in

English?

10 ___________________ 1

I think Im at reading upside down in

English.

6. write with your other

hand?

10 ___________________ 1

I think Im at writing with my other

hand.

7. sing a song while

standing on one foot?

10 ___________________ 1

I think Im at singing a song while

standing on one foot.

Positive

Choose an (adverb and) adjective to describe your talent.

(Use the list of adjectives below.)

Negative

Non-extreme

Extreme

Non-extreme

Extreme

good

great, wonderful, excellent, terrific, brilliant

bad

awful, terrible, dreadful, useless, hopeless

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Just how good are you?

Experiment record
Talent

Participants

drawing a
perfect circle

Winning order
1. ..........................................
2. ..........................................
3. ..........................................

touching his/her toes without

bending
his/her knees

1. ..........................................
2. ..........................................
3. ..........................................

rolling your
tongue

1. ..........................................
2. ..........................................
3. ..........................................

remembering a long set of

numbers

1. ..........................................
2. ..........................................
3. ..........................................

reading upside down in

English

1. ..........................................
2. ..........................................
3. ..........................................

writing with his/her other

hand

1. ..........................................
2. ..........................................
3. ..........................................

singing a song
while standing
on one foot

1. ..........................................
2. ..........................................
3. ..........................................

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Just how good are you?

Teaching notes
Time: 60 minutes + 20 minutes for written follow-up.
Level: intermediate (B1B2).
Age: 11 to adult.
Language: non-extreme/scale and extreme/limit adjectives; comparatives/superlatives.
Topic: abilities and talents.
Materials needed:
Quiz (p.1 above) optional: one copy per student/pair
Adjective cards (p.2 above): one copy per small group, cut up
Interactive Magnet version of the adjective cards (available on www.teachitelt.com,
by searching for 22836 and clicking on the yellow star icon) optional
Survey: Whats your talent? (p.3 above): one copy per student
Blank survey grid for early finishers (not provided) optional
Experiment record (p.4 above): one copy per student.
Blank experiment record for early finishers own survey ideas (not provided)
optional.

Procedure
Quiz
Give each student/pair a copy of the quiz, check any unknown vocabulary and ask them to
decide if the statements are true or false about you. The aim is to introduce the adjectives,
and adverbs which can go with them.
Another way of doing this would be to complete the Whats your talent? survey for yourself
and then have the students assess your actual ability. This also demonstrates the task that
students will be doing themselves and raises lots of laughs!
Adjective cards
Give each group a set of adjective cards. They should try to classify them as positive or
negative, then extreme or non-extreme. Circulate and monitor then feed back as a class.
You could use the Magnet activity for this. Answers are provided below the survey on p.3.
You will probably want to mention the following language points:
Meaning
Terrific and terrible could be tricky since they have opposite meanings but look similar. Clarify
that there are no big differences in meaning between the adjectives within each extreme set
the important distinction in this activity is between positive vs. negative and extreme vs. nonextreme.
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Just how good are you?

Structure
You may want to point out that the adjectives can be used without adverbs. Also highlight
that non-extreme adjectives can be used with very or really, while extreme adjectives can be
used with really or absolutely. Very + extreme adjective is not possible and nor is absolutely
+ non-extreme adjective.
Pronunciation
Elicit the pronunciation of the adjectives as a whole class. Difficult ones could be awful,
dreadful and brilliant. Students could practise by pointing to the adjective cards and drilling
the pronunciation in small groups, while you monitor and correct.
Survey: Whats your talent?
Students complete the survey individually. If you also provide a blank version of the survey,
stronger/faster students can add their own ideas for talents to test.
Students gather back in groups and use comparative structures to contrast the abilities of
group members, e.g. Yasmina thinks shes better at remembering a long set of numbers than
Xavier. Marc thinks hes the best at reading upside down in English. Highlight that the verb
takes the -ing form.
Experiment record
Each group nominates their best member to participate in each activity, e.g. We think
Yasmina is absolutely brilliant at remembering a long set of numbers. The same person can
be nominated for several but not all of the activities.
The class predicts who is the best of all the nominees, and then tests and records the results.
Summarise the results with comparatives after each round of testing. Elicit reactions from
students were they surprised or not?
Follow-up: written summary
Students could write up the results of the experiment using a range of adjectives, and adverbs
where appropriate. Remind students that they need to use different adjectives, correct
comparative/superlative structures, and the past simple tense.

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