Opposites All Around!

EEC (Pre-K)
Alissa Winters

I. TOPIC
Teach students about the concept of opposites.

II. OBJECTIVES/STANDARDS
After reading Opposites All Around, identifying opposites, and practicing through
interactive and sensory activities, TSWBAT understand what an opposite is and be able to
identify the opposite of some basic words (such as fast, big, up, dark, etc.) to teacher
satisfaction.
Standards: 1.2 PK.B Answer questions about a text
1.2 PK.C With prompting and support, make connections between
information in text and personal experience
1.2 PK.G With prompting and support, answer questions to connect
illustrations to the written word

III. TEACHING PROCEDURES

Anticipatory Set
a. Ask background probe: How many of you know what an opposite is?
b. Ask them to give some opposite pairs (if they cannot, then give them a basic
word, and see if they can identify the opposite).
Development 1—Read the book Opposites All Around
a. List of opposites in the book:
1. Inside/outside
2. Fast/slow
3. Big/small
4. Up/down
5. Forward/backward
6. High/low
7. Over/under
8. Left/right
9. Day/night
10. Light/dark
11. Near/far
b. Interact with and engage students, and allow them to tell a few
anecdotes/personal experiences that relate (as long as they are pretty
applicable)
Guided Practice 1-Ask students to identify opposites in the book
a. When the first word of an opposite pair is given while reading, ask the
students if they can think of the opposite (do this for the words fast, big, up,
day, and light)
b. After the book is finished, see if the students can recall any of the opposite
pairs in the story
Development 2—Go over the opposite cards
a. Show students the cards that have the words and a picture (the back details
the opposite).
 b. Review the opposites pairs that were in the story (up/down, slow/fast,
dark/light, big/small)
c. Teach them the opposites that were not read in the book (girl/boy, stop/go,
tall/short, happy/sad, hot/cold).
Guided Practice 2—Practice with the opposite cards
a. Teacher will use the cards just reviewed as a sort of a flashcard with the
student. The students will respond with the opposite word of the one that is
read/pictured/given
Development 3—Interactive opposites review
a. Teacher will give act out words and their opposites with the students
b. Opposites to be acted out:
1. Girl/boy (girls stand, then boys stand)
2. Up/down (students reach up to the sky, bend down and touch the
ground)
3. Stop/go (students will walk across the classroom and stop and go as the
teacher tells them – similar to red light green light)
4. Tall/short (teachers stand up because they’re tall, students stand up to
represent short)
5. Happy/sad (students make a happy face, then a sad face)
6. Slow/fast (students move across room slowly, and then fast)
7. Hot/cold (students will pretend like they are very hot, and then pretend
like they are cold and shivering)
8. Dark/light (teacher will turn the lights off, and then on again)
9. Big/small (students will spread their arms wide as if they were holding
something big, and then hold them together like it was small)
Guided Practice 3—Interactive opposites review
a. The above development is also sort of a guided practice and assessment
Development 4—Sensory Center
a. Explain the sensory center that the students will be doing during activity time
b. 4 different senses that students will experience the opposites
1. Hard/soft
a. There will be a basket with some items that are hard, and others
that are soft
b. Students will feel the items and then sort them out into the
appropriate categories
2. Wet/dry
a. Students will put one hand in a cup of water to experience wet,
while the other hand is still dry
3. Loud/quiet
a. Students will listen to clips of music, and some will be loud, while
others are soft
4. Sweet/sour
a. Students will taste things that are sour (such as sour patch kids),
and things that are sweet (such as Swedish fish)
Closure—
a. Reiterate some of the opposite pairs
b. Ask students which activities they liked best and what they learned
IV. MATERIALS
Opposites All Around book, opposites cards, little basket rock, Lego, block, cotton
ball, pom-pom, cup of water, CD or clips of music, CD player, sour patch kids, Swedish fish,
labels for sensory centers

V. ADAPTATIONS/PLAN MODIFICATIONS
For the students with extra energy and a shorter attention span, be sure to include
them in a smaller group so that they have more personal interaction and are more likely to
be doing the activity at any given time.

VI. EVALUATION
Formative: background probe, brainstorming, reviews, checks for understanding
Summative: none for this lesson

VII. REFLECTION
Students’ Performance:
 Did the students participate when asked for some examples of opposites?
 Did the student have a better understanding of what an opposite is after this
lesson was presented?
 Could the students correctly identify the opposite pairs that we used in class?
Self-Evaluation:
 Was I clear in my objective?
 Did I provide opportunity for all students to give input into the lesson either
verbally or through the activities?
 What changes/adaptations would I make in the future if I were to teach this
lesson again?