I Am

Lead-in

  • How do you know if a person is good or bad? Why?
  • Do you think you and your best friend have similar personalities? How so?

Presentation

Pre

  • How do you feel when you need to talk to a stranger? Why?

Top Down

  • What is the text about? Read it and find out.
  • Judging people
  • Self-description
  • Describing others
  • Judging people
  • Self-description
  • Describing others

How Do You Describe Your Personality to a Stranger?

Too often, we’re in line, at a store, or just plain waiting around and are surrounded by people we don’t know. Does this make you uncomfortable, uneasy, or are you right at home and happy with this?

Don’t be shy – step up!

Whether you’re a master of small talk or a complete introvert makes a big difference in how well you handle these types of situations. They can be chances for advances or just another boring line ripping minutes away from your life. I prefer to take the positive approach, but your mileage may vary!

I created a survey and polled several hundred people about personalities and how this interesting topic affects their lives. What follows is their raw, personal, and highly enlightening experiences, opinions, and feelings. 

Survey Question:

How would you describe your personality to a stranger?

  • Survey Answers:
    I’m a rather carefree guy. I like what I like which is a lot, but that can change in a snap. I can be forgetful and rude sometimes but I don’t always mean to be. And if I’m being rude or weird or mean, I’m comfortable around you! I can sometimes get a bit too friendly and touchy-feely. If I like you, don’t offend me and that won’t change.
  • Bubbly, outgoing with a great sense of humor. I’m willing to help anyone in need and when I’m in, I’m all in. Not necessarily a happy personality, but a funny personality, I guess.
  • I would say that I am a moody person, moodier than I would like to be. I would say that I am very generous; I take pleasure in sharing and feel some guilt when I’m in a position to share something but am not able to. And I would say that I sometimes lack self-control, and when I lose my temper it shows a dark side of me that I am increasingly aware of. It’s obvious to me that after I lose my temper, I feel guilty and sad. I have improved my control and continue to work on it.

Modified from source

Bottom Up

  • True or False

Example: The text is about talking to a stranger. True

  1. Standing in line can be a chance for advancement or it can be just a waste of time.
  2. The text is about people’s raw, personal, and highly enlightening experiences, opinions, and feelings. 
  3. One of the questions is, in other words: How can you describe your personality to someone you don’t know?
  4. More than one person answered the pole.
  5. All the answers are basically the same.
  1. Standing in line can be a chance for advancement or it can be just a waste of time. True
  2. The text is about people’s raw, personal, and highly enlightening experiences, opinions, and feelings. True
  3. One of the questions is, in other words: How can you describe your personality to someone you don’t know? True
  4. More than one person answered the pole. True
  5. All the answers are basically the same. False

Post

  • Do you agree with the text? Why or why not?
  • In what situations do you feel shy? Why?

Target Language

Personality Adjectives

  • Hilarious
  • Shy
  • Intolerant
  • Mean
  • Rude
  • Kind
  • Popular
  • Quiet
  • Irresponsible
  • Loyal
  • Jealous
  • Calm
  • Lazy
  • Unpredictable
  • Polite
  • Honest

Positive “I AM” affirmations

Controlled Practice

  • Match the words to their definitions. There is one example.

  1. Patient

  2. Caring

  3. Loyal

  4. Clever

  5. Mean

  6. Polite

  7. Carefree

(   ) Giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.

(   ) Having or showing behavior that is respectful and considerate of other people.

(   ) Displaying kindness and concern for others.

(   ) Very bad-tempered and cruel.

(1) Able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.

(   ) Free from anxiety or responsibility.

(   )  Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

  1. Patient

  2. Caring

  3. Loyal

  4. Clever

  5. Mean

  6. Polite

  7. Carefree

(3) Giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.

(6) Having or showing behavior that is respectful and considerate of other people.

(2) Displaying kindness and concern for others.

(5) Very bad-tempered and cruel.

(1) Able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.

(7) Free from anxiety or responsibility.

(4)  Quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

Freer Practice

  • Use the target language and complete the sentences according to your ideas.
  1. The two adjectives that best define my personality are… and…
  2. I’m not a big fan of … people.
  3. I wish I could be more … and…
  4. My mom is… and my dad is…
  5. Most of my friends are… and …

Production

  • Describe the personality of the perfect person to work on each of the occupations below. 

Example: Teacher > A teacher needs to be patient and…

  • A firefighter
  • A plumber
  • An engineer
  • An architect
  • A scientist
  • A doctor
  • A psychologist
  • A babysitter

Homework

Unscramble the words below: 

Example: EUTC > CUTE

  1. YHS 
  2. URED 
  3. AOLPUPR 
  4. ZAYL 
  5. NETSHO 
  1. SHY
  2. RUDE
  3. POPULAR
  4. LAZY
  5. HONEST

Match the words to their definitions. There is one example.

  1. Jealous 

  2. Loyal 

  3. Kind 

  4. Mean 

  5. Unpredictable 

(   ) Someone unkind 

(   ) Someone generous 

(1) Someone envious 

(   ) Someone impulsive 

(   ) Someone trusty 

  1. Jealous 

  2. Loyal 

  3. Kind 

  4. Mean 

  5. Unpredictable 

(4) Someone unkind 

(3) Someone generous 

(1) Someone envious 

(5) Someone impulsive 

(2) Someone trusty 

Change the sentences according to the correct adjective from the target language.

Example: We think boys are ____, insensitive animals, but it is not so in all cases. > We think boys are rude, insensitive animals, but it is not so in all cases.

  1. You are so ____ . Thank you so much for the help. 
  2. You stayed in bed all day. You are getting too ____ . 
  3. ____ ! I need some silence to study. 
  4. You’re too ____ . You need to go out and meet new people. 
  5. You are really ____ ! I can never tell what you’re going to do next. 
  1. You are so kind. Thank you so much for the help. 
  2. You stayed on bed all day. You are getting too lazy . 
  3. Quiet! I need some silence to study. 
  4. You’re too shy. You need to go out and meet new people. 
  5. You are really unpredictable! I can never tell what you’re going to do next. 

Put the phrases below in the correct order.

Example: She / lost. /  dog. / her > She lost her dog.

  1. stay / need / You / calm / to. 
  2. This / popular / is / movie / very. 
  3. You / shy / too / are. 
  4. hate / people / polite / when / I / not / are. 
  5. joke / That / hilarious / was. 
  1. You need to stay calm. 
  2. This movie is very popular. 
  3. You are too shy. 
  4. I hate when people are not polite. 
  5. That joke was hilarious. 

Find and correct the mistakes.

Example: She is so talkative, I never hear her voice. > She is so quiet, I never hear her voice.

  1. Someone jealous is a person who is very generous to others. 
  2. Someone rude is a person who is very funny. 
  3. Someone intolerant is a person who is too timid. 
  4. Someone mean is a person who you can trust. 
  5. Someone lazy is a person who always says the truth. 
  1. Someone kind is a person who is very generous to others. 
  2. Someone hilarious is a person who is very funny. 
  3. Someone shy is a person who is too timid. 
  4. Someone loyal is a person who you can trust. 
  5. Someone honest is a person who always says the truth. 

Writing

Write a short text describing your family.

Example: One cousin of mine is hilarious, but the other one, his brother, is…